Most reacted posts

anti-islanding meaning it shuts off the system if the grid goes down so it won't energize the lines on the utility and possible harm the line workers?

I was thinking of coating my flat room area with a reflective white silicone or acrylic sealant. It will help seal the roof and reflect most of the sun. Also this might be a boost for the bifacial panels underside...

I 100% will ask for a full refund. Ebay is suppose to be reputable platform not some back alley deal with a guy in a trench coat in a rusted out van. They should honestly ban these scam sellers. What is also disturbing is that a lot of people may fall for the scam because he has decent...

It's like that case where the police arrested a women who was the mother to a 30 year old son who was accused of being another person who was 28. She was like, how can a 28 year old women have a 30 year old son? That would means she had a child while being negative 2 years old. It's not...

Yeah its like if they wish it to be true, then it will somehow become true. It's like if you really wanted to be a dolphin then somehow you can be a dolphin and start swimming around the ocean in a pack of dolphins. Maybe you can even get some degenerate "Doctor" to surgically make you look...

A lot of installers on the news recently and not for a good reason.

It might be more simple to have everything 240 but the difference between a shock on 120V and 240V can be life or death. The idea here I think is that the 240V are only in heavy applications like dryer/ water heater. Places that you need a lot of power. Then regular house plugs to like...

I should suggest on the comments for the youtube video I have been watching to ask them to try comparing the panda plastic to mylar.

I tried but the people who sell these mounts refuse to take my money. One buy was like 80 minimum order and the other guy said we won't sell to me unless I buy an entire system from him even though I already purchased much of the equipment already. I guess maybe this is why Amazon did so well...

There was another guy on Ebay who has always delivered exactly what he promised. The problem is the type of mount I need for a flat surface that use a ballast instead of screwing into the roof are difficult to get and cost a ton. They are adjustable so you can fit a certain number of panels...

To me, AI is like "ask Jeeves", basically a robot butler who job is to google stuff for you. Problem is your robot Butler is stupid and pulls up the wrong information half the time. Some lawyers got in trouble for filing cases and citing cases that did not exist because they had AI write the...

AI is wrong all the time. It said that George Washing was black and Nazi were Asian. It also said that its healthy to eat 1 rock per day and to thicken tomato sauce with glue. I would not trust AI too much in its current form .

The door is liked rusted in placed and completely seized up. It might be possible with the right tools to get that door open but its not something I can do easily or anytime soon.

Is there a problem with laying Solar panel horizontal on a flat roof without a frame? Maybe the issue is pooling of water or heat accumulation? Can you please let me know what the problem with laying them flat on a flat roof? Thanks. P.S. These guy selling flat roof mounts are making it very...

One seller drops ships all this products and will gladly sell you however many you want of the 10 degree however when it comes to 5 degrees, he wants like some insanely large number as a minimum order like 100 units. The second seller said he will send them to me but ONLY if I buy an entire...

You are in Colorado and using C instead of F temperature? In Florida, we use F. I guess its C for Colorado and F for Florida right :) Anyway the hurricanes are so strong here, it honestly does matter what you do. If you get hit by a hurricane, you are screwed either way. Hurricane hit a...

I think I asked if a 120V microinverter would find its way into a grid with higher volts. It's true that AI gets a lot of stuff wrong. I think AI said that George Washington was black and even draw a picture of him being black. I guess it never learned basic history or hallucinates.

Normal cars don't catch fire when they hit a small rock in the road or take days to put out or the amount of water that it takes to put out an EV fire. Normal fire can be put out in a few minutes. There was a video of some guy with an E-scooter battery in the elevator and as soon as the door...

If solar panels take light and convert it to power, what is to prevent the reverse from happening and it sucking the power and converting it into light or heat? Could solar panels end up costing you power by having it flow out of them somehow? Can you put in like a one way valve to make...

Well this "500W" panel is just about 1 square foot. I wonder if they do the same scam locally in China or if this is just something they do to Americans.

You don't look Japanese to me.

