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That is such a good idea, if I had thought of that I'd never have used a frame made out of pipe. Given the rocks in our soil if I had this to do over I would have poured a concrete slab and mounted the array on the slab. When it heaves in the winter who cares, it all stays flat. You could use...

I'm in the process of doing something similar but on a smaller scale. I have a panel, charge controller and battery attached to 12v LED lights in a remote storage building I use for tractors and other equipment. I want to use the solar to top off the charge on the batteries in the tractors and...

I just used the leaf blower on mine, pollen here in Chicago is crazy too. It doesn't work as well as water but much easier. We have well water, so I clean ours when it rains. I have a floor cleaning pad on a telescoping pole.

Unless you happen to get the pins from the same company that made the connector you have, I'd get a whole new connector just to make sure it fits together properly. The last thing you want is a flaky connection that you have to track down. If you live by an electrical supply house you can...

I've had mine about 3-4 years now, can't remember which. It's fine, I don't think there's a problem with longevity on any of them. It's really more about making the right choice for your soil type. I mentioned above we're on glacial till and it was a mistake for me to choose ground screws. I'd...

Thanks, I'll willing to pay extra for local support. When I installed the system I have there was a problem with one item. They had a truck out to me the same day with a replacement part. I'm also close enough to get free delivery on everything.

So there's a good chance that enclosure already has the lugs you'll need to make it easy to connect the PV. The only issue is how much current they're rated for, you have a very large backfeed.

It says the subpanel is existing, but doesn't show any utility power coming into it. Can't tell if it's oversubscribed or not with the added PV power. Main shows 200A breaker, backfeeding through 60A breaker. That would exceed 120% rule unless panel bus is rated for 225A.

Removing one panel out of 24 would reduce the output by 1/24 = 4.2% I assumed covering one panel completely would result in a value close to removing one panel.

Thanks, I like the hanger he made to carry the weight. Lots of good ideas there.

No, surprisingly in the winter the shadow from the top of the array just touches the ground in front of the barn wall. I'd like to say I planned it that way but at the time I had no idea I would add more panels. I picked that distance to easily allow the machine I mow with to fit behind the...

I wish I had seen that before I bought the Square D. Next time...

I used pvlabels.com, sent them a jpeg of my layout, they turned it into a sign and bought a few other premade signs. Happy with price and quality.

NEC prohibits 2 services to same building with exceptions that don't apply to you. You can only have 2 feeders to same building if the disconnects are both in the same location. The spirit of the rule is to avoid having to know there are multiple disconnects in separate locations to make the...

We had about 2" of snow last night and it's pretty cold, so I brushed the snow off my panels this morning. I was never sure how effectively snow blocked out the light, but I got my answer at 9:30 this morning.

To replace my caps I lowered each vertical down into the screw while I supported thetop horizontal with a 2x4 shimmed to take all load. I put a bar clamp on the vertical so it couldn't drop into the screw.

They also make oversized LBs, they're called mogul LBs. I've only used them on larger conduit, not sure how small they make them.

250-480V Voc=49.13 Vmp=41.2 Mine is 600v, it's the 7.7kW model

You've got the right idea, since it's an old house I think I'd follow that ground conductor into the ground and make sure it's properly attached to the top of one or more ground rods. You could also do a resistance measurement of the ground to make sure it's adequate but you'd probably have to...

NEC 352.12(D) limits ambient temp for PVC conduit to 122F. Not sure if you've ever bent PVC conduit using a heat gun, but it doesn't take much heat to bend it. It also has a very large thermal expansion coefficient, so if you want to use it in temperature extremes like a roof, you'll have to...

These are willow trees so they lose their leaves in winter. Also they're so tall that as the sun gets lower in the sky, it actually misses the canopy of the tree and there ends up being quite a bit less shade in the winter. I've had this 3 years, so I've got some historical data.

You need to calculate the Vmax and Vmin that your array will output, you can do that either using online tables or calculations. Vmax and Vmin are dependent on the max and min temperatures you expect to see in your area, you can use your own experience, or if you need to submit documentation...

Thanks, looks like a good option, didn't think I'd get that much power in a panel that size. Hadn't heard of that brand but they have good online reviews.

The inverter is in a barn that already had a subpanel fed from the house service panel. The subpanel wiring had been there for years so no new wiring was required. If I didn't already have the barn subpanel, I would have run high voltage DC from the array up to the house and put the inverter...

Some utilities have a newer style meter they plug in that has a line tap built in for solar, probably worth asking if they know about it. Based on the drawing they gave you I doubt if they're on the cutting edge of technology, but who knows.

Interesting, those are called duck bill anchors. I've used that style anchor to hold down fabric buildings, they work well. The only problem I've ever had is the stainless cable connected to the anchor corrodes and fails. Must have been a poor quality stainless. It's not clear if you have to...

It depends on the mounting system you buy. Many systems now have ground continuity, so you only need one attachment point to the whole array assembly. They do that by incorporating WEEBs into the panel attachments and other fittings. That will be clearly called out on the array mounting system...

No kidding, they guy who helps me is a guerrilla, the problem is I'm not. Maybe he'll be able to handle the panels by himself and I can guide them onto the rack.

I think this GFP is what you want. Here's the explanation of how they work.

I found the best deals for PV wire on ebay, that's where I bought mine.