Sol-Ark 15K All in One Inverter Released.

[hipringles]

Have you asked Sol-Ark for any recommendations of installers in your area? They might recommend someone a bit further away, but since the recommended installer may be more familiar with the Sol-Ark, their quote might come in lower. Then again, if your AHJ is such a PITA, and the Sol-Ark recommended installer is unaware of this, they might have to raise their cost to deal with the BS, so ask them if they are familiar with dealing with your AHJ.

These guys are on the recommended list. That's the crazy part. 2 of the other 7 in the area ghosted. 1 waiting for reply. And going to call the other 3 today

 

[RayofSunshine]

These guys are on the recommended list. That's the crazy part. 2 of the other 7 in the area ghosted. 1 waiting for reply. And going to call the other 3 today

So, unless a significant part of the quote is time spent arguing with the AHJ (IOW, ask for a breakdown), I'd be inclined to give Sol-Ark some "feedback" regarding their "recommended" installers, giving them the particulars of the install and asking them why they think something so apparently simple would cost so much.

 

[Danke]

Our meter can is locked and tagged or else I'd just do this myself. Sigh, what a pain in the ass.

I literally have (somewhat illegally) installed offgrid feeding a partial panel.

The company is claiming the install is "as difficult as most small commercial jobs" and "significantly harder than any generator/ATS install"

Ask the power company to shut the power down. Do the work (at least install a disconnect after the meter) and then have them reconnect the power. That can be scheduled with the power company here. I would think all utility companies have to do that when requested for work to be done.

 

[hipringles]

So, unless a significant part of the quote is time spent arguing with the AHJ (IOW, ask for a breakdown), I'd be inclined to give Sol-Ark some "feedback" regarding their "recommended" installers, giving them the particulars of the install and asking them why they think something so apparently simple would cost so much.

Good advice. I the installer said the bulk of the quote was because:

1. 200amp 3 way, disconnects, and as the equipment as large it and there is so much new stuff there is more labor to ensure it can pass inspection.
2. his last "good" electrician called it the "more complex and difficult than a small commercial job" and "extremely challenging and confusing install"
3. many of their electricians won't do the work due to the level of complexity, as a normal solar tech cannot do this install, and this requires electricians who have many years of commercial work.
4. cost comes from the time to setup the install, the extra time to install, and the cost of labor for the above electricians
5. Time spent arguing with the permit/utility office (even though they claim they have the most 15k's installed in the state, and you'd think they'd have figured out how to smooth this over by now?)

 

[hipringles]

Ask the power company to shut the power down. Do the work (at least install a disconnect after the meter) and then have them reconnect the power. That can be scheduled with the power company here. I would think all utility companies have to do that when requested for work to be done.

Doing the approach to add a disconnect post meter is probably the smartest idea, getting a permit + inspection on this is simple.


The utility company will not shut down the power without a permit for work (per their website, haven't called to verify)

 

[Ampster]

Ask the power company to shut the power down.

Apparently the power company won't do that without a permit.

 

[hipringles]

Apparently the power company won't do that without a permit.

yep. They claim this on their site. Maybe if I asked on the phone it would be different, but in general the question is

"why do we need to turn it off? Do you have a permit + inspection to energize?"

 

[Danke]

Apparently the power company won't do that without a permit.

I can get them to pull by meter without a permit. But I would need a permit anyway if I were doing electrical work like installing a disconnect switch or inverter, etc.

 

[Quattrohead]

Pull the meter, what are they going to do, disconnect you?
They have a right to protect their infrastructure and the end user but this sounds more like a ploy to protect their income.

 

[hipringles]

Pull the meter, what are they going to do, disconnect you?
They have a right to protect their infrastructure and the end user but this sounds more like a ploy to protect their income.

Its locked and tagged.

I can cut their tags/locks, but it's "illegal", and its obvious its done when they (eventually) notice there is no lock/tag on the meter

 

[Hedges]

My main panel has a sideways breaker, so I was able to mount the box upside down.

Meaning up/down breaker must be oriented correctly, due to hot arc rising?

I need to get a disconnet from the power company to move the power off my mains.

They won't do it without a permit

What if you put in a 200A sub-panel.
Install a 200A branch circuit breaker (or non-breaker switch) in main panel (they're available for QO, at least). SolArk goes between the two panels. All branch circuits relocate to new panel.

What may not be kosher is backfeeding 200A branch circuit breaker (120% rule), Caveat Hacker.

 

[Tulex]

Meaning up/down breaker must be oriented correctly, due to hot arc rising?

I believe it's to prevent confusion of off and on. It's common for up and down breakers to be on when up, sideways breakers don't have a common direction.

 

[rossmoesis]

I hired professional electricians to install 200amp bypass switch, 200amp disconnect, and run electrical through a wall in the garage into wireway and sol-ark 15k inverter.

