However, I do like that my house appreciates 50 to 100k almost every year, good news for my heirs anyway.
Maybe not since Prop 13 got eviscerated. On inheritance, it will be reappraised for tax purposes at current market value.
There is an exception regarding use as principle residence. By you? By your heirs? Maybe if you lived there and they move in to live there, will get to keep your low tax basis.
In California, if you get a permit for solar, can an inspector still use the oppurtunity to find other non permitted structures on your property.
"Can" and "Will" may be different.
When I was applying for a permit and mentioned a neighbor's project, the intake person (not an inspector), seemed concerned, like he didn't want to be told of something that might be unallowed and unpermitted. But later after I was able to pull up the county documents on that project, he noted from the type of permit that an (expensive) hearing had been performed in order to get it authorized.
Of course, if an inspector wanted to be a d*ck, having visited your property he could call in an anonymous complaint.
I have only had experience with 200 watt panels, and they are light. If you are talking about 350w or bigger panels would the weight per foot be significantly greater?
They vary by brand and model. Some have thin glass. My SunPower 327W aren't too bad, 41 lbs. The 435W panels are 56 lbs. But some other brands are 65 lbs.
Just size gets to be an issue. I climb a ladder solo and insert them from underneath a ground mount.
As far as engineering is concerned the biggest design issue is uplift force from wind. I have done two self installs in California in different jurisdictions ... The weight of the panels is only a consideration of the person(s) getting them on the roof.
Downforce is compression with a large contact area, but uplift might be resisted by just four 6mm bolts, at least that's what my bottom clips use. Top clamps use more like 3/8" bolts (spanning two panels, not just holding one).
In my (San Jose) jurisdiction, if roof mount array structure weighs no more than 40 lbs per mounting foot (and height < 18") no structure permit is required. Besides loading on that point, could also be a proxy for area and uplift force. I imagine a slap-on job has lag screws through 1/2" CDX plywood. Or is that OSB cr*p that is used these days? Putting lag screws into rafters would be far stronger, but have fun locating them from outside unless you marked location while re-roofing.
I respect that. Ground mount, do stuff right and pretty, and ignore Barney.
Grid tie may require a licensed electchicken who may need to file a work notice in order to proceed. Best to do gridtie properly
We are allowed a particular size non-permit structure. I designed my ground mounts as small sheds (sans walls) with a huge roof overhang.
City reviewed the drawings and stamped them "No permit required". Cost me more for the permit not to have a permit, than what they charged for the electrical permit.
Grid tie backfeeding utility requires utility permission to operate, which requires signed off city permit. So make the hookup with something minimal for an array? For us, rooftop PV is expedited and on-line now, ground-mount would require more. Do something, make it legal, wait for the inspector's (and PG&E guy's) tail lights to disappear from view. DIY hookup without your "Electric Chicken" is fine.
But if not exporting, bootleg install using listed equipment to be safe should be sufficient. It is "zero export" systems where I would have the most concern. Depending on how fast its algorithm ramps up and down, could alternate between export and import to keep average zero. NEM-3.0 proposals included measuring import vs. export on a second by second basis. Perhaps for regular (non net-metering) customers, the meter would observe and report what you're doing. Other concern is non UL listed equipment. If an inverter backfeeds to the house but uses CT to not backfeed into the grid, and does not implement UL-1741 anti-islanding, my concern would be it might backfeed enough to electrocute a lineman. So only listed equipment.
I’m just getting cynical the last three or four years. CPI and employment figures are ‘indexes’ but often obscure “effective prices” and wage value.
Refer to "Shadow Stats"
www.shadowstats.com
en.wikipedia.org