idk what company hes from and i dont know what companies are good to recommend to my mother where i live in arizona any suggestions?

I have been receiving mixed feedback on EG4 wall mount batteries from installers:

- Installer 1 (Potential Seller) - We have not experianced any issues with them. We are a Tesla premier installer and do many of those installs and we experience no higher rate of issues.

- Installer 2 (Eventually no bid) - We do a lot of work with EG4s and have a ton of issues with them. With that said we pickup and support a lot of solar installations abandoned by other installers going out of business and a lot of DYI off grid installs. As such the high failure rate could be largely due to unqualified installers but we do not have the visibility to say that is the reason they have high issues. Just that they do...

Price for these batteries are attractive. At ~ 4k installed for 14.3 rated KWH or practically 11.5 KWH this appears to be one of the cheaper solutions in the marketplace. They have a 15 year warranty.

Those with experience with these batteries please let me know what you think about them.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/11/18/france-publishes-new-provisions-making-solar-mandatory-on-parking-areas/

Looking for a company that comes recommended in the Milwaukee area. About 20 minutes south of the city. Thanks!

I got a few bids on a system install. The first I felt was a pretty decent bid but then coming and exploring here, it was about $3.25 per watt installed and most folks here suggest that anything over $3 per watt is paying too much. So I got another quote that was significantly higher, ($4.50 per watt) and if I wanted a non-Tesla battery option that would go up due to needing to install the enphase inverters under the panels.

I have limited roof space so would only be able to install about 13 panels, which amounts to 50% of my current use. I imagine if I could install closer to 100% offset the cost would come down significantly since a lot of the install costs are fixed.

I'm in the Pacific NW, and the two other mitigating factors here would be that my home is three stories and the roof pitch is right around 40 degrees.

With all the above in mind is $3.25 per watt too much to pay? Is the second quote (from a highly regarded and recommended installer) completely out of line? I appreciate any thoughts. Electricity is still cheap here but it has been going up exponentially lately. I'm also nervous about the new admin changing the tax credits before I can take them, since I would sign in 2024 but install would be early next year.

All of the installs used Silfab 430 QD panels.

Also my three battery options were between Tesla PowerWall, Enphase and PointGuard. I think the PointGuard is most impressive - cost is comparable to Tesla but a smaller footprint and appears to be easily expandable - if anyone has thoughts on that.

Appreciate all thoughts.

The jist. This issue has been ongoing for years without any source resolution from Tesla; I seek the REASON and not just the suggested band-aid to ground it out. I have a variable swing of AC voltage 0v-80v going to ground off my gutters (80 was the highest I ever recorded), yes AC voltage. This gutter voltage is 0v at night and it is variable during the day based on suns intensity. Tesla engineers say it isn't possible yet here I am with errant variable AC voltage that a Tesla engineer confirmed onsite through a visit. Teslas states to ground all the gutters but this does not answer the source of the voltage. And to cut you off before you even state there has NOT been a nail driven through any wire because the voltage directly correlates to the suns intensity and I wired my own house and am intimately aware of my infrastructure. I have derived my own scientific reasoning on what is happening yet I have not found anyone yet that shares my take. I am accepting of being wrong yet before I know I am wrong I am seeking to understand the source. I just went out and measured the gutters again, 50.3v AC, see the picture for my claim. When I took these the inverter was outputting 2000 watts continuous.

Looking to partner with established solar companies to sell their services remotely. Any recommendations for companies with good partner programs?

After going back n forth with various providers, I shortlisted NRG and was going through contract, there are additional costs to have conduit and backup capabilities which I didn't realize. Are these fair cost?

8.28 kW system (REC REC460AA Pure-RX) with 1 Powerwall - $30693

Tesla Backup Capability - $1250 (Tesla Switch if it can be used) otherwise $2500 (Tesla Gateway)

Conduit for wiring pathway - $2070

220v outlet - $1400

We have a slate roof, and I would be very interested to have parts of it replaced with an integral solar roof, specifically over a leaky porch and garage section. This would salvage enough tiles for nearly endless repairs elsewhere. Is there an integral solar roof that can fit within an old slate roof (not sitting on top, but simply replacing rectangular sections)?

The backup plan would be to have the porch replaced with metal and solar panels placed over top of that. Unfortunately, it would need to be copper. The next-tier plan would be exploring a new integral slate+solar roof, such as from Greenstone Slate with Nu-lok, but I have mixed feelings about whether I really should redo the rest of the roof if an archive of replacement tiles might last me 25 years of repairs anyway, until the next solar replacement.

