What Did I Build This For?

[Trell]

Your mother said you can't be left alone ...........

I feel safe now……….

 

[TLS Guy]

Are you using monocrystalline panels?

The panels rare REC, and use HJT technology.

Heterojunction Technology (HJT)

HJT solar panels have three layers of photovoltaic material:

Top layer: Amorphous silicon catches sunlight and light that reflects off the layers below.

Middle layer: Monocrystalline silicon turns most of the sunlight into electricity.

Bottom layer: Amorphous silicon captures any remaining photons.

 

[TLS Guy]

The panels rare REC, and use HJT technology.

Heterojunction Technology (HJT)

HJT solar panels have three layers of photovoltaic material:

Top layer: Amorphous silicon catches sunlight and light that reflects off the layers below.

Middle layer: Monocrystalline silicon turns most of the sunlight into electricity.

Bottom layer: Amorphous silicon captures any remaining photons.

So today was a really mixed bag.

We were delayed by ice. It rained very hard before turning to snow and went well below freezing last night. So we had to wait for the Sun to burn the ice off.

The next problem was I had not seen their materials, and when I saw the conduit it was much heavier than I had been led to believe. There was no way this could be installed on the composite Smartside rigid stack siding.

At that point we almost canned the project. However at the last minute the solution came to me. We can use the wood corner pieces. This however means going through the roof over the barbecue/outside kitchen and down to ground level. It leaves us with a long run under the lowest part of the siding along the concrete foundation. So there will be a lot of concrete drilling. This is doable.

Then the biggest set back. As soon as we decided on the plan, the electrician got a text and picture from his wife. Their truck has been involved in a serious hit and run in their driveway. There were parts everywhere and some got into the road. So he was gone for the rest of the day dealing with that.

Anyhow we did get all the mountings for the panels installed on the roof. The panels can not be installed without the electrician present.

Monday and Tuesday look like rain days. Due to our roof configuration we have determined we can not do roof work in the rain.

So it looks as if Wednesday will be the earliest work can recommence.

 

[mtrycrafts]

So today was a really mixed bag.

We were delayed by ice. It rained very hard before turning to snow and went well below freezing last night. So we had to wait for the Sun to burn the ice off.

The next problem was I had not seen their materials, and when I saw the conduit it was much heavier than I had been led to believe. There was no way this could be installed on the composite Smartside rigid stack siding.

At that point we almost canned the project. However at the last minute the solution came to me. We can use the wood corner pieces. This however means going through the roof over the barbecue/outside kitchen and down to ground level. It leaves us with a long run under the lowest part of the siding along the concrete foundation. So there will be a lot of concrete drilling. This is doable.

Then the biggest set back. As soon as we decided on the plan, the electrician got a text and picture from his wife. Their truck has been involved in a serious hit and run in their driveway. There were parts everywhere and some got into the road. So he was gone for the rest of the day dealing with that.

Anyhow we did get all the mountings for the panels installed on the roof. The panels can not be installed without the electrician present.

Monday and Tuesday look like rain days. Due to our roof configuration we have determined we can not do roof work in the rain.

So it looks as if Wednesday will be the earliest work can recommence.

You should have waited until December then you would have had to postpone it to spring.

 

[TLS Guy]

So today was a really mixed bag.

We were delayed by ice. It rained very hard before turning to snow and went well below freezing last night. So we had to wait for the Sun to burn the ice off.

The next problem was I had not seen their materials, and when I saw the conduit it was much heavier than I had been led to believe. There was no way this could be installed on the composite Smartside rigid stack siding.

At that point we almost canned the project. However at the last minute the solution came to me. We can use the wood corner pieces. This however means going through the roof over the barbecue/outside kitchen and down to ground level. It leaves us with a long run under the lowest part of the siding along the concrete foundation. So there will be a lot of concrete drilling. This is doable.

Then the biggest set back. As soon as we decided on the plan, the electrician got a text and picture from his wife. Their truck has been involved in a serious hit and run in their driveway. There were parts everywhere and some got into the road. So he was gone for the rest of the day dealing with that.

Anyhow we did get all the mountings for the panels installed on the roof. The panels can not be installed without the electrician present.

Monday and Tuesday look like rain days. Due to our roof configuration we have determined we can not do roof work in the rain.

So it looks as if Wednesday will be the earliest work can recommence.

Booked for Thursday November 7.

 

[TLS Guy]

Booked for Thursday November 7.

So we got the system complete today, and it now awaits inspection and the installation of the reverse meter by Dakota Electric Co-Op. Everything went very smoothly.

It was getting dark as we finished up, so I will take roof pictures tomorrow.

Of course that criminal Trump bloke will more than negate our efforts.

 

[Mikado463]

looking nice and tidy !
Don't worry about Trump, he'll be too busy building the wall, fly cargo planes of illegals back , etc.

 

[mtrycrafts]

looking nice and tidy !
Don't worry about Trump, he'll be too busy building the wall, fly cargo planes of illegals back , etc.

Of course, Mexico will finally pay for it all. Wonder what the interest will cost them from 2017.

 

[TLS Guy]

I took some more pictures today.

This is a view of the connection up to the panels.

This is a close view of the panels.

View form the end of the road entering the circle.

So the panels have not changed the appearance of the house significantly.
With the sun on the panels they should produce 7.6 KW.

