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Unincorporated San Diego County ground mount installation

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  • Unincorporated San Diego County ground mount installation

    Note: My browser keeps crashing, so this is going to multiple posts. I'll flag the last post as "done" EDIT: ALL INSTALLATION WRITE UP IS NOW COMPLETE.

    Installer: https://www.solarreviews.com/install...-inc.-reviews/

    8.04 kWh ground mount
    SolarEdge 7600A
    SolarEdge P400 optimizers
    Hanwai Q.PLUS L-G4.2 335 watt, 24 panels
    ProSolar GroundTrac mounting system


    Here's the layout of where the ground mount goes:




    And the electrical line drawing:



    Last edited by CharlieEscCA; 04-30-2017, 07:17 PM.
    8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

  • #2
    The 1.5" poles are actually very strong -- I know Iron Ridge uses 2" or 3", but the ProSolar is good to 110 mph.
    1_poles (Large).JPG
    2_Carry (Large).JPG


    Setting the poles (after the county inspector approved the footing holes:
    3_posts (Large).JPG
    4_posts (Large).JPG




    The trench between the array and the house:


    5_trench (Large).JPG



    Mostly hand dug, but the little jack hammer say use in various places:

    6_trench (Large).JPG


    Last edited by CharlieEscCA; 04-30-2017, 06:37 PM.
    8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

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    • #3
      The racking all set up -- I thought I took more pictures, but I guess not. Note the tree branches in the foreground -- this weed/tree was going to be casting a shadow. The Harbor Freight electric chain saw worked great. Though it did take me several days to chop all this stuff to go in the green yard waste bins.


      7_rack (Large).JPG
      Optimizers and clamps on, ready for panels ...


      8_rack (Large).JPG

      That little fruit tree never gave any fruit in three years -- but this year, it set some fruit. It's been cut back more than this picture shows -- only a little bit of shade right now. It will get transplanted in the fall, or cut down if the fruit taste isn't worth the work. Note all the crap plants came off the ground where the array was. More to cut up and go in the green yard waste bins.

      9_rqck (Large).JPG

      And a close up of a mounted optomiser:

      a_opt (Large).JPG
      8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

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      • #4
        Let's mount some panels, shall we:

        p1 (Large).JPGp2 (Large).JPGp3 (Large).JPG

        And then they were all mounted:

        p4 (Large).JPG
        8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

        Comment


        • #5
          DC disconnect at array
          1 (Large).JPG



          Pole to rail clamp details:
          2 (Large).JPG


          Wire arrangements under panels:
          3 (2) (Large).JPG


          Grounding details. Note two grounding rods per code.
          3 (Large).JPG
          4 (Large).JPG


          More of a underside view:
          5 (Large).JPG



          These suckers get dusty fast -- just bought a water fed pole and brush. Plan to clean once a month early morning -- at least for a while
          6 (Large).JPG





          8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

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          • #6
            The DC conduit run in the crawl space to the back of the inverter.

            Outside entering the house:

            7 (Large).JPG

            Inside, where it comes in:

            8 (Large).JPG


            Routing to the inverter. One big 90 degree sweep.


            9 (Large).JPG

            Then to wall where inverter is:

            10 (Large).JPG

            And this is where conduit terminates into EMT (missed a picture, don't feel like going back into crawlspace)


            10 (Large) (2).JPG
            8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

            Comment


            • #7
              And the final set of pictures ...

              The inverter location. Outside, under a deck, in shade all days. My choice of location. Stuff to the left of inverter is irrigation controls. I've cleaned up the wiring since I took the picture. 1 (Large).JPG



              Wiring everything up: 3 (Large).JPG



              All done, close it up. 2 (Large).JPG




              Back to the crawlspace.

              Now we need some #6 romex to route in the crawlspace to the subpanel in the house: 4 (Large).JPG




              Now let's get the routing started -- the rest of the way is not shown. 5 (Large).JPG



              Not shown is this romex terminating in the sub panel to a 40 amp breaker at the opposite end of the service wire to the panel.

              Finally, let's show the plaque at the main panel and the meter: 6 (Large).jpg




              That's a wrap on the install.

              The timeline of install was:

              Saturday: Dig trench and footings.
              Monday: After inspection, pour concrete, install conduit in trench.
              Tuesday: Install racking, mount all panels. Do some work at inverter / disconnect boxes. Route DC / AC
              Wednesday morning: Finish all installation except Watt Node meter bought for $25 (super bargain!)
              Wednesday afternoon: Final county inspection. Turn on, provision, test for half an hour

              The PTO should have came within a day.

              It took two weeks. I was calling SDG&E a lot. Finally got name of a manager in the NEM dept. He was on vacation, but after a stink, he got it corrected in less 24 hours. Turned out my meter wouldn't take reprovisioning. They finally rolled a truck and replaced the meter. Two hours later, PTO.

              System is running great. Four days over 50 kWh, one at 39 (cloudy start to the day)

              Very happy.

              Great price. They did all paperwork, took care of permits, paid the SDG&E app fee. In the end, $2.83 per DC watt before tax credit.

              I think they did a great install.

              Highly recommend.

              P.S. They do small referral bonus, but this review is not biased by that at all.
              Last edited by CharlieEscCA; 04-30-2017, 07:20 PM.
              8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

              Comment


              • #8
                Thanks for posting such details pictures! Sorry to hear that your situation has changed and you won't be able to reap the benefit of this that you had planned. Will you be selling this residence, or renting it?

                You can directly refer to your installer (Cosmic Solar) by their solarreviews page, somehow it supports the forum's owner.

                CS6P-260P/SE3000 - http://tiny.cc/ed5ozx

                Comment


                • #9
                  I did link the installer in the first post

                  I will be selling, but probably not until early next year -- so I'll get one year's benefit. And with our crazy San Diego electric rates, this will save me between $3000 to $4000 (depends what I use), I also believe that unlike a roof system (which buyers may view as a liability), this will add some value to the sale price, though clearly one never will know as this can never be a known amount. Regardless, I'm still ok with the purchase of the system -- sunk costs are sunk costs, and the wife will be much happier his summer than previous years (system will generate 13.5 to 14K vs last years use [suffer before turning on the A/C] of 10K kWh).
                  8.6 kWp roof (SE 7600 and 28 panels)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by CharlieEscCA View Post
                    I did link the installer in the first post

                    I will be selling, but probably not until early next year -- so I'll get one year's benefit. And with our crazy San Diego electric rates, this will save me between $3000 to $4000 (depends what I use), I also believe that unlike a roof system (which buyers may view as a liability), this will add some value to the sale price, though clearly one never will know as this can never be a known amount. Regardless, I'm still ok with the purchase of the system -- sunk costs are sunk costs, and the wife will be much happier his summer than previous years (system will generate 13.5 to 14K vs last years use [suffer before turning on the A/C] of 10K kWh).
                    When I eventually sell, I want the open house to be on a hot spring day, with the A/C running, and a laptop up and showing live output of the system pushing energy back into the grid. If that doesn't help sell it, I don't know what will.

                    Anyway, if you get the SolarEdge inverter monitoring set up, please consider joining "Team San Diego" on PVOutput.org (your installer will need to give you an API key if they haven't already). We've got over 100 systems at this point sharing data, making a nice reference for real world data for prospective solar owners, as well as enabling comparisons that will help you track your own system's health.
                    CS6P-260P/SE3000 - http://tiny.cc/ed5ozx

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