DIY Self-Install in San Diego - 7.84 kW for < $1.30 / W

[J.P.M.]

》>>> bit unconventional in that it will be mounted with 8" clearance to the ceiling of the garage, above the built-in closets. As far as I can tell, as long as clearances are maintained there is no requirement that it be at ground level.

Not that it means much, but my installer fought back with raising my inverter above 6 feet (the top above 6) saying it had to be "accessible" and the inspector would be a stickler so don't put anything in front of it or within 18 inches of each side of it. I wanted mine up high so i could put cabinets under it just like yours. Good luck.

Sensij: Good point on clearance(s). I missed that one. Depending on your AHJ, you may need to have clear access in front of the inverter. Example: My AHJ (county, not city as you know) made me remove a workbench section in front of the inverter. I've a friend/neighbor who's a county AHJ (not mine BTW) who confirmed the county can enforce clearances that way. Maybe a phone call ?

[sensij]

The rest of the conduit is in, and all the wire is pulled for now. I've made some more progress on the roof, 15 of 28 panels installed now. Still haven't gotten a good picture of progress up there, but I'll try to get one soon. At this rate, I'm just going to plow ahead with the inverter where it is at. If the inspector doesn't like it, I can have a conversation with him in that moment about a couple of other locations in the garage that I would consider. If needed, it will probably only cost $100 in additional conduit and wire to move, not bad at this stage.

I had some better success with the AC conduit... got the offset into the wall and three 90's in two planes to all line up nicely above the entrance to the MSP. The two 90's on the AC side closer to the inverter didn't come out quite as good, but I can live with it. garage - 1a.JPG
garage - 2.JPG
garage - 3.JPG
garage -4.JPG
garage - 5.JPG




The extra sheetrock cut here was leftover from when I wired the 240 V EVSE to charge my Spark EV, using the armored cable.

[J.P.M.]

FWIW, most of your garage looks just like mine - even the fancy door.

[emartin00]

Where did you get your labels? They are not code compliant.
690.31 G(4) requires labels to be Red with White lettering. They are also required to say "WARNING" not "CAUTION".
This may change in the 2020 NEC, but it still stands as of 2017 code.

[sensij]

Where did you get your labels? They are not code compliant.
690.31 G(4) requires labels to be Red with White lettering. They are also required to say "WARNING" not "CAUTION".
This may change in the 2020 NEC, but it still stands as of 2017 code.

Dang, I got them from pvlabels.com, and yeah, it looks like their filtering system isn't right. Looks like the more specific requirements are new for 2014... selecting 2014 NEC should probably have returned only red labels, but it doesn't. Thanks! I'll need to double-check the other labels now, too.

[sensij]

More pictures

labels - 1.JPG

For 690.56(B)

placard - 1.JPG

Current state of the roof:

roof - 1.JPG

roof - 2.JPG

[sensij]

A few more pictures. All the wiring is done, yellow conduit labels replaced with red, and 22 of 28 panels installed.

I used a Wiley ACE-2P passthrough from the roof to the attic, here is what it looks like: j-box open.JPG
j-box closed.JPG




Bonding is done by the integrated ground hardware mating the Iron Ridge, Canadian Solar, and SolarEdge equipment. The anodization on the clear and black rails definitely acts as an insulator, but in all of the places where continuity can be evaluated, it checked out. I tested a couple of panels in different sections of the array, as well as the rails which are only bonded through the panel frames. bonding.JPG



I've got an inspection scheduled for Monday. The system on my old house combined the rough and final inspection together. If this inspector wants to do a rough inspection of the mounting system, I'll have to uninstall panels to do it. I'm hoping these pictures will suffice, along with one or two more showing that the rails were attached to the hooks correctly. If it all looks done well enough, maybe he won't see the need to take it apart again.

One thing I appreciate better now... my roof is really wavy. Using fixed spacers to offset the rails from the tiles was a bad idea, I should have used string to set the heights of each rail in a single plane. I was able to make some adjustments as the problems became clearer (>0.5" height mismatch between rows in some places), but it isn't perfect. I think it is fine from any realistic viewing distance and angle at this point, but just a lesson learned to file away for later.

[sensij]

Also, for folks keeping score, at this point it looks like I'm over the 1.30 target in the subject by 0.05 (just under $400 over budget).

Total power = 290 * 28 = 8120 W
Total spent = 11,252.89
Total credits = 307.57 (credits come from cash back on credit cards, selling excess materials, etc)

Net cost per W = (11252.89 - 307.57) / 8120 = $1.348 / W

Below is what is has been spent so far. I don't think there will be more, but will up this post if it changes.
bom-1.JPG



Racking Detail: Bom - 3.JPG




Home Depot detail bom - 2.JPG

[cebury]

Beautiful details, man. Love it.

[bcroe]

my roof is really wavy. Using fixed spacers to offset the rails from the tiles was a bad idea, I should have used string to set the heights of each rail in a single plane. I was able to make some adjustments as the problems became clearer (>0.5" height mismatch between rows in some places), but it isn't perfect.

Thanks for the pictures. I learned to solve those irregularity problems with a laser level. Reading the details on
your expenses wears me out. good luck, Bruce Roe

[sensij]

I ran it for 30 min or so this morning, long enough to verify that all the optimizers are checking in. Here is the public site... I'll have to play games with my signature or bump my old system out, I guess.

https://monitoringpublic.solaredge.com/solaredge-web/p/site/public?name=Torrey%20Santa%20Fe

[SunEagle]

Congratulations on the new installation sensij.

[sensij]

Thanks for the pictures. I learned to solve those irregularity problems with a laser level. Reading the details on
your expenses wears me out. good luck, Bruce Roe

Congratulations on the new installation sensij.

Thanks... yeah, if I ever do this again, I'll get some better use out of my laser level. It helped with the conduit, but it would have really improved the rail installation. Here are a few more pictures.

main service panel: service panel - open.JPG



labeled: service panel - labeled.JPG




Finished array: array - e cropped.JPG



array - sw.JPG

[sensij]

Inspection went well... I stumped him with the inverter location. He is actually fine with the inverter where it is at, but is questioning whether the DC disconnect needs to be "readily accessible". What I have should meet the requirements of 690.15(A), but maybe not 690.13(A). He took a picture and will run it by his supervisor, and let me know in the morning.

SolarEdge sells the Firefighter Gateway as a remote shutdown option, but it costs &gt;$500, so if it doesn't fly, I'd probably just move the inverter. One other option to look into might be just a redundant disconnect, and run a third piece of conduit from where the inverter is now with the DC wires both going and coming to a disconnect that is in the proper location. I'm not sure I'll find a 4 pole, 30 A DC rated disconnect for less than the $100 or so it would take for me to go with that over just moving the inverter.

One other correction, he wanted the rapid shutdown plaque attached with rivets, not self-tapping screws. They also prefer it to be mounted on the hinged door to the MSP, not down below in SDG&E's portion of the box, but he is ok leaving it where it is. That one is sort of aggravating since the PV Plan Template the city makes available specifically states screws are OK, but whatever. Looks like I can get a light duty riveter and some rivets for around $20, one more item for the expense list.

plaque.JPG

[bcroe]

A new multi pole switch rated for high voltage DC, is pretty expensive. I picked up some 3 pole used ones on Eb+y,
some with fuses, some not. Do you need 4 poles for lack of a combiner box? Bruce Roe