DIY solar add on

[chefcam]

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I have a 12.5kw system already. But I live in Canada where my panels are too dangerous to clear off in the winter when they are covered in snow. I want to add more to a south facing wall on my house that won't get snow on them. I can handle everything except actually connecting the system to the grid. I have seen a few videos that say just put a breaker in the empty spots on my breaker panel and connect the panels to them. I know how to connect the panels to the combiner box and the inverters and the monitoring app. But is putting them all into a seperate breaker on my panel really all I need to do? The company here wants $9,000 to install 4kw of solar where I can do it myself for $2500-$3000. Any advice would be great. Thank you

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I have a 12.5kw system already. But I live in Canada where my panels are too dangerous to clear off in the winter when they are covered in snow. I want to add more to a south facing wall on my house that won't get snow on them. I can handle everything except actually connecting the system to the grid. I have seen a few videos that say just put a breaker in the empty spots on my breaker panel and connect the panels to them. I know how to connect the panels to the combiner box and the inverters and the monitoring app. But is putting them all into a seperate breaker on my panel really all I need to do? The company here wants $9,000 to install 4kw of solar where I can do it myself for $2500-$3000. Any advice would be great. Thank you

Without knowing more specifics:

The new panels would likely need to be on their own MPPT since snow covered panels produce little to no voltage. Alternatively, they would need to have the same series Vmp as the other strings if they're in parallel on the same MPPT, and you would need to isolate the snow covered arrays (turn off the breaker) when using the "wall" array.

You would need to check with your local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) on the code requirements of an array installation.

You would need to ensure that your actions are in compliance with your grid-tie utility agreement.

 

[chefcam]

Without knowing more specifics:

The new panels would likely need to be on their own MPPT since snow covered panels produce little to no voltage. Alternatively, they would need to have the same series Vmp as the other strings if they're in parallel on the same MPPT, and you would need to isolate the snow covered arrays (turn off the breaker) when using the "wall" array.

You would need to check with your local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) on the code requirements of an array installation.

You would need to ensure that your actions are in compliance with your grid-tie utility agreement.

Sorry. I should have gone a bit more in depth. I do already have a system but I guess I would be adding these new panels as a seperate system with their own inverters. I want to tie them to the same grid/ breaker panel in my house. But other than that they really won't have anything to do with eachother. So essentially 2 grid tied systems on the same house. My town council won't allow me to add more solar because over the course of the year I'm producing close to 100% of my needs. But for the 4-5 months a year they are covered in snow I'm paying wildly overpriced rates for power and fees. So I can't call an electrician to help as it's technically not allowed. But I also don't want to be a degenerate and hook up something that's unsafe. I've also called the solar company to take some panels from my roof and install them on my south facing wall where they are accessible and won't get covered in snow. But they seem like idiots because they said panels can't be mounted on the exterior of a house except for the roof which I know for a fact isn't true. So my only option for winter is adding another seperate system and mounting them on my exterior wall or ground mounting them in my backyard