I purchased 200amp bypass switch, 200 amp disconnect, wireway and inverter. I also applied for my own permits with one-line wire diagram that I made myself to the county inspectors.

Electrical company provided all conduit, all wire and mounting hardware for the equipment and labor of install.

The cost of install 3 months ago was roughly 4500 dollars total. I imagine the cost will be going up like everything else.

I was happy with the work. I helped them through the install because they had never installed one before.


Bonus - I got my first power bill recently since the install was complete. Only a meter charge of 31 dollars! The system works. I'm loving the sol-ark 15k

 

[hipringles]

Meaning up/down breaker must be oriented correctly, due to hot arc rising?



What if you put in a 200A sub-panel.
Install a 200A branch circuit breaker (or non-breaker switch) in main panel (they're available for QO, at least). SolArk goes between the two panels. All branch circuits relocate to new panel.

What may not be kosher is backfeeding 200A branch circuit breaker (120% rule), Caveat Hacker.

Its an option, and its cheaper than 10k. But moving all of the circuits (its a 40 slot panel) is the definition of toil. I think

I hired professional electricians to install 200amp bypass switch, 200amp disconnect, and run electrical through a wall in the garage into wireway and sol-ark 15k inverter.

I purchased 200amp bypass switch, 200 amp disconnect, wireway and inverter. I also applied for my own permits with one-line wire diagram that I made myself to the county inspectors.

Electrical company provided all conduit, all wire and mounting hardware for the equipment and labor of install.

The cost of install 3 months ago was roughly 4500 dollars total. I imagine the cost will be going up like everything else.

I was happy with the work. I helped them through the install because they had never installed one before.


Bonus - I got my first power bill recently since the install was complete. Only meter a charge of 31 dollars! The system works. I'm loving the sol-ark 15k

Solid.


Finally got a second quote, for permitting, the 200A disco + 200A MTS + all other materials in labor == $4500. For the western Wa area, i think this is much more reasonable.

 

[RayofSunshine]

Its an option, and its cheaper than 10k. But moving all of the circuits (its a 40 slot panel) is the definition of toil. I think

Solid.


Finally got a second quote, for permitting, the 200A disco + 200A MTS + all other materials in labor == $4500. For the western Wa area, i think this is much more reasonable.

Bingo.
Was this 2nd quote also from a Sol-Ark recommended installer?
Either way, assuming you choose this (or other) more reasonable quote, and you end up being satisfied with the quality of workmanship, efficacy, speed, and accessibility/ease of working with the company, I would give feedback to Sol-Ark regarding the "recommended" installers that fell short of your expectations (and how), and perhaps recommend that they consider adding your choice to their list.

 

[hipringles]

Bingo.
Was this 2nd quote also from a Sol-Ark recommended installer?
Either way, assuming you choose this (or other) more reasonable quote, and you end up being satisfied with the quality of workmanship, efficacy, speed, and accessibility/ease of working with the company, I would give feedback to Sol-Ark regarding the "recommended" installers that fell short of your expectations (and how), and perhaps recommend that they consider adding your choice to their list.

this was from the only `gold` installer in the area. Took a while to get the quote but better.

I am going to talk to sol-ark about the silver who wanted 6k more than this one.

 

[On_The_Road]

So, what is the best way to find out what your local utility requires for interconnection?

Looking at doing a battery only 15k install. I want to take advantage of a 3 cents per kwh time of use plan.

Georgia Power if anyone has any insights.

 

[DIYrich]

So, what is the best way to find out what your local utility requires for interconnection?

Looking at doing a battery only 15k install. I want to take advantage of a 3 cents per kwh time of use plan.

Georgia Power if anyone has any insights.

Go to the Sol-Ark site, and find an installer near you. They should know the rules and apply for all the necessary permits and permissions.

 

[2TrevorJ]

New manual dated 13 Jun:

https://www.sol-ark.com/wp-content/uploads/15K-2P_Manual.pdf

A few things I noticed:
- Strong recommendation to select "limited to home" mode when utilizing multiple inverters. I switched from "limited to load" (even though I'm whole home and all of my loads are on the load side of my inverters) and loads/export seem to be balancing better between the two inverters even when production is unbalanced.
- Recommendation to use PV to charge "batt first" under limiter tab (vs "load first"). IMO, only makes sense to select that when you're mixing in grid power.
- They corrected the DIP switch configuration for two parallel units (it was wrong in the previous manual).

 

[niktak11]

So, unless a significant part of the quote is time spent arguing with the AHJ (IOW, ask for a breakdown), I'd be inclined to give Sol-Ark some "feedback" regarding their "recommended" installers, giving them the particulars of the install and asking them why they think something so apparently simple would cost so much.

One of my friends in San Diego used a certified sol-ark installer and he was awful lol