How many of you were able to activate your sun power panels on your own?

[Lil12002]

Just like the question says who activated their panels on your own vs having a tech come out to your home to do it?

we purchased a new construction home that came with sun power panel’s. Our home sale went through on 12/30/20. And by 1/23 we had already been approved by the power company with permit to operate but after numerous calls to sun power they could not walk me through getting my system activated and they will have to send someone in person bur until april 7th. Which i find a very absurd amount of time, did everything else have similar issues with sun power?

[bob-n]

Sorry, I haven't dealt with Sun Power. I'm also sorry to hear that they are not treating you well.

I don't know if you have any legal right to activation in a reasonable amount of time. Check your contract. This may be one of those areas of law where you're at their mercy.

Depending on where you live, we are getting into prime solar production time, so the longer they delay, the less energy you get. In other words, they are costing you money by delaying.

If I were in your position, I would be escalating my request to management in the company...politely, but firmly telling them that over three months for activation is abuse. You can also mention that if they delay longer, they may be forcing you to call the public utility commission.

[Ampster]

If you have Permission to Operate is there anything that prevents someone from flipping the breaker on? Most systems have a boot sequence that verifies everything so it should be safe. The only "activation" I have ever had to do with DIY systems is to get a user account so the data could be reported. The meter on your home should be able to tell you if the system is generating energy.

I have heard of several solar system owners who have flipped the breaker with no bad results after final inspection by the building department. You should be able to verify that final inspection took place. Since it is a new home it is very likely, at least in California, that escrow could not close until the home was finaled and certificate of occupancy was granted.

[bob-n]

Ampster is correct and makes a good point. It may be possible for you to throw the switch without their help.

If you do, be patient. Many systems take a while to figure out the number of panels and get configured. Mine took roughly 5 minutes to fully wake up.

For my system, the power company installed an itron Netmeter. This guide shows you how to read the display of the meter, to know whether your array is generating or not.

https://www.eversource.com/content/docs/default-source/pdfs/net-metering-faq.pdf

[Bark]

I want to do this but what happens if in 10 years you need a new roof... is it friendly to be taken off and back on? I also think about create this https://websolarguide.com/solar-carport/

[bob-n]

It is not friendly to remove and reinstall panels after replacing the roof. It's a lot of labor, almost as much as originally installing the panels. You won't have to redo the electrical, but everything else is a complete reinstall.

You will also need some new mechanical parts, but those costs are minor compared to the labor.

[Ampster]

There can be time saved if the roofer and solar people can coordinate. If the panels and rails can be staged on another portion of the roof, then the panels and rails do not have to be restacked on the roof. Also, if there are micros or optimizers, they can be left on the rails. Coordinating the flashing can also same some time. In some cases it may be tradoff between roofer time and solar workers time.

[J.P.M.]

I want to do this but what happens if in 10 years you need a new roof... is it friendly to be taken off and back on?

One thing heads' up potential rooftop residential PV owners do is to have the roof inspected and brought up to standard date so it'll have the highest possible probability of being fit for purpose for at least as long as the array is (fit for purpose).

You do not want a roof problem near or under an array. Another little factoid the solar peddlers who do not do or subcontract roof work usually fail to mention, and that homeowners are in too much of a hurry in a hurry and too cheap to consider.

[Lil12002]

If you have Permission to Operate is there anything that prevents someone from flipping the breaker on? Most systems have a boot sequence that verifies everything so it should be safe. The only "activation" I have ever had to do with DIY systems is to get a user account so the data could be reported. The meter on your home should be able to tell you if the system is generating energy.

I have heard of several solar system owners who have flipped the breaker with no bad results after final inspection by the building department. You should be able to verify that final inspection took place. Since it is a new home it is very likely, at least in California, that escrow could not close until the home was finialed and certificate of occupancy was granted.

When i called Sun Power that's the first thing they asked me to do manually. I did it on two occasions and both failed which is why they need to send someone out in April.

[oregon_phil]

Do you have a SunPower Equinox system? If yes, there is an entire support section for Equinox commissioning. Search Sunpower Equinox commissioning. This might help you. It appears to be what tech use to help them through the process.

[khanh dam]

Yes I installed my own sunpower solar panels and turne don the system . Saved $20,000 vs them doing it.

Just like the question says who activated their panels on your own vs having a tech come out to your home to do it?

just ask them to pay you for the 2-3 months of lost production which will be around $300 most likely.
hard to troubleshoot yoru issue with no info. at the bare minimum post photos, type of inverter used, micro or string and errors blinking leds, etc.
I get the impression you know nothing about residential electricity so best to just let the pros fix it.

I believe sunpower has guaranteed production, read yoru contract.

[Lil12002]

Yes I installed my own sunpower solar panels and turne don the system . Saved $20,000 vs them doing it.



just ask them to pay you for the 2-3 months of lost production which will be around $300 most likely.
hard to troubleshoot yoru issue with no info. at the bare minimum post photos, type of inverter used, micro or string and errors blinking leds, etc.
I get the impression you know nothing about residential electricity so best to just let the pros fix it.

I believe sunpower has guaranteed production, read yoru contract.

I will take pictures of my setup tonight and post them. you're right i don't know anything about residential electricity, but the sun power people who i called walked me through resetting the meter and the circuit breakers but they weren't able to get it going.


i'll take a look at the contract.

[Lil12002]

Here is my setup there is a lever outside which they had pull and push when I called sun power

[khanh dam]

sorry can't even read what the label says in first photo, no pictures of inverters, panels, etc. I'd tell you to call, but this forum is locked down like a max prison, I'd suggest going on facebook solar groups and asking, easier to post photos and get help.

[oregon_phil]

I think the first picture is the Sunpower PVS6 "The PVS6 is a datalogger–gateway device used for solar system and home monitoring, metering, and control."

1) What color is the LED on the PVS6? The picture is too washed out.

LED Color Indicates
Green PVS6 is booting up but is not ready yet.
Purple PVS6 is ready and operating normally.
Blue PVS6 is downloading and updating its firmware (FW).
Orange PVS6 firmware update failed; or the USB drive is still plugged into the PVS6 (after the update was downloaded from the USB drive onto the PVS6).
Solid red There is a critical error and the PVS6 is not functioning normally.

2) I think the OP has sunpower panels with microinverters. To me, the second picture looks like a subpanel just for the microinverters. This subpanel connects to the main panel somewhere.

You probably have new breaker in your main electrical panel that needs to be turned on. And there might even be another shutoff between picture 2 and your main panel.

Are there any more RED labels on your main electrical panel or other electrical boxes inside or outside the house?