The state electrical inspector will be here on Thursday November 14. If he passes it, and I anticipate he will, then Dakota Electric can place the reverse meter and the system can go live. So there will be no more news until Thursday.

Blue Raven Solar have not installed a system on an ICF home in this region before. So it turned out that I did a lot of the design from output of the panels to the main service. This has taken a lot of hours and negotiations. I am very happy with the installation at this time, and expect the hard work is in the rear view mirror. One thing I do know is that there are very unlikely to be any mechanical issues, and I don't think any part of it is about to fall or blow down. In a frame built home the system would attach to the exterior of the home.

I encourage members to consider solar projects, there is a big tax right off which will cover about a third and the sale of the reverse electricity flow should be close to self financing. It also makes the home more valuable at resale. I would be happy to advise any interested members, especially if you have good south facing roof space.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I took some more pictures today.

This is a view of the connection up to the panels.

This is a close view of the panels.

View form the end of the road entering the circle.

So the panels have not changed the appearance of the house significantly.
With the sun on the panels they should produce 7.6 KW.

The state electrical inspector will be here on Thursday November 14. If he passes it, and I anticipate he will, then Dakota Electric can place the reverse meter and the system can go live. So there will be no more news until Thursday.

Blue Raven Solar have not installed a system on an ICF home in this region before. So it turned out that I did a lot of the design from output of the panels to the main service. This has taken a lot of hours and negotiations. I am very happy with the installation at this time, and expect the hard work is in the rear view mirror. One thing I do know is that there are very unlikely to be any mechanical issues, and I don't think any part of it is about to fall or blow down. In a frame built home the system would attach to the exterior of the home.

I encourage members to consider solar projects, there is a big tax right off which will cover about a third and the sale of the reverse electricity flow should be close to self financing. It also makes the home more valuable at resale. I would be happy to advise any interested members, especially if you have good south facing roof space.

I am surprised they didn't install some of the lower rows further to the left of the upper rows, close to the vents to reduce shading.

 

[TLS Guy]

I am surprised they didn't install some of the lower rows further to the left of the upper rows, close to the vents to reduce shading.

That was late evening and the shading is not significant. We can not add more panels as NEC prevent more panels than will provide more than 20% of the electric service rating. The service is 200 amp which is pretty standard, so the max output of the panels can not be more than 7.5 KW. This is a bad limitation.

I have a lot of unused south facing roof, from which panels could be providing power in sub max sun conditions.

I have come up with an engineering solution for this, to provide longer periods of maximum allowed output. I have a very definite plan for this and will try and get formal approval for a trial. I have the circuits fleshed out already. I am certain it would work well. My plan would not violate the 20% code, but drastically increase the time operating at the 20% max rule.

 

[TLS Guy]

The rig past inspection last Thursday. The inspector was impressed and put the green sticker in the cabinet.

The latest hold up is to get the provider to sent the certificate of completion to the power company.

Also there was a hassle over the power company being worried about phasing issues. The provider also seemed to have a hard time with it.

However I have explained the issues to the satisfaction of all parties. There is an Enphase IQ8X inverter in each of the twenty panels. There is a master phase locked loop controller that keeps all 20 of the inverters in phase with great precision. According to the spec the inverter is referred to as a switching design. So this means that each inverter has a 380 watt class D amp. That probably accounts for their high efficiency and very good distortion specs.

Hopefully I have explained this to all parties satisfaction. Why I should have to is a fact that astounds me.

 

[highfigh]

The rig past inspection last Thursday. The inspector was impressed and put the green sticker in the cabinet.

The latest hold up is to get the provider to sent the certificate of completion to the power company.

Also there was a hassle over the power company being worried about phasing issues. The provider also seemed to have a hard time with it.

However I have explained the issues to the satisfaction of all parties. There is an Enphase IQ8X inverter in each of the twenty panels. There is a master phase locked loop controller that keeps all 20 of the inverters in phase with great precision. According to the spec the inverter is referred to as a switching design. So this means that each inverter has a 380 watt class D amp. That probably accounts for their high efficiency and very good distortion specs.

Hopefully I have explained this to all parties satisfaction. Why I should have to is a fact that astounds me.

You want to know why? It's because assuming that they know this fully is a bad idea and it would be safer to assume that they DON'T know it.

I have had discussions with inspectors over the decades about different things that they thought were done wrong. Well, let's call them what they were- arguments and disagreements. The most recent was just after I had COVID and I wanted a piece of Romex dropped from the TV above the junction box, but not terminated, so I could use a power inlet, then connect that to the Panamax surge protector in the cabinet via an IEC power cord, but the electrician doing the trim out on the project wasn't the person I had explained the reasoning to so I got a phone call, asking if I could contact the Village's electrical inspector because he had absolutely no idea what I wanted or why. I stopped in and explained- his next comment was "Wow! That's a really good idea!". They get nervous when they see non-terminated Romex, even if the other end is in the un-powered junction box behind the TV. He could have inserted a circuit tester in the upper box and found no voltage, but, well, ya know.....

I could have spent months showing them the techniques those of us in Custom Integration use for equipment safety, proper grounding, code violations by cable/sat installers, and tips & tricks that would allow them to know what they're seeing and dealing with- I would bet they look at you as if they're dogs watching TV.