New member, first post.

[TimO]

Hi all. I just installed a system on my house in NE Ohio this fall/winter. I started the process in AUG after receiving the equipment from Wholesale Solar. a 3.3 kW system consisting of 12 Canadian Solar CS6K 275 P. panels, Ironridge racking and an SMA SB 5.0 US inverter. I am also using SMA(Tigo) optimizers w rapid shutdown. I am not a pro but am quite handy and had no problem with this. Not having a boss or customer to worry about means plenty of time to think it out and of course the internet is a great source of info. I did it alone, two people on a one man job takes three times as long from my experience. The utility held me up for months because the system was bigger than my previous consumption would justify. They don't want to be paying me money. I wanted more because I plan to go all electric and stop the pipe-line at my end so to speak. I have since switched out the old gas water heater for a new electric and have installed the first of what will be 2 mini-splits. Before I did those changes i was using very little power. The local solar installer , Yellowlite Solar in Cleveland, told me I had the smallest consumption they had seen, less that 2000kWh/yr. I am frugal, single and have done all i can to reduce energy use, all leds throughout the house, eliminate waste by unplugging unused chargers etc. Yellowlite was helpful and their price reasonable but I figured I could about double my system size for the same money and at the same time gain a familiarity with it that I wouldn't have otherwise. So.... I planned on expanding the size after a year or so when I had demonstrated a larger consumption. The question I have concerns The Sunny Boy 5.0 inverter. It has 3 different mppt inputs and I am presently using only one. I don't know if the same panels will be available when I will be allowed to expand my system. I believe I can use different panels and a different string size on a second and third input so long as I don't do them in parallel (an option on inputs A and B on the SB 5.0). This seems to make sense since another string with a different orientation would be at a different voltage/ power level anyways. I could buy the same panels now but they seem to be disappearing from the market and now isn't a good time $wise. It would help me sleep knowing I won't have a prob. with this down the road. I think it's OK but the manual doesn't seem to say so explicitly.

BTW, it is howling outside and power has been on and off all day, sometimes for seconds, once for an hour or so. I'll need a lottery win to get the Tesla Powerwall I want next!

[solarix]

Right on. Kudos to doing solar yourself. You are doing it well. Using 12 panels on one SMA input is OK, especially with the Tigo's. Next step is an EV and then more power!

[TimO]

My first EV will likely be an electric bicycle. I want one with a grocery basket and a set of studded tires for CLE winters. It will live in the shed out back with it's own panel to keep it charged. After the Model 3 reaches saturation I may look for a used Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf. I hope the price of those , especially used, will be in my range soon. What I want first though is to get rid of everything natural gas. Looking at summer bill I see I am paying roughly $30/mo just to stay connected and $5 or less for actual gas consumption. Adding another mini-split will give me confidence to pull the old gas furnace , and all the mess of galvanized duct work, out of the basement transforming that space. Losing the gas furnace will also open up the chimney for a wood stove, the ultimate backup, no gas or electricity required. We lost power here last night for a few hours, wind howling and trees and lines coming down. The microwave kept waking me with a beep each time the power came back on for a few moments.

First things first though, I want as many panels as I can put up there. I'll find a use for it if the power company doesn't want it. They are worried about paying off a couple of badly designed, ageing nukes on the lake shore. Solar isn't in their plans....yet.