Recent content by bighammer

I cranked it up and saved it.

The interpretation I heard was that if DC conductors are on or in your home at all, shutdown modules are required. If the inverter is outside and it's only AC coming in, you're good with just a manual disconnect.

Way cool. We have a deck on our west side that we don't use a lot because of sun exposure. I need to design something like that to make it more usable.

I went into town to an electrical supply place for the one little part to finish up my install. I asked for a cable sealing gland or strain relief and the guy at the counter kept asking "You mean a Chinese finger trap?" Finally after describing it a 3rd time, he heard me and dug out 2 different...

The diagram doesn't show a ground rod, so the array hardware would be tied into the ground of the house. I do have an extra ground rod and clamp laying around, so would it be a good idea to add it?

OK, maybe a stupid question, but I've got a 4 pole DC disconnect between my panels and inverter in a plastic enclosure. There is a ground from the inverter, (with the 2 pos and 2 neg conductors) and there will be a ground from the array racking. The inverter conductors enter thru a 3/4" conduit...

I have 4 of the #10 size plus a #6 THHN ground and it's a sort of snug fit in a 3/4" NM flex conduit. I have buried about 10' of it close to my house, but the rest is still out. Maybe I should cut it off and bump up to a larger size?

Now I'm questioning whether it even needs to be in conduit underground. I just saw something that said the "USE 2" extension means underground service entry. DOH! The provided wiring diagram called out for the 4 conductors plus ground being in conduit, but I'm guessing it's a generic diagram...

So you are not using Iron Ridge design or parts? They did my plan and I had no problem getting permits. There was a question about the pipes and concrete depth with the inspector and they got back to me pretty quickly, ready to stand behind it. A friend of mine who is an engineer, but in another...

My guess would be for 2 different breakers for the 2 different circuits. (but I'm not an electrician) Maybe a subpanel with a breaker for each that backfeeds a single breaker in the main??

I tried local supply places and no luck on spools. I pulled them out and separated them and brought them inside. I'm thinking some extension cord reels might be my best shot and give it another try. If covid weren't exploding here, I would've just called someone to do the final loose ends. This...

I don't have any spools, but planning to make up something this morning.

I'm almost to that stage. I have the same inverter and 320 watt panels in a 4x4 landscape ground mount array. I've had so many obstacles delaying this, but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today was just another messed up day. I had to run and get a new prescription and...

Tried to make use of the bags and bags of clips and tidy the wiring a bit. Hopefully good enough.... The leads on one side of the panels are too short to attach to the frame AND get to the module connection in the opposite croner, so they are hanging loose a bit.

I already have it bolted to the basement wall, thinking inside would be a better environment than snow and heat. Maybe I should rethink this....