Oh, did I say I had a 3 phase dryer? If I did, I may have misspoken. No, I don't have a 3 phase dryer but I do have 3 phase AC unit, pool pump and various other large motors in my house. I know they are 3 phase because the metal plate on them say its 3-phase and my power company told me that my...

Are you talking about industrial or residential? Standard US power socket is 120V right? I would think an average apartment may have only 120V except for maybe a dryer ?

There are many news stories from Florida, Las Vegas, California, etc.... of people who have been totally scammed by these door to door solar salesman. There was one grandmother who the salesman like faked her signature after she died and tied her into something like a 30 year lease which her...

No one in my neighborhood has solar, wind, or any other power generating capacity. I have flown around in my drone and I see nothing of the sort. So it looks like I am the only one. Secondly my micro-inverters operate at 120V. So you are saying it will have to raise that Voltage above 120V in...

The Ebay seller's response " For the 400W solar panel you order, this is mini upgraded style. here is the ideal test data, if test under ideal situation, you‘ll get 400W: AM=1.5 Irradiance=1000W/㎡ Temperature = 25° To go to 400WAnd we recommend that you connect the electrical appliances within...

By the way, I paid over $600 for a bunch of these panels and I was offered $20 discount to keep the fake 400W panels. Seller is unable or unwilling to provide any data sheets, spec sheets where anyone is claiming the solar panel this size can produce 400W. On the other Ebay Smaller who told...

It's a chilled water system. It cools water which pumps into the house on a loop allowing the air handlers to convert the cold water into cold air then it return the warmed water to the condensers and repeats the process. It's typically used for commercial buildings. I'm not sure how else to...

YES YES YES ,I need this. My regular volt meter's probes do not fit into these MC4 connector plugs very well. Always falling out. Thank you for sending me this.

Would this be an ok micro inverter for someone trying to test out solar for the first time? https://www.inverter.com/images/uploaded/WVC700-micro-inverter-instruction-manual.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOorsnCFa_DvmSpiocb6b8dl3WZIYB6_Wob5xzxlvDcePF-kkKn88 What are your thoughts? It will feed up to 700...

Are there any good 3rd party energy monitoring equipment to track power production? The micro inverters I purchased have some strange 433 gateway device that you have to buy separate. I don't know why they have no built in wifi or bluetooth. Maybe that is common in China but I never seen it...

What if you attach them flat and don't flex them ? Do they still die that quickly?

I may have forgot to mention that my micro inverters have a " zero export" mode which is suppose to not allow power to be exported to the grid. I'm not exactly sure how it knows if power is being exported to the grid or not. I maybe able to schedule my pool pump to always turn on during the...

Can AIO(All in one) be set to ONLY charge solar generator with excess power? In other words, NOT to charge when house is in need of power from solar panels and not to use grid power to charge the battery. Simple as a way to take possible excess power and prevent it from exporting it to the...

What are you saying exactly? Why is solar not acceptable on a 10,000 square foot house? I have a certain area where the sun beats down on a flat room that is in the kitchen area. Room before very hot. Roof is currently darkish paper substance and like gravel rocks all over. We think that sun...

By the way, I just got in my "500W" solar panel and somehow it's even smaller than the counterfeit 400W solar panels. 15" X 12.5" and looks like they took a picture fame and put a solar cells inside. Does not even look water tight. This one was a better deal than the first one at 13.8 cents per...

Should you mount the panels as close as possible to each other or do you leave a little space between then? Like should you have them flush mounted with each other one panel touching the next or should there be like a gap between them? I know I can fit more in my limited space if they were...

I have heard that more people have died from "green" energy then Nuclear power plants. Especially those windmill where people are like dangling upside-down from a Helicopter trying to bolt something together. The grid tie inverters will stop the process if no grid is detected and my backup...

Yes

Well, in South Florida, the air conditioner alone runs 24/7 even in the dead of winter unless there is a cold front. It's a 20 ton commercial unit for the house. Even when air conditioner compressors turn off, air handlers still on. We have old thermostat, might open and close the vents but the...

