DIY expansion of existing grid tied PV+Battery

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  • kholmar
    Junior Member
    • Jul 2022
    • 2

    DIY expansion of existing grid tied PV+Battery

    ok, so, I have an existing system with SunPower solar panels and their Micro-Inverters (which as I understand it, are IQ7s with SunPower's name on them)
    I also have a Tesla PW2 and it's gateway.

    so
    I have a vanity/hobby DIY project I am putting together with some self purchased solar panels that I am putting on a self built 2 axis solar tracker.
    remember, it's mostly a hobby project, so no discussions on cost-effectiveness please, it's not an issue.

    anyway, I am trying to figure out how I am going to attach this system to my existing system to make it work properly.
    I would like to use either Enphase IQ8Hs or IQ7s if I must and I am having difficulty locating enough information to find out how to commission them into my system.
    hooking it all up physically with proper wire sizing and such is no problem, I have that knowledge.

    Every time I go digging for information, I run into the Enphase roadblock of needing a certified installer to commission them but even their website claims that hooking IQ8s up in a grid tied format requires no certification but they are being dodgy with their communication to me (or maybe I'm just impatient, that's always a possibility).

    I am not particularly looking for step by step hand holding, just some pointers in the right direction and obvious major gotcha unknowns.
    I am amenable to going with a single 3k-ish inverter, something like solar edge sells but I only have 5 panels and there might be issues with minimum number of optimizers in the string, I have not yet dug very deeply into that as I would prefer Micro-Inverters...

    anyway, any discussion would be most appreciated.
    thanks!
    Bill
  • Ampster
    Solar Fanatic
    • Jun 2017
    • 3649

    #2
    The micros should work out of the box. The trick will be having some communication with them. I doubt that the installer of the Sun Power system will commission them. All that means is that their output will show up on the Sun Power app. An alternative would be another Envoy that you can then add these micros if you want individual monitoring. Otherwise the Tesla gateway may be able to report their total output. That will depend on whether the gateway can see their output..
    9 kW solar, 42kWh LFP storage. EV owner since 2012

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    • kholmar
      Junior Member
      • Jul 2022
      • 2

      #3
      will they come, out of the box, in a mode that will allow them to be shut off by the Tesla Gateway's frequency shift? I guess that's my main concern, as for monitoring, not too worried about that. The Tesla Gateway monitors input from the solar array via a CT clamp.
      THANKS!
      Bill

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