Questions from the noob

[narfman0]

Hello all,

I've just been doing my own research on building a mini-pv power plant, and it has been great fun. I'd like to verify that my findings are at all legitimate if that's cool with you all, and any input is appreciated.

I'd like to install a grid-tie system based in North Carolina. I looked at a lot of tax credit information and found the 30% federal and a 30% state credit, and I was trying to look at how much one may be able to sell back to the utility company (I believe dominion power, in this case). I was seeing rates per kwh like .11$/kwh and .15$/kwh, but it looked like that was the rebate system paid in one lump sum upon purchasing instead of selling back month to month to the power company. Does anyone know what the rate is there, or where to look to find it, and any restrictions? Sorry I could not find a straight answer!

Also, I'd like to share my proposed system, please point out anything I missed. I was planning on getting the following:
33x Sharp 115W Thin Film PV Module (current=0.81A according to spec sheet)
1x Xantrex GT 3.8 Inverter 3800W grid tie system (max 60A)
1x SolarTorrent MPPT solar regulator (max 60A)
I was thinking wired in parallel yielding 33*0.81A=26.73A (with plenty of leg room). The panels were the cheapest $/kw, and the grid tie was the cheapest I found, and I tried to match everything cheap given that. My understanding is that the controller manages the panels then feeds the inverter. I don't think the controller matches very well (it wants 12-110v, though panel claims 174V?), but I read something about inefficiencies and didn't know if that came in to play here, I'd imagine it does. Does everything look complete, reasonable, or what would you change?

Thanks all!

[MarineLiner]

[narfman0]

I initially didn't find any enphase mini inverters less than around 170$, but now I see a model much cheaper for $57.68 bulk buy, which would end up cheaper. I can dump my controllers + inverter and get 33 (or however many solar panels I want) of these guys and save several hundred. Sounds good, and sounds more easily scalable.

[narfman0]

I do a lot of scheming in my free time, and this will probably not happen, but it is fun to think about. This is in North Carolina, about an hour away from my house. I would like simple cheap video surveillance and performance measurements. Optional monitoring setup:

I was thinking of grabbing a pay as you go phone with tethering capabilities. I could rewire the rumble feature of the phone so when it gets called to turn on a computer. The computer would auto-boot into a system which could send the status of the solar panels via the tether - checking all the levels and such. I'm a programmer - I figure I can write some sort of simple autoit script to aggregate results and a video feed from an attached webcam, then post the video to youtube, and email myself an html report of conditions along with a link to the video/picture. The system could then shut itself down for game over.

I don't know how I'd get the performance data to the computer, I just always assumed the controller/inverter/whatever would have some mechanism for that. Anyway, thanks for the enphase note.

[silverhorsefarm]

With Enphase you get full monitoring, for a modest fee

[Mike90250]

With Enphase you get "full" monitoring, for a modest fee

I don't think you can get spreadsheet level data, just the package data you subscribe to. Or maybe I'm wrong.

Xantrex has full data monitor via serial buss, SMA you need to buy an adapter, outback has some add-on too, that I think allows data logging.