Recent content by MarkSolar

I don't know if you're anywhere near a Greentech Renewables, but I was close enough to one of their warehouses in Chicago to get free shipping. They also had the best prices of anyone I found around here and everything was in stock. They have places in most major cities if you're near one.

I'd talk to the company about your soil. My guess is helical screws might be better than ground screws for clay.

I've had mine about 3-4 years now, can't remember which. It's fine, I don't think there's a problem with longevity on any of them. It's really more about making the right choice for your soil type. I mentioned above we're on glacial till and it was a mistake for me to choose ground screws. I'd...

When I put in my ground mount I used a few wind numbers to do rough calculations just as a sanity check. A 60mph wind generates 10 psf and a 100mph wind generates 25psf. A flat wall has a drag coefficient of about 2 and a sphere has a coefficient of about 0.5. So I assume a tilted solar mount...

Thanks, I'll willing to pay extra for local support. When I installed the system I have there was a problem with one item. They had a truck out to me the same day with a replacement part. I'm also close enough to get free delivery on everything.

Interesting, I remember joking when I got my panels that the box said designed in Austria (or Germany?), manufactured in China, and assembled in some other country (Korea?). Looks like the Georgia plant was built after I got my panels. I've been happy with my panels, wouldn't hesitate to buy again.

I like the 545W output, I only have so much space to mount these. They're about $250 each, less than I would have thought. I live right by a CEDGreentech, I'll have to see if they carry those.

Thanks, looks like a good option, didn't think I'd get that much power in a panel that size. Hadn't heard of that brand but they have good online reviews.

I'm expanding the 10kW system I have, I want to orient the panels vertically in front of a barn wall that I'll paint white, so bifacial panels seem like a good choice. They will use a different inverter than my existing system so no compatibility needed. Physical dimensions need to be no greater...

I have a ground mount, so the combiner box and disconnect is under the solar panels. My inverter is on the inside wall of an unconditioned barn, the overhead and stall doors are open all the time so it's probably pretty close to your car port in terms of protection. We have a farm and my...

NEC prohibits 2 services to same building with exceptions that don't apply to you. You can only have 2 feeders to same building if the disconnects are both in the same location. The spirit of the rule is to avoid having to know there are multiple disconnects in separate locations to make the...

I like the torque drive adapters, I can use whichever handle I already own that fits best, and it doesn't take up much space in the tool box.

It's $14.50/month here in Chicago metro.

Depending on your local codes, whatever you do may need to be rated for fire. I'd make a piece of flashing to cover the trough and use something fire rated for the penetration. I also use plenum putty inside the conduit to block warm house air from hitting that cold enclosure and condensing...

I'm not an RVer, is the mini split operating while the vehicle is moving or only when it's stopped for camping? If you think about the shock loading the thing had to endure being shipped by boat/truck/train/camel/forklift, I'd say riding on an RV might be the smoothest part of it's life. So as...