Did you ever figure out how to do the "Zero Output Control" ? Did the manufacturer ever get back to you on this?

1. I don't know where the Utilities come to the house. The Meter is just a average looking meter without any wires or anything going into it I think its all underground conduit or something. 2. The panels are very old and like rusted shut. It would take like a crowbar, sledge hammer or...

Whole house is setup on a 3 phase 20 ton chilled water system. Inside parts use chilled water for cooling. The mini splits or even regular residential AC are a whole different animal down to the DNA. We have plenty of computers, servers, etc... that run 1 phase inside the house. I think fridge...

I have seen the videos. You want me to post them on here? There is one where the mayor or city manager was talking about all the destruction caused by those EV cars during the hurricane. Let me take a wild guess, you drive an electric car?

So the grid is higher volts and my inverter is lower volts. My inverter is suppose to match the waves of what it sees in the grid . So this is why I did not think it would mess with the grid but then people are saying the other legs are pushing and pulling pulses and if one leg gets too much...

I don't know why these guy don't print what type of hookup you have on the meter or some equipment. I called my power company and asked them what type of setup I have and they had no clue. Every phone option is about different ways to pay your bill but the people answering the phones don't...

imbalance for the house or the grid? I don't plan on every backfeeding the grid since I use more power then I produce. My power consumption is close to over 12,000W and close to 13,000W these days at any given time. My panels are almost going to be flat with very little angle. I don't see it...

The little amounts add up in the long run when you are talking about running nonstop 24/7. We have a room that overheats even with commercial size AC units due to the sun beating down on the roof. Even painting the roof with a highly reflective paint or other coating would benefit us by cooling...

I recently purchased some advertised 400W solar panels on ebay. The solar panel is very very small. It is about 1/3 the size of my 200W bi facial panels, half the size of my 120W flexible solar panel and my older 100W panel from years ago that I never got to setup . If I were to estimate how...

Are you talking about how many Hertz the system is?

I think FPL for the south Florida area is they charge you like 12.5 cents per kwh but if you provide them power, they only pay like 2-3 cents per KWH. So, your cost is 12.5+ cents but if you sell to them, its only 2-3 cents. Does not seem like a good deal to ever produce more than you use if...

So I need to put tinfoil over my power meter to block the signals to buy a faraday cage? Maybe tell them to get the power reading by sending a person vs getting all that meta data beamed up every minute? What do you think they are going to detect? Someone using less power then normal but not...

You are saying that micro inverter should be replaced with a RSD. RSD is a disconnection system right? My power goes into the garage not a basement. In Florida, basement flood during hurricanes. I have a lot of commercial stuff in my house and I think my biggest power demand if from a 20-ton...

I think there is a step down Transfer before the meter by the street in front of my house . In one of those green boxes.

It's HUUUUUUUUGE ! Just joking, its about average for my neighborhood I think but my neighborhood has some pretty crazy houses. The house is old but it was built with the best stuff money could buy at the time of construction from the original owners. The walls are so thick that the WIFI in...

I think its called a "WVC-1200 micro inverter" https://www.inverter.com/images/uploaded/WVC1200-micro-inverter-instruction-manual.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoqnQTlbLKBfy6yL-fQ1rUlX1GPhafi1P1q9LPrGjFLhZJHYMJoj

True and everyone plays the fool at some point and there no exception to the rule. Also, both sellers were from CHINA surprise surprise. I thought they were suppose to be an honorable people. I guess not.

How do I mount to a flat roof without drilling into the roof? Is there like some kind of ebay/Amazon product that I can buy for this ? Something that perhaps can use weight to keep the panels in place. Also what is the normal angles these are suppose to be. I am in the 33156 zip code(South...

Does the Power company charge you for Solar electric without special meter(NET metering) Someone on youtube said the standard meter can detect what your house is using and it assumes its all from the power company and charges you for all the power it sees you using? I'm not sure if that is the...

I'm looking for 5 degree. The 10 degree ones I can find.

