7.2KW Solar Installation Progress in NH

[Carl_NH]

Well, 2 installers from Revision Energy arrived yesterday and got all the rails installed, and Solaredge inverter installed in the third garage bay area and the conduit runs in.

They installed a monitoring meter to the right of the inverter which shows total production - not really necessary, but this is their "standard practice" also I understand this can be used to track SREC but currently we don't have a purchase program in NH..

There will be no visible wiring or conduit - its all above the dropped ceiling and they came through the roof with a junction box. My office 16x42' is in the upstairs area - we have knee walls so all the wiring runs are inside.

Overall great attention to detail with a neat and professional installation. No, I didn't get the lowest price per watt..

They will finish on Monday with the panel installation 24 LG300W Neon with SE Optimizers. More pics will follow on completion.

[peakbagger]

There is a SREC program in NH, unfortunately the utilities convinced the state to set the rates very low. My system as well as many others are signed up. It is a bit paperwork intensive to get certified as a seller. You have a choice of registering as an independent generator or you can go under the umbrella of an aggregator. You also need an independent auditor to read and report your quarterly output. Ideally if he can log in to a website and take the reading its easy for him, but I just send him a dated digital photo ever quarter. He does have to visit the site once to verify the equipment and metering. Once he reports the data then you need a broker that actually sells them. The broker aggregates multiple systems to make a sellable quantity. I think a lot of the solar installers are Maine or Mass based and don't want to hassle with it

There is 15 month lag from when you sign up to the first check. I might get $200 a year for my 4.6 KW system. I mass it might be $1000

Paul Button in an independent energy auditor that also does SREC audits. He live in southern NH and can get you set up.

[Carl_NH]

Thank you for the reply, and Revision Energy estimated the SREC value at $50-55/KW per year and like you state there isn't a real program in NH.

So I would stand to make about $400 year. So $4000 over 10 years will make a big dent in the ROI considering my net cost after Federal and State is $13K leaving $9K. I calculate we will save $1600/year in electric costs so the ROI between SREC and savings will be around 8 year ROI. Not too bad.

I will have a web page as part of the SolarEdge system so it should be easy to verify against the meter they installed as well if there is any question.

Thank you also for the name of Paul Button - I will reach out to him next year once we are operational.

Carl

[Alisobob]

There will be no visible wiring or conduit - its all above the dropped ceiling and they came through the roof with a junction box. ....

Overall great attention to detail with a neat and professional installation. No, I didn't get the lowest price per watt..

Yup.... nicely done!!

[peakbagger]

Not a problem, Paul has really helped us in the north country to jump through the hoops. Of course he does stand to make a few bucks as an auditor but he spends far more time explaining how to do it than he stands to gain. The utilities in NH argued to the state that there shouldn't be an incentive for RECs as it wasn't needed as solar didn't make sense in NH. Thus they marginalized the REC price. A group of aggregators and others are working with us small guys to gain support to do a solar carve out with a higher price for RECs. Every KW counts!

By the way I found his e-mail pbutton@energy-audits-unltd.com

Another by the way is that Revision Energy has a great rep. I did my own but usually refer folks to them. I think you called it right, they may not be the cheapest but they seem to do a good install.

[Carl_NH]

Installation Complete 12-22-14

4 Guys showed up today, - made quick work mounting the optimizers, and pulling the wires and doing all the connections. The wiring actually took longer than the installation of the panels and optimizers.

Very gray December day here in NH and it started to rain as they were completing so didn't get a shot of the completed panels on the roof - maybe we see sun again in three days!

Powered up the system and have a SolarEdge Login now - we produced 320 Watts! but shut the system down as we need to get inspected then a net meter will be installed by PSNH (POCO) maybe this year. As I read here if you run the PV before the net meter you will pay twice..

Anyway here are some shots from today - once we get some sun I will send finished install.

Carl

[Alisobob]

[sensij]

I don't mean to pick on your installation, but it appears the lag bolts are not protected by any flashing, just sealant. Although common, I do not believe that is really a best practice. With your architectural shingles, the surface of the roof is not flat, and I can see by zooming in on the picture that there are at least a couple of the L-brackets that landed on the edge of a shingle and are therefore not completely flush to the roof. It will probably be fine, but if you have access to the rafter space, you might want to take a look after a couple of seasons and see if you can detect any seeping.