There’s a strange draw on our system of nearly a kilowatt that can’t be accounted for. It started when we had our inverter replaced. The old one, a Pika, stopped working but was still under warranty so the installer came and replaced it with a new one, now Generac since they bought out Pika. Our average load is less than a kilowatt, usually in the 500 watt range but since getting the new inverter it’s double that. Here’s where it gets weird: looking at the readout on the inverter panel, the energy usage spikes when the panels get full sun. Early morning, cloudy day, evening, around half a kilowatt. Sun comes out and boom it jumps. I had the company come out and look at it but of course it was overcast that day. I’ve tried turning off all the circuits on the breaker and there’s still power being consumed. It’s driving me nuts. My wife thinks I’m paranoid and now the solar company probably thinks so, too. Has anyone had an experience like this?? Picture of our house for attention

Hi,

I’m sure this is a stupid question but I’ve taken over a system which is using the SOLARMAN app to monitor and control it however I’m struggling to find any sort of guide online.

I was advised by the previous owner that in winter I can utilise cheap overnight rates to top up the battery.

What is the difference between AcPChgMax and AcSocMaxChg within the setting for this?

Thanks

Hello, I'm experiencing an issue with my Huawei Backup Box. When I simulate a power failure by disconnecting the mains, the system switches to battery power as expected. However, during this transition, the fuses in both my alarm system (rated at 125mA) and garage door motor (rated at 2A) blow. This problem occurs exclusively during the switch from mains to battery power, not when reverting back.

My setup includes a Huawei SUN2000-3.68KTL-L1 inverter, a Huawei Backup Box-B0, and a Huawei LUNA2000 battery. I've isolated all circuits, leaving only the alarm system connected, but the issue persists. Given that the alarm operates at low currents, significant inrush current seems unlikely.

Has anyone experienced similar issues with fuses blowing during power transitions with the Huawei Backup Box? Any insights or recommendations to resolve this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Hello

I am about to purchase Solar Panels and Microinverters. I am looking at the IQ8 Series
How many Microinverters would I need for 90 panels?

If I purchase Panels that produce 550 W of power, which inverter is capable of handling this?

Hi there,

I have a 5.6kW system and a grid tied inverter. We have no battery backup other than small UPS devices on some of the things like WiFi and servers in the house.

Our mains input to the property has a switchover panel that allows us to connect a generator and disconnect the grid (so we’re not back feeding).

Since installing solar we’ve not yet used the generator, however, I’m wondering if the generator and grid tied inverter can work together in unison during a power outage?

If our solar panels are generating too much electricity, where does the excess go as it’ll no longer be able to go to the grid. And will the generator provide a suitable feed to ensure the grid tied inverter works?

Thanks in advance

The house we are in contract on has 7 solar panels. It’s a one level, 1700 sq ft new construction home in north central CA. Will be on PG&E.

Can anyone tell me if this will be enough for 2 people who work during daytime hours Monday through Friday? Or will we need more? Any guess at cost of PG & E? We are from the coldest part of the country so our bills can be high when it’s below zero for 2 weeks straight. We have no idea how to anticipate the power bills here.

Any insight is appreciated!

I’m completely new to this. I’m interested in solar as obviously a power supply but also a back up power supply in western Massachusetts. I have a tiny home built in 1858. It’s well insulated and uses a combination of oil and electric heat. We only go there on the weekends. The power does go out a lot and we are usually the last to get it back.

I was looking at my bill and we always use less than 7kw daily. Usually close to 5kw. We also have never gone over 200kw a month. Usually hover around 160-180kw.

What size system would I be looking for? What direction should I go?

Planning on building a small house/cabin in rural San Bernardino County, California for weekend stays. Miles from any grid connection.

California laws state that you need to provide electrical hookups for all appliances regardless of whether or not you install gas appliances.

If i have to provide 50 amp for a stove, 50 amp for a water heater, and 50 amp for a car charger (even though I will never use any of these), do I have to size my solar inverter at 200 amp?

I already have a solark 12k and was planning on using it.

Does California have any sizing requirements on battery storage? Can I go with as little as I feel? (10kw just for the fridge, And occasional microwave use)

Installed 6.6kw since 2017, everything went well up until yesterday sudden loss solar production with no alarm or faulty displayed on my solis inverter

I did try reset turned off ac and dc power, still the same

Any idea?

I had a new solar install done, and I was surprised to discover that when I am charging my EV (through the new 240v outlet I had them install as part of the solar job) it is drawing straight from the grid. Meanwhile my solar panels are generating more power than the EV would be drawing and is exporting it back to the grid.

The company is saying that EV breakers were not placed in the backup panels because that's not recommended. Apparently the risk is that the EV will draw from battery when there is an outage.

So they're saying this is by design. but this is not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting to be able to use the power generated by my solar panels to power my EV. I thought I was clear through the whole process that a big reason for getting solar is because I have two EVs to charge. I didn't realize that after they finished install I wouldn't' be able to charge the car with the solar power generated.

