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Believe the system has to be functional, not just purchased, before the tax credit is claimed, as well.

Sorry, man, but I disagree. I joined I think a couple of years ago when I started looking. My house is taking longer to get finished than I expected, so I haven't posted in a while. Once I get my system up and running, say in a year or so, I likely won't be posting often, either. As it is, I...

Wait a minute? You people are buying first gen Leafs? I thought they were supposed to pay you to take them away!!! Kidding aside, 120,000 miles in a bit under 4 years on my Model 3 Performance. I own a lot of cars (8). Musclecar, old Bronco, couple of Porsches, truck, etc. Outside of...

A lot of problems I see here. First of all, "those who can afford 3-5KW systems" are not going to generate revenue. Average home use is reported to be just shy of 900 KW-Hr per month. That's 30 per day, meaning a 5KW system will require 6 hours of sunlight 12 months out of the year. That may...

Perhaps the customer service of some other options has improved since I started looking, but given some of the anecdotes I've read here, it seems my best option. I don't mind struggling with batteries or panels, but i do want a straightforward inverter. My time is worth money, as well. I have...

Anyone else an Alton Brown fan? He has this thing against tools that only have one purpose. Calls them "uni taskers." They take up far more resources (space in the kitchen) than devices that are used for multiple purposes. Well, solar thermal water heaters are a uni-tasker. I looked briefly...

There's been an article from some less savory British publication about this, the assertion is that it traps moisture and causes the wood to rot. I've seen it several times over the past several months, and I have put it into the same bin as the reports that the mining required to make EV's is...

Sun is never very far south in the longer Summer days, so the non-S "penalty" the E-W array would suffer isn't nearly so big as shorter days when the sun is pretty far to the south at high noon. Similarly, the sun spends a pretty significant amount of time in the west and east, since it rises...

The 12K is really the outlier. The 15K is pretty well in line with the 5K. 8K is a little more. But the 12K is pretty much obsolete now due to the 15K. So I don't see the 15K really coming down soon. Maybe I'm wrong, I'll be in the market for a couple of them probably in the Fall.

Texas is almost 900 miles wide. Easier said than done. I thought their site listed a 10 panel minimum? Not sure what part of Texas, but out of curiosity, I looked up solar panels on Craigslist, and there are TONS on there. Might look at finding some locally, which may be both easier and...

Keep in mind that things are vastly different across the US. Even in how we are billed, from flat rate 24 hours per day, to a very large rate (over 2X what we pay here) in the day and free power at night. Some allow no form of buyback, some buy back at market rate for that specific time (i.e...

You need a fused disconnect between the meter and the transfer switch. You need to rewire your transfer switch such that the switched part (the center, the part your diagram shows connected to grid) goes to the panel(s), and can be moved from grid ("up") to inverter ("down"). The grid to...

Appreciate the caveat. Not a problem in my specific case. A few factors - one, much warmer climate (southern US) so the cycling into colder temperatures that would allow condensation to build up isn't going on as often. Second, when they do spray foam here, they fully seal the space, which...

But to his point, a great many technologies start out as niche things for the rich people in society. And their embrace of those things drives down cost and drives up supply to the point where the not-so-rich can afford it. And FWIW, the largest installer by me straight up told me that the...

Is there a glossary anywhere? Perhaps even better, a key that breaks down all the TLA's (three letter acronyms - yes that was intentional)? Trying to read through beginner's stuff, and there are so many acronyms that it is hard to know what I'm reading. Example, reading about BMS, which I...

True, but that's still a long day for most of the population. From Houston, load up, and return is 10 hours, for example (Houston is largest city in TX).

We used poured wall foundations, but are using open cell foam insulatioin throughout the house. A little bit of closed cell, but mostly open. Expected R value of insulation is R50. I'm not sure what insulation the builder put on the outside of the foundations. We had looked at the foam...

You are correct, but I can't recall the specifics on it, either. Obviously the various start up loads are going to be for a very small portion of time. The largest single continuous load I will have will be the car, which in my current home pulls 48 amps, or 11KW. I'll typically drive enough...

It iw about $0.115 per. And I screwed up and had 16.2, rather than 16.5KW. But, that means I could offset $270. I guess it is a little more. That isn't my bill. New construction in my case, but my current home uses 2250KW-Hr/month.......plus gas. Gas isn't available at the new home, so it...

New construction, has taken much longer than we expected for various reasons. But after we move in, I'll be installing a ground mount solar carport/awning/pergola type thing. Have to wait until we move in because the area I'll be mounting it is supposed to be held in reserve for the septic...

Helium is used for its physical properties, not it chemical inertness. No other substance can reach the temperatures that drive the use of liquid helium. Even liquid hydrogen is warmer than liquid helium.

