My solar journey.

Let me start with a little background. I live in Illinois where DIY solar/distributed generation systems are legal however, village/city inspector may say “NO” .An email from Illinois government confirm DIY:
“After December 31, 2013, with the exception of self-installers, all entities that install distributed generation facilities shall be certified by the Commission under this Part prior to installing any distributed generation facilities in the State of Illinois. (https://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/083/083004680000300R.html )

Illinois law does allow a person to self-install. See below:
• "Self-installer" means an individual who leases or purchases a cogeneration facility for his or her own personal use and installs such cogeneration or self-generation facility on his or her own premises without the assistance of any other person. [220 ILCS 5/16-128A(a)] (https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=022000050K16-128A )
“
But the response from the village after applying for a solar permit was:
"Exceptions will be considered for self-installing a system on one’s own property without being an ICC Certified DG Installer, provided that the self-installer submits one of the following proving that they are a Qualified Person: 1) a notarized attestation that they have completed at least five solar project installations prior to the application(s) submitted to the Program; or 2) a certificate of completion for one of the training programs noted in the definition of “Qualified Person” below. Exceptions will be granted at the sole discretion of the Program Administrator.”
In any case, the village sent the electrical inspector for pre-inspection. As the result, I had to upgrade my service from 60A to 200A, and we continued the step dance.
At first, only a licensed electrician could perform service upgrade, but after a little digging, I showed the village that the property owner may perform the electrical work based on Illinois Senate Bill SB1880:
...
1 (b) An owner shall not be required to hold a license
2 under this Act. Nevertheless, electrical work performed by
3 an owner shall comply with the minimum standards contained in
4 the National Electrical Code and shall be subject to
5 inspection by the Department. An owner shall not employ
6 anyone other than an electrician licensed under this Act to
7 assist him or her.
…
Finally, after back and forth, the village stated that if I perform a service upgrade they would issue a permit for solar installation.
I have upgraded the service adhering not only to NEC but to a local electric company “Red Book” and the village issued the permit for solar installation.
The list of village requirements is long, but includes some common sense. System design plans, load and uplift calculations and list of all the hardware used.
Once I finished the solar installation it was time for interconnection and net-metering “dance” with the local electric supplier company.
Time line:
Solar permit Applied 9/27/2023
Approved 11/14/2023
Issued 1/8/2024
Finaled 4/2/2024
On line with electric company 5/2/2024
Equipment used:
42 x 445Watts Canadian solar panels 6 strings of 7 panels
K2 railing system with 7-inch standoffs
Sol-ark 15k
Cost
total $14731.62 including ALL equipment and supply used.
18690 watts
0.79 per watt.
It was a trip, but it is over and I am richer for that experience.

I guess you plan to add batteries later?

Well, according to electric company they want to know if and when I add battery to a system, under the penalty of loosing the the account with them. Not sure way, but this is the replay from them:
..."The addition of an energy storage device requires proper notification to the Company. Installing and operating an energy storage system without proper notification creates a potential safety hazard and may result in disconnection of electric service.Thank you,"...
I have already ordered some lifepo4 from EVE, for a small home backup, but not sure how to overcome the requirement. Any DIY battery storage system will not be approved.

WOW ! To go through all that to provide power to the grid ? That setup could likely power your house with batteries & zilch grid usage. Now your deep into the Rabbit Warren of hooey with power co & town...

That's a rough spot to be in.
I hope that you are able to work something out.

The good thing is that my cost will be $15 per month for "unlimited battery storage" also know as grid, the bad thing is, it does not work when the power is out
I have a diy 18650 battery bank in my off-grid location and working just fine, but here I have to do everything by the book. Perhaps 1 eg4 48v will do and pass the electric company approval process. I do not plan to sell from the battery at all.

Adding batteries and notifying them is pretty much a safety thing and a given anywhere in the US.

Most places that require a permit and inspection also require batteries be NEC certified to work with your inverter. That lets out any sort of DIY battery.

Now - not me - but a nameless person - would figure they would buy just one 48v pack and get it installed and inspected and certified. Then just do what they want and add additionly packs as they want - diy or otherwise. As long as you are zero export nobody needs to know you have more storage capacity than you do.

I already have an agreement with the electric company and whatever I export I can import at no fee nor charge to me. My system is way over estimated in preparation for an EV in near future. looking in to 2025 ramcharger.