Hi all,
So finally have everything working the way I am happy with. Purchased system late last year and got it up and running in December. Built the ground mounts with 6x6 treated wood, 2x6 treated wood and superstrut.
System:
1x EG4 18kpv inverter
42x 400w bifacial panels in 3 arrays of 14 panels each
1x EG4 WP 48v 100ah battery
Grid tied with sell back
Lots of concrete - 15000 lbs
Lots of pv cable - arrays are over 400ft away from house so lots of trenching and conduit.
Did all the array ground mounts and all the dc stuff myself and had an electrician come out and just do the ac stuff. Then had the utility company come out and check things and swap out my meter and activate the sell back feature.
I dont want to be offgrid. The grid is my backup hence the small battery. Also batteries are too expensive for my liking and budget.
I wanted to have no change to how or when I run appliances etc and didn’t want to have an “essential” circuit. Everything in the house in my opinion is essential . I wanted everything on the house side to not change and for me not to have to change how my completely random day of using power goes.
The objective was to not have a lifestyle change at all but to reduce or eliminate my utility bill as much as possible. My march utility bill is trending to be $0.
Naturally it was lots of hard work and sweat and several issues that popped up, but doing it yourself was so rewarding and gives you a good understanding of the system. And yes at some point I will add more battery - hint hint @Will Prowse - thanks for the website and all the videos. Research before jumping into this project is invaluable, so keep up the sharing of info.
So finally have everything working the way I am happy with. Purchased system late last year and got it up and running in December. Built the ground mounts with 6x6 treated wood, 2x6 treated wood and superstrut.
System:
1x EG4 18kpv inverter
42x 400w bifacial panels in 3 arrays of 14 panels each
1x EG4 WP 48v 100ah battery
Grid tied with sell back
Lots of concrete - 15000 lbs
Lots of pv cable - arrays are over 400ft away from house so lots of trenching and conduit.
Did all the array ground mounts and all the dc stuff myself and had an electrician come out and just do the ac stuff. Then had the utility company come out and check things and swap out my meter and activate the sell back feature.
I dont want to be offgrid. The grid is my backup hence the small battery. Also batteries are too expensive for my liking and budget.
I wanted to have no change to how or when I run appliances etc and didn’t want to have an “essential” circuit. Everything in the house in my opinion is essential . I wanted everything on the house side to not change and for me not to have to change how my completely random day of using power goes.
The objective was to not have a lifestyle change at all but to reduce or eliminate my utility bill as much as possible. My march utility bill is trending to be $0.
Naturally it was lots of hard work and sweat and several issues that popped up, but doing it yourself was so rewarding and gives you a good understanding of the system. And yes at some point I will add more battery - hint hint @Will Prowse - thanks for the website and all the videos. Research before jumping into this project is invaluable, so keep up the sharing of info.
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