Book Recommendations?

[diogenes]

New to the forum, and I hope I am not breaking any rules, But I need a good book on PV installation. Before I retired I was an electrical engineer, so I am not afraid of math or Maxwell's equations.

[solar pete]

Hi diogenes and welcome to Solar Panel Talk.

Member J.P.M has a knowledge of solar books and I think has recommended some before. You can also try the search function on the site if your looking for more general info. Some people who post here are qualified some are not, so always check what you learn, good luck with it and have fun, cheers

[J.P.M.]

Hi diogenes and welcome to Solar Panel Talk.

Member J.P.M has a knowledge of solar books and I think has recommended some before. You can also try the search function on the site if your looking for more general info. Some people who post here are qualified some are not, so always check what you learn, good luck with it and have fun, cheers

I'm afraid my library is bereft of solar PV installation manuals.

Not ducking out, but I'm confident others here have much better and recent information on the nuts/bolts of system installation.

[diogenes]

thanks for responding guys. I did a little searching and found this one I am ordering it


Solar Electricity Handbook - 2015 Edition: A simple, practical guide to solar energy - designing and installing solar PV systems. Paperback – January 5, 2015

[solarix]

There are some books on the theory of design and some on the practice of installation out there, but nothing very definitive. While the electrical design stuff is old hat, the practical side is still evolving with new mounting systems showing up and practices are dominated by each manufacturer's recommendations. Still kind of the wild west of how to do it best.
We're recently finding that the push to go to flashing style mountings is kind of bogus. They make a bunch of claims that the roofing industry requires this or that which is unsupportable. One mounting manufacturer emphatically says you have to pull nails from underneath shingles to allow insertion of the flashings which when we talk to shingle manufacturer's about it, they are a little abhorrent that solar people are pulling out their nails. Violates the roof warranty in fact... Then, they show in their training videos using a little sealant to seal the nail hole. Why not just seal the mount penetration where it is under compression and be done with it?
The latest fad is rail free mounting systems and they always show these ideal arrays with nice easy layouts where it is easy to do an accurate placement of the mounts. Well try doing that on a patchwork layout with vents and skylights in the way. The money you save in rails (but more expensive mounting devices) you lose in time trying get them installed in the exact right spot.
One of the best resources for practical education is Home Power Magazine. With a subscription, you can get all their back issues on DVD.

[diogenes]

Home Power Magazine, Will definitely check that out.

[Naptown]

There are some books on the theory of design and some on the practice of installation out there, but nothing very definitive. While the electrical design stuff is old hat, the practical side is still evolving with new mounting systems showing up and practices are dominated by each manufacturer's recommendations. Still kind of the wild west of how to do it best.
We're recently finding that the push to go to flashing style mountings is kind of bogus. They make a bunch of claims that the roofing industry requires this or that which is unsupportable. One mounting manufacturer emphatically says you have to pull nails from underneath shingles to allow insertion of the flashings which when we talk to shingle manufacturer's about it, they are a little abhorrent that solar people are pulling out their nails. Violates the roof warranty in fact... Then, they show in their training videos using a little sealant to seal the nail hole. Why not just seal the mount penetration where it is under compression and be done with it?
The latest fad is rail free mounting systems and they always show these ideal arrays with nice easy layouts where it is easy to do an accurate placement of the mounts. Well try doing that on a patchwork layout with vents and skylights in the way. The money you save in rails (but more expensive mounting devices) you lose in time trying get them installed in the exact right spot.
One of the best resources for practical education is Home Power Magazine. With a subscription, you can get all their back issues on DVD.

We flash all our penetrations.
I agree this is more for show than anything. Lots of systems out there done old school with just sealant under the L foot. The snap n rack goes quickly and cut the flashing not remove the nails.
Still seal under where the bolted portion goes into the roof.

The Zep system was nice till SC bought them and became unavailable for some reason.
Quick mount has a rail less system that would work for landscape on a 24" OC roof but have not used yet.