NW OH DIY Roof Mount Solar

[TechRider]

Hello Everyone!

I'm working on my first solar install / design and wanted a place to document it. I've got about 3/4 of my parts in and am eager to get started.

Parts Overview -
Inverter: Sol-Ark 15k
Battery: Custom 4 x 16S EVE LF280k with JK BMS battery packs
Panels: 54 Q.PEAK DUO BLK-G6+ 340W panels
Racking: K2 Systems roof mount
Additional: Generac 24kW Propane Generator and ATS - Will eventually be controlled by the Sol-Ark

My panels and battery packs came in as well as the inverter! I'm getting very excited.

 

[houseofancients]

Hello Everyone!

I'm working on my first solar install / design and wanted a place to document it. I've got about 3/4 of my parts in and am eager to get started.

Parts Overview -
Inverter: Sol-Ark 15k
Battery: Custom 4 x 16S EVE LF280k with JK BMS battery packs
Panels: 54 Q.PEAK DUO BLK-G6+ 340W panels
Racking: K2 Systems roof mount
Additional: Generac 24kW Propane Generator and ATS - Will eventually be controlled by the Sol-Ark

My panels and battery packs came in as well as the inverter! I'm getting very excited.
View attachment 203481
View attachment 203482

nice, looks like you got a project on your hands ....
Enjoy and do share pictures of your build

 

[TechRider]

I've not posted much lately because I've been spending all my free time on my build. The weather has been terrible so getting on the roof to install the mounts has been a pain but I've made a lot of progress on the batteries. I have my first battery pack assembled and the BMS works!

Got the 15K mounted on a cement board sandwich. (It's level, my camera was not.)


Combiner mounted - lots more to do here if the weather would play nice.


Here's the cabinet I got to hold the batteries.




First modifications...


Testing batteries... They've all tested really well so far. The lowest has been 301AH.


Victron mounted with fuses added.


Cabinet shaping up nicely.


Final placement for everything. It's a little tight but that's what you get when you're short on space. I left room to the right of the 15K in-case I need to add a 2nd down the road.


Mostly wired, still need a little wire management. The lights inside the cabinet will be powered from the battery and has a switch on the upper left side in the first cut out picture.



She lives! I'm replacing my 3D printed faceplate with ones cut from acrylic and will have the letter filled with white paint. 3D printed the light holder and it's connected to the same lights inside. Provides a little light in that dark side.


Wired up the 10awg for the solar. I'll be pulling 8 AWG from my combiner.

 

[utkvols]

I love the durham cabinet. Do you know the model number by chance? If I expand my pack I would look at getting one of these- I love that you can panel mount - it just makes everything much cleaner

 

[TechRider]

I love the durham cabinet. Do you know the model number by chance? If I expand my pack I would look at getting one of these- I love that you can panel mount - it just makes everything much cleaner

Yep, it's the 2601-3S-95. The thing was expensive. I ended up putting on cinder blocks as well to elevate it in the room. We have our water treatment in the same room so I wanted to give it a little extra safety factor.

 

[jarred125]

Im jealous of the neutral and ground bars on the newer Solark 15K. They are awful on the early models.

 

[TechRider]

So far I'm pretty impressed with the 15k, it's been easy to work with so far.

Saturday is supposed to be nice so I'm hoping to finish up getting my mounting rails on the roof and start working on some of the wiring. I'm really looking forward to throwing some PV power at the Sol-Ark.

 

[houseofancients]

I've not posted much lately because I've been spending all my free time on my build. The weather has been terrible so getting on the roof to install the mounts has been a pain but I've made a lot of progress on the batteries. I have my first battery pack assembled and the BMS works!

Got the 15K mounted on a cement board sandwich. (It's level, my camera was not.)
View attachment 208938

Combiner mounted - lots more to do here if the weather would play nice.
View attachment 208948

Here's the cabinet I got to hold the batteries.
View attachment 208932



First modifications...
View attachment 208934

Testing batteries... They've all tested really well so far. The lowest has been 301AH.
View attachment 208936

Victron mounted with fuses added.
View attachment 208939

Cabinet shaping up nicely.
View attachment 208940

Final placement for everything. It's a little tight but that's what you get when you're short on space. I left room to the right of the 15K in-case I need to add a 2nd down the road.
View attachment 208941

Mostly wired, still need a little wire management. The lights inside the cabinet will be powered from the battery and has a switch on the upper left side in the first cut out picture.
View attachment 208943


She lives! I'm replacing my 3D printed faceplate with ones cut from acrylic and will have the letter filled with white paint. 3D printed the light holder and it's connected to the same lights inside. Provides a little light in that dark side.
View attachment 208946

Wired up the 10awg for the solar. I'll be pulling 8 AWG from my combiner.
View attachment 208947

Nice build !!

 

[JoeHam]

Saturday is supposed to be nice so I'm hoping to finish up getting my mounting rails on the roof and start working on some of the wiring. I'm really looking forward to throwing some PV power at the Sol-Ark.

I’m also in NW OH and other than the Eclipse day the rain has been pouring.

Saturday and early Sunday are your best bet but whenever I get more panels up and wired it rains for a week .

Good luck from zip 43440 !

 

[TechRider]

It's been terrible! The only days it turns out to be nice, it shows rain a few days ahead so I schedule something else.

I'm about 1.5 hrs south of you! Thanks from 45814!

 

[TechRider]

I ditched my 3D printed face plates and used some a guy in town laser cut for me. They turned out awesome!!!

 

[TechRider]

2nd battery pack up and running! Got the JK BMS and the Sol-Ark to talk over CAN. Still need to figure out how to get the BMS's to talk in Parallel but I can actually test it now.

 

[TechRider]

I got the BMS and Sol-Ark talking with the BMS in parallel. It turned out to be super easy, just set the master dipswitch to 0 and the first to 1 and it worked. It reports up to the Sol-Ark everything that's needed.

I got my roof mounted transition panel and the conduit up to it ran but I didn't get any pictures. I got the inside wiring finished as well.


I cut the one tub just a little long but didn't realize it until after everything was run. I don't think it looks terrible and functions as it should.

Now time to get everything done on the roof!

 

[TechRider]

Finished my 3rd battery pack!