Do you mind telling me what is going on with the MPPT inputs? I've been wondering why there appear to be 12 connectors for 3 inputs, and the manual shows MPPT1+ into connector 1, MPPT1- into 3, 2+ into 5, 2- into 7, 3+ into 9, and 3- into 11. So the even connectors aren't used. My best guess...

Has anyone taken this class anywhere? On the application for net metering, the form asks what level certification one has. Considering taking one of the ones that is available online, and getting the certification. Also may help me do a better job of identifying what my system will ultimately...

An LLC is a flow-through tax organization. That means that profits are taxed proportionate to ownership stake, at regular income levels, including SET. Both S and C corps are NOT. They pay salaries, and then disburse dividends to shareholders.......if they so choose. In addition to a more...

Edited again. So when I read the manual, it states to use a subpanel if there is a risk the current will exceed the inverters rated capability to prevent damage WHEN RUNNING OFF GRID. However, of the wiring diagrams in the manual, only one includes a subpanel, and that diagram shows it tied...

I do wish Sol-Ark had 6kw-ish grid tied (not hybrid) string inverters. Kind of like running EG4 stuff, one 18KPV and a pair of 6500EX's. That'd be $8200 rather than $11,200, though some of that savings would be consumed with additional wiring, I assume. But, I also would think that one could...

FWIW, LLC's are typically comprised of active founders. When companies are structured as S or C corps, it is often to create shares to be sold off to investors who are hands-off, but provide an influx of cash. Certainly not always the case, but that's more or less what is typically seen.

I'm curious to know how you came up with 20kw? I'm in the same boat, building a house. Supposed to break ground in a few weeks. A little bit smaller, but similar workshop. Builder is saying he'll bring 400Amp service in. I'm looking at splitting that into two 200A panels, and trying to...

That can take up to 30 days, and most CC companies will hold onto that interest as long as they can, so don't hold your breath.

I hadn't come across this listing before seeing this thread. Interesting in that all the racking systems I've seen have racks that are over 20KWh. The EG4's are 30, the SOK's are 25.6.

My goal is to be self reliant power wise. Net metering isn't offered, so the only real reasons I mention being grid tied are to have power until i get it all sorted, and in the event I'm a little short. The provider lists costs on their site at $0.105, but my bills have been closer to $0.13...

We should be pretty close. The closed is about twice as effective as open, but I've got more space. But yes, the closed cell stuff, from what I understand, does completely seal off everything. We have some tricky decks over living areas that have the closed cell and then open cell on top of...

New construction, I'm going through the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical stages right now. HVAC is all heat pumps, 18, 20, and 21.5SEER units (all induction/soft start/multi-stage compressors and variable speed blowers). Plumbing is a pair of heat pump water heaters, most likely Rinnai's (UER is...

Do you have a net metering option? Appreciate the feedback. That's one of the first things I'm looking to do. That said, I will probably start a new thread, as I don't want to detail the OP's thread any more than I already have. Sorry for getting off on a tangent. But....I still am curious...

We're the exact opposite in Tennessee. The only thing required here is strict adherence to specific Old Testament religious teachings! Okay, kidding aside (though it isn't far from the truth), TVA controls power generation (the local utilities push you to TVA for setting up the process), and...

Yes, the least used heat pump will be 19 SEER on the AC side, the other two are 20 and 21.5. Spray foam insulation trhroughout, 2x12's on the ceiling, so 11.5" of foam there, and 2X6's on the walls, so 5.5" there. Will be building a second array on our dock once I get that built. Will be...

New construction, plan to add solar after we move in, but am setting up things to make it a simple plug and play. Was discussing things with electrician yesterday, and trying to lay out the area where the meter goes in, where the panels will be, etc. He uses a "meter pack," which has breakers...

I'm sorry, I must have been ambiguous in my question. NEC requires a fused disconnect after the meter, before basically anything else. Sol-Ark 15K, but regardless, it goes meter -> fused disconnect (req'd) -> inverter. I believe that the switch also must be outside of the house and accessible...

Do you expect being proven right to change the dynamic at all? I mean, if you know you can do it, do you really care what some folks you don't get along with think? You prove them wrong, and their argument will be that you had $10,000 worth of lost productivity because you sat on your butt...

We are almost certainly going to refi once we sell the current home, so the lower closing cost of the ARM, knowing I'll just have to go through it again within a couple of years, is the driving factor. I've always had fixed rates before, this will be a first. But like I said, the circumstances...

I was actually mistaken. Apparently TVA backed out of the plan to eliminate net metering, but found some info about it this morning. That simultaneously alleviates and complicates things. Can probably somewhat follow this guy's approach, but at a smaller scale...

So the reason I was thinking multi-zone is that I may be forced to put the unit on one end of the room, and the room is about 48' long. So I'm figuring with 2 units, I probably would get more even distribution. I've seen some ceiling mount units that might work, but they are really expensive...

