I had an outback system and about 4kw worth of panels i installed at my house in Texas about 10-15 years ago. Worked pretty well, but then not too long after I got all that setup, we moved to Oregon. I still have all the stuff, but never have got around to installing it here as I've been busy and now the whole system is rather dated. Recently i stumbled upon this forum because I've been thinking about buying a used catamaran and would like to have solar and lithium batteries on it so i was researching what was available. Scouring Will's website and this forum got me pretty quickly up to speed on what is available now - and I have to say, "man, things have gotten considerably better, simpler, and cheaper" - so much so I'm even thinking about dusting the 4kw of panels i have off, and maybe ordering another pallet of new 400+ watt panels, a new AIO or two, and doing ground mounts near the house (we have a hobby farm). The Willamette Valley doesn't have the best sun in the winter, but we have great summers with long days.
In looking at doing the house, the biggest initial problem i have getting started is that my house here in oregon doesn't have any kind of disconnect. The wires from the transformer on the pole come into the meter from the ground on the outside of the house about 5 ft up and go out the back of the meter into the exterior wall, up, in between floors, and over to an old 200a panel on an interior wall - about a 25ft run probably. The main panel does not have a master breaker on it.
After the last big ice storm we had a few years back, I had an electrician come out and look at what it would take to install a whole house transfer switch (i have a big PTO generator for the tractor as well as smaller gas powered ones as well). He looked at it and concluded it was a mess, said he'd think on it, and never called me back. I'm not sure that I will grid tie - it appears to be an option and they (Portland General Electric) seem to have some incentives that might even be attractive with regards to battery tied systems that can provide power back to them at peak, but I haven't looked at the details enough to know if it might be more red tape than i want to deal with (in which case i would just have a whole house UPS worst case maybe running enough loads to use most of what i generate).
Regardless, I'd like to pay an electrician to come and fix it so I have a disconnect and if I'm doing that, i might as well probably do one that is suitable for up to 20kw grid tie if it isn't exorbitantly more expensive than plainer options. Any advice on what to do or suggest to the electrican would be appreciated - i know some of them are solar savvy and some probably not so much. Advice in general would also be appreciated - i'm thinking that run from the meter to the panel will have to be replaced to avoid splicing and that will probably require removing some of the drywall on the inside so we can see/remove how it is fastened to the studs.
In looking at doing the house, the biggest initial problem i have getting started is that my house here in oregon doesn't have any kind of disconnect. The wires from the transformer on the pole come into the meter from the ground on the outside of the house about 5 ft up and go out the back of the meter into the exterior wall, up, in between floors, and over to an old 200a panel on an interior wall - about a 25ft run probably. The main panel does not have a master breaker on it.
After the last big ice storm we had a few years back, I had an electrician come out and look at what it would take to install a whole house transfer switch (i have a big PTO generator for the tractor as well as smaller gas powered ones as well). He looked at it and concluded it was a mess, said he'd think on it, and never called me back. I'm not sure that I will grid tie - it appears to be an option and they (Portland General Electric) seem to have some incentives that might even be attractive with regards to battery tied systems that can provide power back to them at peak, but I haven't looked at the details enough to know if it might be more red tape than i want to deal with (in which case i would just have a whole house UPS worst case maybe running enough loads to use most of what i generate).
Regardless, I'd like to pay an electrician to come and fix it so I have a disconnect and if I'm doing that, i might as well probably do one that is suitable for up to 20kw grid tie if it isn't exorbitantly more expensive than plainer options. Any advice on what to do or suggest to the electrican would be appreciated - i know some of them are solar savvy and some probably not so much. Advice in general would also be appreciated - i'm thinking that run from the meter to the panel will have to be replaced to avoid splicing and that will probably require removing some of the drywall on the inside so we can see/remove how it is fastened to the studs.