Well thats a good start. I;'m guessing wire and misc(conduit-connectors etc) will put you up some $$$. Are you thinking batteries later as well? or is the grid is your battery forever? Or until PG$E outlaws this feature which they are working on .
DC runs will be 10 awg thhn and 1 inch fmc. $200 for all the wire and $100 for conduit.Well thats a good start. I;'m guessing wire and misc(conduit-connectors etc) will put you up some $$$. Are you thinking batteries later as well? or is the grid is your battery forever? Or until PG$E outlaws this feature which they are working on .
I am starting to settle on 2-2-2-4 SER cable for the 90 foot run from Garage(Inverter) to Main panel (Outdoor set in Stucco)Maybe you know this or not but if you use a vacuum and a mouse kit like this one that I have from Greenlee you suck the piston thru tied to line-then retie with larger line and use wire lube and pull the conductors thru. Make sure that you have no more than 3- 90s(elbows) and if you need more 90s have an access LB 90 with cover so you can pull it out there and restart it in again. 3 -90s max always unless it super oversize conduit
heres the piston mouse kit-
This line has very little friction and you can suck it thru hundreds of feet of conduit-it actually is really strong as well for most small wire pulls like #10 and larger
tools of the trade once for me and very handy to use-makes pulling #6 wire a snap210 lb. x 500 ft. Poly Line With Dispenser, Green; PK1: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
210 lb. x 500 ft. Poly Line With Dispenser, Green; PK1: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientificsmile.amazon.com
I use a vacuum and plastic bag (tied with some air in it) to pull string thru, no need for a piston. Then pull heavier rope back thru with the string.Maybe you know this or not but if you use a vacuum and a mouse kit like this one that I have from Greenlee you suck the piston thru tied to line-then retie with larger line and use wire lube and pull the conductors thru. Make sure that you have no more than 3- 90s(elbows) and if you need more 90s have an access LB 90 with cover so you can pull it out there and restart it in again. 3 -90s max always unless it super oversize conduit
heres the piston mouse kit-
This line has very little friction and you can suck it thru hundreds of feet of conduit-it actually is really strong as well for most small wire pulls like #10 and larger
tools of the trade once for me and very handy to use-makes pulling #6 wire a snap210 lb. x 500 ft. Poly Line With Dispenser, Green; PK1: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
210 lb. x 500 ft. Poly Line With Dispenser, Green; PK1: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientificsmile.amazon.com
I am starting to settle on 2-2-2-4 SER cable for the 90 foot run from Garage(Inverter) to Main panel (Outdoor set in Stucco)
It is coded to act like NMB so I won't need to use conduit in the attic as long as its secure and guarded near the entry hole into the attic. Also its
$2.21 a foot at my local Lowes!
I will penetrate out of the attic to a 6x6x4 JB to keep my bend radius good. Remove the outer sleeve (leaving 1/4 inch showing in the JB as per code) and run the wires down 2 inch (fill rate says I could do 1.5) Sch 40 that is 10'ish feet long to top of Meter box. Wires in SER are XHHW and rated for the run. I will use the meter lugs as a transition to switch to 4 or 6 awg I haven't decided. The IMO AC switch max wire size is 4 and the 50 amp backfed breaker is 4.
View attachment 95153
On the garage side its just 6 feet of EMT from the ceiling to the wiring trough.
No bypass needed as I won't be using a critical loads panel.Are you going to have input power on the inverter in the garage to allow some bypass/mixing?
Good cheap idea-I had the mouse kit as a electrician who did a lots of wire pulls the lots of different size conduits. The larger rope is always a must.I use a vacuum and plastic bag (tied with some air in it) to pull string thru, no need for a piston. Then pull heavier rope back thru with the string.
Wasn't my idea, I watched way too many DIY home improvement videos back in the day.Good cheap idea-I had the mouse kit as a electrician who did a lots of wire pulls the lots of different size conduits. The larger rope is always a must.
My panel is bit like yours-except its 1,000 time fuller with wires . There is no way a ct can fit any bus bars inside. I put my CTs on the incoming house feed wires from the utility as they come out of weatherhead and covered them with a rain sheild that extends from gable end of roof. I put the CTs on live wires.On a fiberglass ladder with rubber gloves on -never touched the lines .05/23 mini update.
Did some measurements and the CT's I ordered should work. One on the right line and one on the right bus bar. Turns out that your service breaker actually swaps inputs to outputs so each line will be taken care of. Problem is I might of ordered these CT's unneccessarily as I am seeing in the manual that it comes with this size. I thought for some reason they came with a smaller size. I'll wait and see once I get the inverter on Thursday and return the one's I don't need.
Costs so far:
$90 - Permit plans
$160 - City Utility Permit fee
$436.96 - County Permit
$6004.18 - Solar Panels
$6425 - Inverter
$153.74 - CT's
$588.90- RapidShutdown
$1743.24 - Racking
$1621.50 - Electrical and Enclosures and wiring
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$17,223.52 - Total
I would love if the Utility would let me run the CT's over into the top of the panel. I need to ask them as that would solve any space issues I have.My panel is bit like yours-except its 1,000 time fuller with wires . There is no way a ct can fit any bus bars inside. I put my CTs on the incoming house feed wires from the utility as they come out of weatherhead and covered them with a rain sheild that extends from gable end of roof. I put the CTs on live wires.On a fiberglass ladder with rubber gloves on -never touched the lines .