What does not make sense? I am in the process of trying to buy and set this system up It's a work in process. We use 120V in the US except for bigger stuff like motors use 240. I hope to be able to take the edge off my power bill. I have no plans to export anything to the utility. The...

Around 10,000 square feet The AC has 2 compressors. The second one is sort of a backup or will come on particular hot days. Also, the south Florida area gets very hot pretty much year round.

Does the Grid-Tie system power the entire house or only the individual circuit? I'm talking about the type of grid-tie in which you plug in a standard computer cable type plug into a standard electrical socket and its suppose to push the electric back into the house from that plug. Does that...

What do you mean by a bureaucratic headache? The government goes after you if you put up a few panels on a flat roof? I was thinking of putting sheets of Mylar on the ground like they have in those hydroponics grow tents to reflect some light back up behind it.

The AIO allows for you to setup a place to dump your excess power instead of feeding it back to the grid? This is like a more evolved form of inverters with more smarts and options built in? I wonder if also scheduling my pool pump to turn on during the power that solar power spikes might have...

I will never produce more power than I use. I have a small flat area that I can have solar panels and use nearly 13,000 watts at any given time. I'm not going to ever produce anywhere near that amount. I checked one of my motors and it said " Volts 230/460" and its running 24/7 It does not...

Checked on my meter. It's Digital and has wireless communication with FPL(Florida power and light). It made by a company called Silver Spring Networks. Type Focus AXR.

I have done drip irrigation on my various plants and trees. I wondering if I could rig up some kind of spray system connected to a pump, sprinkler or timer. Maybe with some kind of filter in the middle. Where I live, the rain usually comes down hard for a short period of time.

They look like they require drilling or screwing into the roof. I am looking for a system that uses gravity and without drilling. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thank you for the suggestion but does Unistrut allow for flat(or near flat) mounting with no drill? I don't think it does.

Should not be a problem since I consume more then I produce as far as electric. However you are saying that imbalances in one leg of the power can cause power exporting even if you don't produce more than you consume? Is that right? So 100W panel and 13,000W consumption 24/7 and I will be...

I wonder if some kind of DC outdoor rated FAN might be required if such a thing exist if addition to being raised a little bit.

Do outdoor string inverter exist or only micro inverters for outside? Whenever I look at string inverters on youtube, they are always being mounted in a garage, basement, shed, etc... I don't think I have seen them ever mounted outside. Do outdoor rated string inverters exist or if my best...

What does the "W" number mean for a solar panel? For example 400W ? Does it mean if you have optimal condition, sun, angle, you can theoretically get 400W of power? Or does it mean you can accumulate 400W in 1 hour of full sun? Does it mean its 400W in 1 day of sun? Does it means you...

The 70% was sort of an outlier spike not a continuously amount. Is there a general rule of thumb when trying to calculate how many solar panels you need or rather how much energy you will produce if your flat area of the roof was filled with the max # of panels? Like 50% of the advertised W...

I searched Ebay, amazon, TEMU, Aliexpress, search like 2 full google results. It seem like no one wants to sell the IronRidge BX-5D-P1 BX Chassis 5. Some will sell the 10 degree version but not the 5 degree version. I wonder if the entire company have these things locked down to end users.

How is that possible that something that is like 1/3 the size of a 200W solar panel can produce 400W?

So its mostly a heating issue? What about if something like this were placed under them? Lifts them up a little bit, provides water draining, air flow, etc.. Get some of the stronger zip ties you can find or other ways to secure them. Some of these interlocking tiles I could put sand bags...

Well nothing is being attached to the roof. They will sort of be gravity held in place but not screwed in or bolted in. I wonder if these codes are for ones actually attached to the roof not just laying on it unattached.

The house mount will have a slight angle between 5 and 10 degrees facing the south(I think) Assuming full sun, what kind of loss do you get from inverter heat or line loss, etc...? I am sure there is some general rule of thumb that people use to make these decisions. I think for kwh per...

I did plan on plugging in micro inverters into random plugs however some people started saying that I was going to cause my house to explode or something because of a power imbalance on one of the legs. My AC is 3 phase. Its a chilled water based system which is rare for residential . It...

