I have 4 year old SolarEdge inverters (SE6000 with 21 SolarWorld 280W panels and SE3800 with 14 SolarPanels)
While total capacity is 9800, I don't think I ever produced more than 8000 combined (there are two tilts on roof, the larger array is tilted steeper 30 degrees+, smaller is "summer friendly" (about 10 degrees))
Up until about a year ago, my annual power purchases were fairly low (e,g, selling back/banking in summer and using some in fall) with only a few 200 bills around winter, but since we did an addition it seems like it's been acting as a heat sink and our power consumption increased significantly (estimated 50%+)
Since SolarEdge can be oversized, I initially thought of adding 6 on shed to 6000 and was thinking on how to take advantage of room for 4 more on 3800
However, now I am thinking of adding as many as 22 (would like to build a solar carport, plus still put a couple on a shed)
Since I had single digit gaps in what I thought I wanted vs what SolarEdge would theoretically support (e.g. they may have only theoretical room for 10, but It would have worked better if I added 12 or 16) I thought of considering Enphase or similar for "filling the gap"... I did not yet research what would adding mean to wiring (one way or another, I assumed I could wire them to DC solar shutoff outside)
Probably the proper dependencies for my project should be something like
1) insulate addition better (currently it's a cement block box.. not heated other than a small room which has concrete floor connected to rest of "box" walls in room are R15+ insulated)
2) change my workloads (plans to replace water heater plus adding a mini-split for new space)
3) review loads again (and I bought an eGuage energy monitor off ebay to experiment with)
4) decide on how many panels I need moving fwd
5) design the system to the needs
So obviously I am far from #5, but wanted to know if there are any pros/cons in mixing the two, other than monitoring challenge, an installing an additional shutoff.
I do have a combiner box for SolarEdge outputs before it goes into main breaker (and grid), so I was going to consider plugging Enphase output into 3rd (available) breaker.
Alternatively, I could just add a whole new SolarEdge (another 6000 model), which probably makes sense if I end up with an array of around 20 panels
I also had plans to add AC Coupling based on another thread (https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...d-system/page3) for flexibility.
I am considering a DIY, as most of the work would be outside and not on my house, but would likely consult/hire electrician to do some of the finer work. Wanted to consult here first.
Thanks Forum,
While total capacity is 9800, I don't think I ever produced more than 8000 combined (there are two tilts on roof, the larger array is tilted steeper 30 degrees+, smaller is "summer friendly" (about 10 degrees))
Up until about a year ago, my annual power purchases were fairly low (e,g, selling back/banking in summer and using some in fall) with only a few 200 bills around winter, but since we did an addition it seems like it's been acting as a heat sink and our power consumption increased significantly (estimated 50%+)
Since SolarEdge can be oversized, I initially thought of adding 6 on shed to 6000 and was thinking on how to take advantage of room for 4 more on 3800
However, now I am thinking of adding as many as 22 (would like to build a solar carport, plus still put a couple on a shed)
Since I had single digit gaps in what I thought I wanted vs what SolarEdge would theoretically support (e.g. they may have only theoretical room for 10, but It would have worked better if I added 12 or 16) I thought of considering Enphase or similar for "filling the gap"... I did not yet research what would adding mean to wiring (one way or another, I assumed I could wire them to DC solar shutoff outside)
Probably the proper dependencies for my project should be something like
1) insulate addition better (currently it's a cement block box.. not heated other than a small room which has concrete floor connected to rest of "box" walls in room are R15+ insulated)
2) change my workloads (plans to replace water heater plus adding a mini-split for new space)
3) review loads again (and I bought an eGuage energy monitor off ebay to experiment with)
4) decide on how many panels I need moving fwd
5) design the system to the needs
So obviously I am far from #5, but wanted to know if there are any pros/cons in mixing the two, other than monitoring challenge, an installing an additional shutoff.
I do have a combiner box for SolarEdge outputs before it goes into main breaker (and grid), so I was going to consider plugging Enphase output into 3rd (available) breaker.
Alternatively, I could just add a whole new SolarEdge (another 6000 model), which probably makes sense if I end up with an array of around 20 panels
I also had plans to add AC Coupling based on another thread (https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...d-system/page3) for flexibility.
I am considering a DIY, as most of the work would be outside and not on my house, but would likely consult/hire electrician to do some of the finer work. Wanted to consult here first.
Thanks Forum,
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