Getting gridtied solar system

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fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3304241 2-Nov-2024 06:25

fastbike:

And now I have 9 panels left over so will buy another 5 and do the garage.

Collected the extra 5 panels yesterday (glad I did not have to collect the other 36, worth paying for cartage) and some additional rails/mounting hardware and will be up on the garage roof as soon as it is dry.

We're looking to do micro inverters for this array, anybody got experience they can share.

Otautahi Christchurch

timbosan

2159 posts

Uber Geek

#3304267 2-Nov-2024 10:27

fastbike:

fastbike:

And now I have 9 panels left over so will buy another 5 and do the garage.

Collected the extra 5 panels yesterday (glad I did not have to collect the other 36, worth paying for cartage) and some additional rails/mounting hardware and will be up on the garage roof as soon as it is dry.

We're looking to do micro inverters for this array, anybody got experience they can share.

I am curious how you found doing the install yourself. I have a quote from Micromall and they said I can save $1500 by doing the panel installation myself (they still provide a sparky to do the rest). 16 panels across 3 roof sections. I am pretty handy at DIY, so more interested in how difficult it is to get the panels on the roof, weight, positioning, number of people, etc. I notice you have scaffolding, did you hire that? The back of my house is 2 stories but the front is only 1, so was thinking about just getting harnesses.

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3304276 2-Nov-2024 11:39

timbosan:

I am curious how you found doing the install yourself. I have a quote from Micromall and they said I can save $1500 by doing the panel installation myself (they still provide a sparky to do the rest). 16 panels across 3 roof sections. I am pretty handy at DIY, so more interested in how difficult it is to get the panels on the roof, weight, positioning, number of people, etc. I notice you have scaffolding, did you hire that? The back of my house is 2 stories but the front is only 1, so was thinking about just getting harnesses.

First off scaffold: I sketched up what I required, collected it from depot and installed myself. My nephew will help take it down tomorrow. The rental is $5.71 per day + GST, the utility/safety it provides is priceless. I'll probably spend around $150 as I've been a bit slower than I initially thought.

I have a harness which I used initially before I got the rails on, after that it was a bit of a pain as it snagged and the rails gave me grip.

We have access from the back (house has a flat roof about 1500mm lower than main roof) but would not have been able to get panels up there easily. My wife helped lug the panels in from the pallet on the driveway, up the stairs and into my office. On the day of panel installation my nephew came and helped lift/hold/move the panels. I was mainly on the roof - I kept him away from the edges.

The rail installation was a bit time consuming because of the curve, trying to get every thing co planar and also compensating for the curve (you want the front and back rail coplanar so it does not stress the panel frame). I also found the roof was not exactly flat, LoL so that required a little packing places (longer screws etc). With a straightforward roof it would be quicker.

Pay attention to the permitted clamping zones on the panel and the purlin spacing. Rails and Feet can be reversed to get better spacing. I cut a 30x50 alloy RHS to the length of the panel and marked the clamping zones so I could check things on the roof (I made two so I could align the rails to get the panels to meet nicely where the angle changes).

As far as actual panel installation you need to think through how the wires will clip together. Our 2 sections that are 2 rows of 5 panels run as 2 strings. The positive plug is on the top right, so we clipped the wires towards the top of the panels for this row, leaving the first positive loose for the sparky to connect his home run. The negative at the other end of the row got clipped into the frame pointing down so it could connect to the row below. So this meant the row below had the postiive plug on the left (180 degrees different to row above) so the left most panel had it's positive running up, and negative running down. All others had cables clipped running down, except last negative left loose for sparky home run.

All clipping down on the scaffold (or ground), not on the roof ! Once bolted in place we could walk along and join the MC4 connectors together and tuck them up out of harms way. Sparky was insistent that no wires hang down towards the roof !

Panels need two people to handle, they are unwieldy. We used Clenergy racking, I like the fact that most of the clamps have earthing pins built in so no separate washers required.I found a few offcuts of 30x50 alloy RHS was handy to act as a spacer so mid clamps could be tightly tightened to hold panel before next was installed. I also made a "crawler" out of 4x2 with a 30x030 alloy angle screwed to each end (covered in tape) to make reaching across to do the final tightening easier.

I suppose it depends on your time value of money. Also you probably will make a better job if this is a home you intend to stay in for a while, many of the installers are slap dash.

Happy to talk you through later today if you PM me your contact details.

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3304978 3-Nov-2024 21:57

Jase2985:

I dont agree with this, we signed the contract for solar, then we changed electricity providers, telling them we were getting solar, and we wanted the import/export meter. we use some of our joining credit to cover the cost of this.

The meter was changed about 4 weeks before solar was turned on. The power company didn't want/need to see anything to do with the solar installation. Exports went live through the power company when the system went live, and it was sending stuff out instead of in. Nothing needed to be done for this.

Meridian are saying that the installer will want to see the CoC/RoI onsite when they turn up to reprogram the existing meter.
We already have a "smart" meter than can do import/export but the $150 tax needs to be paid before we can earn $$ for exports.

Mustn't grumble as my Nana would say.

Otautahi Christchurch

Jase2985

13462 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#3305145 4-Nov-2024 12:11

its not a tax, its a charge to roll a truck to change the meter, the time change a meter is about 15 minutes and about 5 to change the settings, so not really that much more.

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3305151 4-Nov-2024 12:32

Jase2985:

its not a tax, its a charge to roll a truck to change the meter, the time change a meter is about 15 minutes and about 5 to change the settings, so not really that much more.

You missed the point about not needing to change the meter as the existing one can just have a setting changed so the export function is enabled.

We have too much ticket clipping in the uncompetitive electricity sector. This is another example.

Otautahi Christchurch

Jase2985

13462 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#3305162 4-Nov-2024 12:47

fastbike:

You missed the point about not needing to change the meter as the existing one can just have a setting changed so the export function is enabled.

We have too much ticket clipping in the uncompetitive electricity sector. This is another example.

so do they have to come out to do that? or are they doing it remotely?

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fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3317537 6-Dec-2024 12:13

Jase2985:

fastbike:

You missed the point about not needing to change the meter as the existing one can just have a setting changed so the export function is enabled.

We have too much ticket clipping in the uncompetitive electricity sector. This is another example.

so do they have to come out to do that? or are they doing it remotely?

To close off this conversation, they did it remotely. 30 mins after I got the email saying the job order had been raised I went to check the meter and noticed it had a display for night/day/export, and the export count was incrementing (the other two had been reinitialised to zero). So now earning credits, Whew !

Otautahi Christchurch

fastbike

212 posts

Master Geek

#3319436 12-Dec-2024 07:14

Looks like I owe Meridian an apology .. the did the meter remotely and only charged $25 which seems reasonable.

The solar credits have only been active for 6 days, and the useage includes 17 days before the system was commissioned, so the bill next month should be in credit.

Otautahi Christchurch

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