7.7kW LG/Enphase System in San Diego

[71SoCal]

Question on wire usage:

I want to run my main #8 wires through my attic, down my walls, into the back of my disconnect, next to my service panel. Can I use Romex/NM 8/3 wire? I don't believe there's an issue with the wire in the attic or walls, but the wire will need to penetrate the roof.

My current plan is to use about a one foot long piece of EMT through the roof sheathing, flashed and terminated underneath my disconnect box. Will this fly? Essentially, I will have about one foot of Romex in conduit, above roof, in a wet location. How is this situation usually handled?

Thanks!

Just to clarify, I have two disconnects. One on the ground next to the service panel, and one on the roof, attached to one of my racks. The roof disconnect is the one I'm referring to.

[71SoCal]

Question on wire usage:

I want to run my main #8 wires through my attic, down my walls, into the back of my disconnect, next to my service panel. Can I use Romex/NM 8/3 wire? I don't believe there's an issue with the wire in the attic or walls, but the wire will need to penetrate the roof.

My current plan is to use about a one foot long piece of EMT through the roof sheathing, flashed and terminated underneath my disconnect box. Will this fly? Essentially, I will have about one foot of Romex in conduit, above roof, in a wet location. How is this situation usually handled?

Thanks!

[emartin00]

Why not be safe and use a 250 Enphase micro inverter?

Read the first 3 pages of this thread...

[solardavid]

matching micro-inverter to panel output

Why not be safe and use a 250 Enphase micro inverter?

[inetdog]

Just using a standard circular saw with a diamond blade. It's going to be a lot of cuts! I've got 40 new Q-Base mounts along with a fireplace and four other flashings. My electrical will drop down into the attic and pop out above the service panel. My wife has been running the A/C like crazy lately, so I'm really motivated to get this thing done!

FWIW, to break lose the last edge of a notch cut (unless you limit yourself to V cuts) it is often possible to score the tile and snap it off at the desired line. Practice on broken tiles.

[71SoCal]

Nice. What are you going to use to cut the tiles to fit over the Q-bases?

Just using a standard circular saw with a diamond blade. It's going to be a lot of cuts! I've got 40 new Q-Base mounts along with a fireplace and four other flashings. My electrical will drop down into the attic and pop out above the service panel. My wife has been running the A/C like crazy lately, so I'm really motivated to get this thing done!

[SunEagle]

Just wanted to post an update on my progress. I opened up the roof yesterday, and started papering it in and adding Q-Bases today. Re-roofing about 9 squares with double 40lb felt. Hope to get it all tiled in by Friday.

Nice. What are you going to use to cut the tiles to fit over the Q-bases?

[71SoCal]

Just wanted to post an update on my progress. I opened up the roof yesterday, and started papering it in and adding Q-Bases today. Re-roofing about 9 squares with double 40lb felt. Hope to get it all tiled in by Friday.
SML Solar1.jpgSML Solar2.jpg

[bcroe]

So I got my PV permit today from the city. My roof is now open and I'm getting ready to install the Q-Base footings for the racks.

Here's a hypothetical question: Once I get everything installed, I might still be down a week or more waiting for the final inspection, POCO/AHJ coordination, etc. If an unknown good Samaritan comes along and flips my PV breaker on early, will the power company know? I currently have a smart meter, but not a net meter yet. Of course I would hope that person would come by and flip the breaker off before any inspections occur.

If you don't have a net meter, they may end up charging you for your own energy. That was the situation here, waited
6 (supper sunny) weeks for the meter. Best I could do was turn on a string or 2 to help run the A/C; exceeding that would
cost me. Bruce Roe

[logdin]

So I got my PV permit today from the city. My roof is now open and I'm getting ready to install the Q-Base footings for the racks.

Here's a hypothetical question: Once I get everything installed, I might still be down a week or more waiting for the final inspection, POCO/AHJ coordination, etc. If an unknown good Samaritan comes along and flips my PV breaker on early, will the power company know? I currently have a smart meter, but not a net meter yet. Of course I would hope that person would come by and flip the breaker off before any inspections occur.

Thats an easy one. You will in all likelihood get a robo call advising you that your system is not approved to operate. Please ensure your system is not operating until approved. They will tolerate a few hours of initial testing, but beyond that, you'll be on report. I'd guess that lack of compliance will result in at a minimum, a "schedule re-arrangement" for your inspection and PTO.

I say in all liklihood because I know of at least one person that operated for two weeks without a call. But I also know of several that got the robo call after 24 hours of non-permitted operation. Let me caveat this.... I am only referring to SDGE. I have no experience with other POCO's.

Probably not worth it for much more than an hour or two. I'd recomend letting the dogs chase off the good samaritan. He could cost you a 1 week delay or more.

[71SoCal]

So I got my PV permit today from the city. My roof is now open and I'm getting ready to install the Q-Base footings for the racks.

Here's a hypothetical question: Once I get everything installed, I might still be down a week or more waiting for the final inspection, POCO/AHJ coordination, etc. If an unknown good Samaritan comes along and flips my PV breaker on early, will the power company know? I currently have a smart meter, but not a net meter yet. Of course I would hope that person would come by and flip the breaker off before any inspections occur.

[bcroe]

We got 4" of rain the past week. Now at the longest day, more clouds; I may never live to see what record
energy might be taken on a mid June really sunny day. Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

FWIW: Today, 06/19/2015 was quite clear at my house and I suspect some others in the area.

The clearness index from 7:00 - 17:00 solar time was .740 which means the atmos. passed 74% of the solar energy hitting the top of the atmosphere to the ground at my location. A good to very good day might be ~ .70 -.72 or so.

The Global Horizontal Irradiance at my location peaked today at 984 W/m^2 several times between 12:26 P.D.T. and 13:09 P.D.T. Solar noon was at 12:45:45 P.D.T. or so. That's a pretty clear sky and the max. I've measured under clear skies.

The P.O.A. global irradiance on my array peaked at 996 W/m^2 at 13:09 P.D.T. Also a high under clear skies. Basically, For those keeping track, it don't get better than that around here in terms of clearness. However, the heat and generally low wind velocities hurt production a bit, so some arrays might not clip as much, if at all.

[rwb1921]

I'm not sure what else he can tell you.

Clipping or not, it's very much dependent on your location and orientation. I actually had one of the better days at peaking today, even with the June gloom.
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Temp here was near 95 today. This is the highest my 285 Solar World panels could get today (mid 220's). Total output was 35.5. My m250's will never clip in the summer. My highest so far has been 253 when first installed. Also a cloudy/sunny day.

[thejq]

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So, a few weeks ago when my system was clipping, I called my installer. I told him about the clipping issue, and he assured me I would never recoup the lost production value of the clipping with the bigger, M-250's.

I'm not sure what else he can tell you.

Clipping or not, it's very much dependent on your location and orientation. I actually had one of the better days at peaking today, even with the June gloom.
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