Hello Good People of the DIY Solar Forum

[MrM1]

Thank you for letting jump in here in this forum, poke around, ask some questions that have already been asked a dozen times (yes I am often guilty of 'Ask 1st - search the forum later' ), yet still being met with patience, and even order some Lifepo4 batteries in the buy group without being questioned "who is this newbie?". Now I will b qualified to blow myself up, but I'm glad we had this time to meet.

Thanks for letting me and my little starter solar system hang out here and welcoming me in!

My set up is on my south facing roof in N East Fl.

Mike

 

[iamrich]

Welcome to the forum. Nice setup. Curious why you put the combiner box in the attic close to the array instead of next to the controller? I ran 12awg from the roof to the combiner and then just a couple of feet of 8awg to the scc.

I am currently dumping all my power into the sand by the way

 

[MrM1]

3 stings of panels. I would have had to Run all the stings wire over 40 ft. Six cables about the size of a #2 pencil each. Having it in the attic I only ran 3 #10 THHN wires down: +, -, and ground. If I would have put the combiner down low I also would have had to Run 2" conduit all the way. In the attic I only need 1/2"

 

[iamrich]

I am actually using the combiner box (same one you have) to cut the power from the array as I don't have it fully wired up yet enough to trust unsupervised as I only visit on the weekends currently. Still building a workshop inside the garage so I really don't have anything to power and the batteries are fully charged. I feel silly plugging stuff into the inverter to just use power while I am out there

 

[MrM1]

You gotta do what you gotta do

 

[KauaiMolokai]

Hi Mike,

Very, very nice job. You did it right, and didn't mess around.

I, too, have learned an immense amount from reading what generous people on DIY Solar have shared. Thank you all.

Somewhat off topic, but ...I'm on Kauai a lot of the time, on the north shore, where it rains almost every day, and sometimes a LOT. I've been in Florida when it rains too, so I think you know what I'm talking about. I'm considering reroofing with metal panels like you have because it might be a little more practical (cheaper, faster) than the standing seam reroof I did on another part of the house. Did you do your own roof? Do you have any leaks at all, ever, from the screws through the roof panels (or now through the solar panel mount screws also)?

Thanks, and again hats off to you on a great, well thought out solar install.


John

 

[MrM1]

No leaks at all. I lagged the brackets down, but put commercial 20 year sealant that stays flexible like bubble gun in the screw hole, under the mount plate and then once tightened down I sealed all 4 sides of each bracket and the bolt head top. The bolts also have a rubber neoprene washer on them like the smaller regular roof screws.

Love the metal too. Put down 1/2" fur strips first and put 1/2" R4 foam under the metal roof. Made a big diff in my whole house insulation, which wasn't very good. I had the roof installed.