Rough design is 48' long, including overhang, and posts 16' apart, EXcluding overhang. Length is dictated by the width of the house, and post spacing is twice the width of the trailer, to give me the ability to maneuver it, as the structure will double as a covered area for my truck and trailer...

Open cell spray foam about an R50 value throughout the house. But the reason I'm asking is a box is going to have a volume about twice as large as this area, and subsequently, the surface area of the roof will be twice as big if I size it as if it were any other room.

So I ended up finding some "multi zone" mini splits. And those are factors larger than the load calculations I was coming up with. Not exactly what I was looking for (I'd prefer one remote, rather than one for each zone), but it sort of makes my question moot, as I'll be oversized, whether I...

A little devil's advocate. I've dealt with selling things. Some we inventory, some we drop ship for other sellers, some we are a seller who drop ships. I'll start with things we inventory. We have some things cross listed on our site, Amazon, and Ebay. Problem with inventory management is...

You should be mounting your inverter on cement backerboard, not wood

Bump.....anyone? Just trying to lay out a strategy at this point, not details. I'm at the "basics" point, here. I'm an engineer, but NOT an electrical one, so I'm pretty analytical, but don't know the details. A bit lost with all of the acronyms in conjunction with brand names and models...

Here's what I'm looking at: Sol-Ark 15K - $8250 BlueSun 460W panels (36) - $8800 EG4 LFP batteries (6x5KW-Hr) - $8400 New build, so while I know I'll have additional cabling and other costs, that'll be the bulk of it, and even if I round up to an even $30K after tax incentives, it'll still be a...

Building a house, breaking ground on June 1. In east Tennessee, near Knoxville. Have given up on solar shingles, but the good news is that we have space and a few locations where we can put arrays. We are too early to have any sort of loading numbers, so the only thing I have to go by is...

I've been thinking of one 15K for a primary array, and then a less expensive option for a secondary one, but this may tip me to just a pair of 15K's.

I am curious, as well. I have a similar situation to you. But for a 200 Amp system, I would think a more economical approach would be to either have 4 grid tied inverters, or a single Sol-Ark, utilizing the AC couple feature to run in power that comes from either additional string inverters...

Been a while since I looked at this, but here is where I am. Long term goal is to off grid, but I'll accept grid neutral. Near term goals are to get a 16.56KW system up and running shortly after we move it. I'm building an awning next to the house for my truck and a trailer, and the side of...

I've always understood net metering to mean one is charged according to the net consumption of electricity. When you pull from the grid, your meter spins clockwise. When you push TO the grid, your meter spins counter-clockwise (or anti-clockwise, if you prefer). So if one uses 2000KW-hr from...

So everything you read everywhere says that an input has to have panels all getting equal sun, blah blah blah. Looking at putting panels on a covered boat slip/dock, and I can run 2 strings, but I'd be beyond the nominal voltage. Why would I have a problem putting a 3rd input with an E facing...

I can't seem to find load calculators for my application. New construction, we want to keep the storage that we have from getting too hot. Don't need it room temperature, I'd say even 85 degrees is plenty cool. On the other end, probably only 40-45 degrees. East Tennessee, doesn't get too...

Thanks for the responses, all. I am trying to look into the water heater stuff, not ignoring the comments. And I'm out of town next few days. I'll be on site with builder twice next week, once with HVAC (this guy is big geothermal proponent), once with electrician (no solar experience)...

My understanding is that the inverter will get sufficiently hot, regardless of if it is charging batteries or not. Might also keep an inspector from raising it as an issue.

I doubt many places would literally still do it that way nowadays, either. We're required to have two meters with our system. Was just simplifying the explanation, rather than meaning that is literally how it is done.

I have a few questions, and I'm going to speculate on a general idea and give you feedback. 1. Are you putting solar in, or are you just trying to use this equipment to consolidate your meters? 2. Are your panels close to each other, at all? If so, what I would do is take your main panel, run...

It is CC company, not vendor. I think debit cards are faster?

Lightwave Solar, which is based in Nashville, but covers most of Tennessee (I'm in the Knoxville area). Grid tie, battery (Tesla) backup with 2.5X array capacity (i.e. a 10KW array would have 25KW-hr battery). Enphase or Solar Edge microinverters/optimizers if I used those, Hanwa or Q-cell...

Most Tesla Superchargers locations have pull throughs. Unfortunately, people just don't know what they are. Usually there is one dedicated charger for towing. That said, I'm keeping my Cummins for towing, but wouldnt trade my Tesla for any other daily driver out there.

Looking at BlueSun 460W panels, 50.8V, 11.22A. Sol-Ark 15K, 3 MPPT's, nominal voltage 175-425V. Max current 25Amps. I'm well within all of that. From the replies, there appears to be no reason I can't do that. Since they are facing E-W and opposing each other, each series wired string will...