Removing Solar Panels From Roof

[mr_e_123]

Hi All,

I need to remove my solar panels (30 in total) from my roof. Obviously, safety is my #1 concern, so I wanted to run my plan past the fine folks on this forum before proceeding to see if anyone has any words of wisdom. I have a grid tie system with two Fronius Primo inverters, and 30 panels. The configuration is:

1. Rooftop Combiner
2. Inverters
3. PV Breaker Panel
4. DG System Disconnect (Two power source parallel system)
5. Generator Meter/ 6. Load Meter ===> 7. To Hydro Utility Transformer

My plan is to:

1) Turn off the DG System Disconnect with the big switch next to the Generator Meter
2) Turn off the two fuses inside my garage which connect to the two inverters (the fuses sit between the inverters and the DG System Disconnect)
3) There are knobs on the bottom of both the Fronius Inverters which I will turn off.
4) Go on the roof and cover the panels with an opaque material / perform the work during a low light time.

 

[JCSchwarb]

Hi All,

I need to remove my solar panels (30 in total) from my roof. Obviously, safety is my #1 concern, so I wanted to run my plan past the fine folks on this forum before proceeding to see if anyone has any words of wisdom. I have a grid tie system with two Fronius Primo inverters, and 30 panels. The configuration is:

1. Rooftop Combiner
2. Inverters
3. PV Breaker Panel
4. DG System Disconnect (Two power source parallel system)
5. Generator Meter/ 6. Load Meter ===> 7. To Hydro Utility Transformer

My plan is to:

1) Turn off the DG System Disconnect with the big switch next to the Generator Meter
2) Turn off the two fuses inside my garage which connect to the two inverters (the fuses sit between the inverters and the DG System Disconnect)
3) There are knobs on the bottom of both the Fronius Inverters which I will turn off.
4) Go on the roof and cover the panels with an opaque material / perform the work during a low light time.

Sorry to hear about all this work.
Curious why you are removing them?

I don’t think all the covering is necessary, but disconnect early or late in the day. Use a good thick rubber glove and insulated needle nose plyers to unclip the MC4 connectors. As long as you don’t have an active load, little to no spark. I have 260v strings.

 

[OzSolar]

Once you've turned the inverters off the MC cables are safe to unplug under any light conditions. Ideally it's not raining or the roof and panels aren't covered in dew.

Have you mapped out the strings already? If it was me I would open each string such that they are not sending any voltage to to the combiner box before I started removing panels. You might only be able to do it one string at a time since you'll have to remove panels to be able to reach the next string. It won't be safe to work in the combiner box until you do that. Sorry but I have to ask... do you have a voltmeter?

Do you know if you have the kind it takes a tool unplug? You'll want the correct tool. There's more than one type. I have a bag of different ones.

I don’t think all the covering is necessary, but disconnect early or late in the day.

Believe or not the array will be at nearly full Voc a few minutes before and after sunrise. I have a few ~900V commercial systems that I can only work on during dark since there is no DC disconnect prior to the inverter's built in disconnect.

 

[timselectric]

Don't put the MC4 connectors in your mouth.
It sounds obvious but people use their mouth as an extra hand, sometimes.
Other than that you should be fine as long as you remove the load first.
Take your time and make notes if you're going to be putting them back.