Grid-tie net metering install questions

I feel like I'm hitting a wall in the homestretch. I was really hoping to do this myself, but I keep hitting obstacles and/or contradictions. The wiring diagram with my "kit" (no other instructions) appears very basic, for example, but I keep running into questions that blossom into more questions as I read to answer them.

I'm at the point that I'd just call an electrician to come and finish the last bit of it, but the pandemic is surging and I'm not keen on having extra people in and out of the house. When I built my house, I had an electrician (now retired/moved) install the service entry and size/pull the circuits and I did the rest, so I'm comfortable with electrical stuff, just not familiar with the codes.

I'm not sure I should call and ask the inspector a bunch of questions, but not sure who else to call.

You may want to appear confident to the inspector, rather than inviting unwanted scrutiny.
What brand inverter? Some provide a lot of detail regarding fuse size, etc.
Codes keep changing, new safety features and grid-support features each year. These affect what models and accessories are allowed/required, and where components can be located.

Thanks for the reply. It was a day of spinning wheels and running in circles as the clock keeps ticking with winter weather slowly sneaking up on me.

It's a SunnyBoy 5.0 with 16 Astronergy 320w panels. They included a 30A disconnect for the AC side and 16 panel shutdown modules. I think it's a kit more geared for rooftop mount, but they upgraded the racking for ground mount. My roof is too high and steep, and I'm too old to be up on my roof. The major physical parts are done, it's down to the wiring.

The wiring diagram specifies wire and conduit sizes. I was looking up something today and saw something about ground conductors not allowed in conduit?? Then I saw something else that 60A is the minimum size for the AC disconnect for solar systems?? Maybe I misinterpreted both, but trying to find the right answers is just not that easy.

I read something the other day about PV wiring and protection for the DC side that kept me up part of the night trying to brainstorm how to create protection for the underside sweeping loops of wires. It sounds like a fence needs to be ridiculously high. A barrier of some kind on the underside of the panels might be better looking. Plastic deck lattice might look decent and prevent unauthorized tampering.

Sunny Boy 5.0 puts 21A max into 240V, so 30A is appropriate. That would use 10 awg.

Shutdown boxes would be needed for rooftop, don't think they're needed for ground mount. Maybe you can return them or resell.
Nothing wrong with two hots, neutral, and ground all running through conduit. That's how I ran my AC. Similar for DC, PV positive, negative and a ground in conduit. I want the current source and return bundled together, especially not separated by ferrous material.
There might also be a requirement for a ground rod at the array, the inverter, something like that.

When I run a ground wire to a ground rod, I do not use steel conduit because its magnetic properties would add inductance. Plastic or aluminum conduit.

MC4 connectors take care of "tool required" to access the contacts inside. Not sure if there is a requirement to exclude access to where plastic insulated wires are located. Plastic fence or lattice might do, but maybe you don't have to do anything, just cleanly tie the wires along rails.

There should be a ground system that bonds all panel frames, and allows a panel to be removed without interrupting bond to others. Could be clips screwed to frame that clamp bare ground wire. Or, "WEEB" hardware may be listed to bond frames together for use as a grounding conductor.

I originally ran plastic conduit, some surface mounted. Inspector said only vertical not horizontal was allowed. I replaced with rigid. Rigid had to be 12" underground if buried, plastic 18" under.

I thought about selling the shutdown modules, but it sounds like they communicate with the inverter and monitor each panel's output.

That may be true, but it's not likely the panels will have any problems.
What Rapid Shutdown will due is disable the "Secure Power" feature of the newer Sunny Boy.
Wire a switch and an outlet to Sunny Boy. If the grid is down, flip the switch and the outlet gives you up to 2000W at 120V, with enough sun.
So you can run the fridge, anything else you want during power failures while sun is up. But only if you don't install Rapid Shutdown.

Something else you can do with Sunny Boy (whether or not system has Rapid Shutdown) is add battery inverter. But that will likely cost as much as your whole system, and only be used for an occasional power failure. Having Secure Power feature is a much more economical approach.

I was doing some other work today and had an idea. Just before it got dark, I flipped half of my panels to put wiring into areas less than 6' wide. Covering 2 smaller areas sounds a lot easier than covering the whole thing. Still on the fence about keeping the shutdown modules...

I was thinking about getting rid of the shutdown modules, but it sounds like because my inverter is inside the home, (with about 3 feet of PV lines with DC current) I have to have them?? Does a manual DC disconnect allow me to go without them?

Also realizing the stupid little tool they provided for disconnecting is not the right size. WTF? The 2 unlocking pins are spaced wrong and will not unlock the connectors.

I would think a DC disconnect switch at the array would be considered as eliminating all PV voltages and current from the dwelling.
Another guy interpreted the code as requiring rapid shutdown if the DC to AC conversion occurred in or on the building. Exception if that was as building exclusively used for the PV equipment.
That interpretation didn't seem reasonable to me. Clearly no hazard present or even within 50 to 100 feet of the house.

I would want no rapid shutdown, so secure power could be used.

So far I've been using my fingers to disconnect MC4, plan to get a tool some day.

Half of the connectors can be undone pretty easily by hand, but half are covered and have 2 slots where the hooks are visible, but not accessible. The tool works fine on the ones I can do my hand, (just faster) but the spacing is wrong to do the covered ones. I have a 2nd tool, so maybe one prong from each on each side will do.

The Sunny Boy inverter is rain-tight.
If inspector objects to no rapid-shutdown, you could hang the inverter on the ground mount and send AC back inside. (run wires for secure power too in that case.)
Or just install the Rapid Shutdown boxes ...

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....

... not unless somebody gives you grief. It may be fine like it is.

I hung mine in the sun before I read the instructions. The get hotter than necessary. Your basement could be pretty ideal unless it is excessively humid, in which case your wood structure would benefit from doing something about that.

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.