Ebay page said " 400W 12V Off-Grid Monocrystalline Solar Panel Solar Module for RV Trailer Marine" It said W as in Watts not WH(Watt Hours), also said its 26"X20" inches in size. oh, do you mean the seller may have been confused and is advertising watt hours as the watts? What is also odd...

What is "POWER FACTOR" in the specs for an inverter? How efficient the inverter is? For example would a power factor of 95% mean that you lose 5% to the inverter process and get 95% of that amount afterwards its converted from DC to AC? 1,000W DC in and 950W AC out...

Thanks for the suggestion. A little too big for my application. It seems that most string inverters are expected to be indoors as the norm right? Perhaps I need to be looking for inexpensive and large capacity "micro" inverters if I am looking keep things outside? Thanks.

I don't think he said what mount he is using. Also, I think he is in Switzerland and the product may not exist for sale here in the USA? He said like "we got the calculations from the manufacturer" but does not say who that manufacturer is. He is talking a lot about his interactions with...

Does the whole thing get hot or it is mostly where the wires are coming out? I also purchased a few flexible solar panels that have the connection wires and the box in the front of the panel instead of the back maybe for the heat reason.

So if you buy a used Emphase IQ7 or IQ8 and even buy a gateway online but don't use a dealer, then you can't view the data? So they are basically using the dealers as gatekeepers for your data?

The application is for a big residential house with a lot of power demand and using 3-phase which is rare for residential homes. The 3-phase we use is for the pool pump and AC compressor unit(20-ton) however the rest of the house is all 1-phase. I'm not sure if I should wire 3 of them for 3...

What Volts/AMPS does power enter most US homes? I know my home is a little different because it has 3 phase which I am told is very rare in residential. Its usually something that industrial applications use. I am trying to figure how many volts the microinverters are suppose to be for my...

I guess it comes from watching ninja turtles as a kid and various movies with some wise old Chinese man giving advice but now that I think about it, that was Japan not China.

What % of Solar Watts do you end up getting after loss? I have a VAN which was 300W of solar via 3 X 100W panels. Mounting absolutely flat on the room, no tilt. The most I have ever seen under very sunny condition and driving in a area with no trees or shade has been 210W out of 300W ( 70%)...

Problem is everything is made in China. The good stuff, the mediocre stuff and the absolute counterfeit stuff. Real Dewalt made in China, fake dewalt made in China. It's all made in China. medical drugs almost all made in China. I heard of a tap water center adding chemicals they got from...

Are Bi-facial solar panels ok for a flat roof setup or is there a better solar panel technology for this? Thanks.

It said max power input "800Watt" I have 4 X 195W panels each 12V. So it seems like this would work for the array. I would have a max of 780W and 48V which appears to be within the specs of this microinverter. You are talking about a situation of 1 microinverter to 1 large solar panel. 1 to...

Does anyone know where I can find one of these IronRidge BX-5D-P1 5° for a good price? Seems like everyone is out of them or they want like $500 shipping to ship out a few of them. Some people have the 10 degrees but not the 5 degree ones. I don't know why they don't sell them on Amazon or...

There there a optimal size for a flat room solar panel that most people get or just get what happens to be on sale? Does it matter if you get 100W, 200W, 300W, 400W, 500W, etc...? Is there like a sweet spot on a particular size? Thanks.

I am wondering if the flexible Solar panels ok for Florida sun since they have some kind of coating instead of glass to protect the panels. Around 10-15 years ago, I got these solar lights at home depot. Hampton bay maybe? I don't remember. Anyway, at first they worked fine but after a while...

So its not like a river going down street and you shooting water upstream but its more like a rope that is being both pushed and pulled at a regular interval. Sort of like how your washing machine may wash cloth and spin back and forth? So people don't know which leg is powering what devices...

I will never produce more solar than I use. Why do a permit if you don't need to? I probably use a minimum 12,000 watts at any given time and I'm looking at panels that will produce under 1,000 watts. Question is if back feeding that power into a random outdoor plug going to find its way for...