[Carl_NH]

I don't mean to pick on your installation, but it appears the lag bolts are not protected by any flashing, just sealant. Although common, I do not believe that is really a best practice. With your architectural shingles, the surface of the roof is not flat, and I can see by zooming in on the picture that there are at least a couple of the L-brackets that landed on the edge of a shingle and are therefore not completely flush to the roof. It will probably be fine, but if you have access to the rafter space, you might want to take a look after a couple of seasons and see if you can detect any seeping.

Yes, I understand and I questioned this as well as I have seen the metal flashing "boot" used in other installations. Yes, there are 3-4 that are sitting at a slight angle out of 48 mounts but they are in solid contact with the roof. Personally I watched this process closely and they missed 2 rafters in the 48 positions and there they placed flashing under the shingle and sealed it but the foot of the bracket also covered the holes.

They did hit and drill each rafter then sealant in the hole, then 3" SST lag bolt with sealant around the L bracket. They have installed over 3000 systems in ME and NH, and have an excellent rep in the region, so I don't expect any issues. And they provide a workmanship warranty 5 years as I recall.

I do have access to the roof area and will check this after a few years - thank you for the comments.

[SunEagle]

Yes, I understand and I questioned this as well as I have seen the metal flashing "boot" used in other installations. Yes, there are 3-4 that are sitting at a slight angle out of 48 mounts but they are in solid contact with the roof. Personally I watched this process closely and they missed 2 rafters in the 48 positions and there they placed flashing under the shingle and sealed it but the foot of the bracket also covered the holes.

They did hit and drill each rafter then sealant in the hole, then 3" SST lag bolt with sealant around the L bracket. They have installed over 3000 systems in ME and NH, and have an excellent rep in the region, so I don't expect any issues. And they provide a workmanship warranty 5 years as I recall.

I do have access to the roof area and will check this after a few years - thank you for the comments.

I also question the location of that junction box for the roof penetration. I looks like it will be under one of the panels. That makes a nice clean installation but I wonder if it needing to remove that panel to access the junction box is acceptable per electric code?

[Mb190e]

I also question the location of that junction box for the roof penetration. I looks like it will be under one of the panels. That makes a nice clean installation but I wonder if it needing to remove that panel to access the junction box is acceptable per electric code?

That's how mine is passed inspection just fine.

[SunEagle]

That's how mine is passed inspection just fine.

Ok. Just wanted to make sure he didn't get flagged by the inspector. Nice and clean and per code is fine with me.

[Carl_NH]

I also question the location of that junction box for the roof penetration. I looks like it will be under one of the panels. That makes a nice clean installation but I wonder if it needing to remove that panel to access the junction box is acceptable per electric code?

It's physically under the first panel lower left side of the roof and the conduit runs in the knee wall space down to the inverter panel. We have had 3" rain here in last two days and the underside of the shingles are almost dry.

Like MB190e's install, mine is identical except for the location of the box at the bottom of the panels vs the top it appears.

[SunEagle]

It's physically under the first panel lower left side of the roof and the conduit runs in the knee wall space down to the inverter panel. We have had 3" rain here in last two days and the underside of the shingles are almost dry.

Like MB190e's install, mine is identical except for the location of the box at the bottom of the panels vs the top it appears.

I noticed the locations of the boxes and if I had a choice I would go with yours since it should be easier to access then the one at the roof peak.

If that box is only a "pass through" for the wires and does not have any splices or terminations then there really wouldn't be a need to access the inside.

Looks like a nice clean installation. Keep us informed on how well it produces.

[Carl_NH]

I noticed the locations of the boxes and if I had a choice I would go with yours since it should be easier to access then the one at the roof peak.

If that box is only a "pass through" for the wires and does not have any splices or terminations then there really wouldn't be a need to access the inside.

Looks like a nice clean installation. Keep us informed on how well it produces.

Update: Building & Electrical Inspector were here this morning - yes Christmas Eve, and all passed with flying colors. They were impressed with the panel and inverter installation and neat conduit runs.

To your point Sun Eagle, the box on the roof box IS a splice point for the panel connection - two in my case since there are 12 panels per string thus 2 black, 2 Red, (for panel strings) then neutral and grounds. There needs to be a splice at some point and this is the only splice point between the panels and the inverter.

Carl