Inverter and battery location

[unhandled]

Pretty new to solar installations but I’ve been ramping up on the various topics.

One thing I’m not sure about is the options as to where I could locate my inverter and batteries.

I’ve been looking at the Sol-Ark 15k for the inverter and I’m leaning toward rack mount type batteries with 20-30 kWh of capacity. My electrical room is in the basement and pretty cramped unfortunately, so I don’t think that would work out. I’m also concerned about the lack of ventilation/heat generated by the inverter and battery but this shouldn’t be too hard to deal with.

My garage is at the other house end of the house, so most likely not optimal for a grid tied scenario.

I could have the inverter outside (not super keen on that as I live in Quebec with cold winters) and that wouldn’t solve the batteries location.

Would a shed near the meter to have close access to the grid be the best option? Climate controlling that seems like it would be wasting precious energy. Expanding the current electrical room would be feasible with pain and would like to avoid (would need to re/move a propane fireplace).

I’m opened to other options/ideas.

Another question I had was whether a southwest facing house was good for a roof installation or if I should look at a ground mount instead to optimize production/facilitate maintenance/cleaning/snow removal.

Here are a few pictures of my electrical room.

 

[rhino]

My garage is at the other house end of the house, so most likely not optimal for a grid tied scenario.

How many feet would that be? And is the garage heated?

Would a shed near the meter to have close access to the grid be the best option? Climate controlling that seems like it would be wasting precious energy.

People on here have done this and simply super insulated it.. and then you do not require a lot of energy to keep it warm in winter.. especially since the inverter and other equipment would generate some heat as well.

Another question I had was whether a southwest facing house was good for a roof installation or if I should look at a ground mount instead to optimize production/facilitate maintenance/cleaning/snow removal.

There is nothing wrong with SW facing roof especially if it gets full sun. If you have the room for ground mount I'd prefer that since makes it easier to clear snow and optimize location.

 

[Supervstech]

Pretty new to solar installations but I’ve been ramping up on the various topics.

One thing I’m not sure about is the options as to where I could locate my inverter and batteries.

I’ve been looking at the Sol-Ark 15k for the inverter and I’m leaning toward rack mount type batteries with 20-30 kWh of capacity. My electrical room is in the basement and pretty cramped unfortunately, so I don’t think that would work out. I’m also concerned about the lack of ventilation/heat generated by the inverter and battery but this shouldn’t be too hard to deal with.

My garage is at the other house end of the house, so most likely not optimal for a grid tied scenario.

I could have the inverter outside (not super keen on that as I live in Quebec with cold winters) and that wouldn’t solve the batteries location.

Would a shed near the meter to have close access to the grid be the best option? Climate controlling that seems like it would be wasting precious energy. Expanding the current electrical room would be feasible with pain and would like to avoid (would need to re/move a propane fireplace).

I’m opened to other options/ideas.

Another question I had was whether a southwest facing house was good for a roof installation or if I should look at a ground mount instead to optimize production/facilitate maintenance/cleaning/snow removal.

Here are a few pictures of my electrical room.

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Your electrical room is against code right now.
Not enough clearance in front of the panel, and what appears to be insufficient space to the sides of the panel... requires 30" combined, left and right from the edges of the panel, and 48" in front of the panel.

 

[unhandled]

Your electrical room is against code right now.
Not enough clearance in front of the panel, and what appears to be insufficient space to the sides of the panel... requires 30" combined, left and right from the edges of the panel, and 48" in front of the panel.

I agree about the front of the panel. I think the sides are ok here in Quebec. From what I saw in the electrical section of the construction code, they mentioned 200mm side clearance as being ok. Front would require 1m which I don’t think I have due to the water softener salt bin. I could probably move that to the wall where I have a small shelf. I was thinking as another option to move the water softener cells on that wall, that would clear a good chunk of wall space.

 

[unhandled]

How many feet would that be? And is the garage heated?

The garage is heated. I had a 14-50 plug installed there for my EVSE last year and had the following diagram for the electrician. We fished the wire through the floor to reach the panel in the basement. It was painful as we had to cross the floor trusts diagonally.

Main panel is at the top left and grid entrance is on the outside wall behind that.

Not on the diagram is a small 100a sub panel outside near the 1m 45deg wall.

 

[unhandled]

There is nothing wrong with SW facing roof especially if it gets full sun. If you have the room for ground mount I'd prefer that since makes it easier to clear snow and optimize location.

Thanks for the feedback on that. FYI here’s a aerial image of the land layout I can play with and the house roof design. Image is a bit outdated but gives an idea.

I think the roof might be tricky for the panels because of the multiple angles but still feasible.

 

[x98myers7]

very similar to my residential install. i don't know what canada's roof requirements are, but i would look into it. most inverters require a non-combustible surface to mount to.

I would HIGHLY recommend you go with a ground mount if you can.

 

[unhandled]

most inverters require a non-combustible surface to mount to.

I think that would be wise. I liked the idea from Will's video to use cement boards on top of plywood to wall mount the equipment.

I would HIGHLY recommend you go with a ground mount if you can.

Would you mind elaborating on that a bit more? i.e. for the reasons I was mentioning (i.e. maintenance, dirt/snow removal) or there are other considerations I would need to have in mind? Ground mount seems more expensive (probably extra wiring, conduit, digging) from what I gathered thus far but maybe I can recup the extra amount through other things?

i don't know what canada's roof requirements are

I'll check into that, I didn't come across anything particular on that side so far but will check.

 

[x98myers7]

i'm doing a DIY residential install, and it sucks. i wish I had gone ground mount. problem is, we don't have a spot for it that is acceptable to my wife... so it's out. roof was a requirement.

ground mount allows you to position a smaller array at ideal angles and azimuth to get max production. also... at least here in the USA, you can avoid both AFCI and RSD requirements if you go with a ground mount. both of which are expensive and complicated to accomodate. plus in the USA, you have to use all UL listed equipment, which means very expensive. that's why i brought up checking local requirements for roof, because here it's almost impossible to do legally and inexpensively.