Their advice is to install a smart splitter on the EV breaker that's on the main panel.

Am I overreacting or is this normal?

Edit 1: Providing more details that were requested.

We charged our EV during the day on Nov 6 specifically to test. We checked the Enphase energy use report and the PG&E Energy usage details through the day:

https://preview.redd.it/1g7rjscbyk1e1.png?width=2590&format=png&auto=webp&s=fcecdaed00f002568a1ada8f4176ca88e14377b2

https://preview.redd.it/jdxupxvbyk1e1.png?width=972&format=png&auto=webp&s=840daad0859b2f02486400f6ceb669c70273be0b

Edit 2:
(replied to a comment, posting here)

I think I figured it out, and I think I came to the wrong conclusion.

So I originally thought when I was charging that my solar production was greater than the EV charger was drawing. I know the charger I have maxes out at exactly 7.2kwH. Because I thought I was generating more than I was using, and I saw the PG&E graph showing I was using Grid energy at the time, I thought this meant I was exporting my solar energy and at the same time pulling from the grid.

Now I think I was wrong because I learned to read the power generation numbers better. I was generating some solar, but nowhere near what I originally thought. My current guess is that total energy use with EV charging was around 10kwH. Seeing I was drawing around 5kwH from the grid at 2pm makes sense if the 5kwH difference was made up by my solar.

So that's good, I can access solar energy when charging my car.

What does look wrong however are the Enphase numbers, which doesn't show all the energy ins and outs. This has been attributed to CTs being installed incorrectly (thanks u/visualmath).

Hi folks! Looking for some advice...

We had solar panels put on our house last fall and just got backup batteries installed. I've been messing with the settings of everything, and I think I have figured out how to minimize power draw from the grid.

So, on to the meat of my inquiry. I have an old fridge in the basement that came with the house. I've converted it to a kegerator. Since installing the batteries, I've connected the kegerator to a smart outlet. That way, if we have a power outage, I can shut down the kegerator in order to save battery for more important things (like heat).

So my question is this: how should I manage the day-to-day draw of the kegerator? Should I shut it off at night so it doesn't draw from the batteries when it cycles? Or, will being off all night long cause it to warm up too much and create excessive draw during the day? Is it then better to just leave it running all the time so the cycles are fewer and the temperature is more consistent?

Thanks!

Hello everyone, my home last year used 18,739 Kwh of electric last year per my utility bills. What size system would you all recommend? I live in north east Kentucky about and hour north of Lexington KY. My house is arouns 1250Sq Ft, the heat is natural gas, stove is electric. I was looking at this setup here, while also adding another 20 415W Mono perc half cut panels. Let me know your thoughts or possible other options.

https://sungoldpower.com/products/off-grid-solar-kit-8000w-48vdc-120v-240v-lifepo4-10-24kwh-lithium-battery-8-x-415-watts-solar-panels-sgr-8k10e?variant=43061834383497

I got a couple of quotes for a couple different batteries. The battery equipment prices online are approximately $14,000 for the systems & kWhs that I'm considering. The prices I've been quoted are are approximately $28,000 -- meaning the installation cost is another $14,000 for about one day of work.

Is that typical? Why does it cost $14,000 to install some electrical equipment? I realize it requires a couple of people for a day to lift the batteries; they need to be experienced electricians -- so they charge a premium; they may need to reroute some conduit about 5 or 10 feet; they need to cover their marketing, insurance, sales, and other business costs. Still, it seem crazy. It would take about a month of hard work to make that kind of money, pre tax, even for someone earning >six figures per year.

Does it really cost that much?

When did they stop buying back their inverters. Are they going out of business?

Anyone wanna take a guess what’s happening? I’m curious if anyone else can top this amount of energy consumed for a day at a house. I’ll post a comment later today explaining what’s going on.

I’m visiting a friend in Hawaii, and their condo complex has rooftop solar.

Is rooftop solar more economical per watt than solar installed over-parking? (I imagine structures to mount over parking can be expensive, but seems more “off the shelf” vs bespoke design for each roof.) Or is there some regulatory reason it’s incentivised? Perhaps aesthetics?

Thanks in advance for the insights

I am trying to solve a problem for someone without them having to call Whole Sun technicians. I am a computer guy, but not so much a networking guy.

They have a solar array that was installed in 2021; it's a US model, so it only has the isolated Wi-Fi network between its proprietary devices. For the past several months, it has had a very spotty connection with the modem, meaning that it's not sending full reports to the power company, and thus they are not getting credits.

It is set up with the SolarEdge Repeater and Gateway system; the Inverter is installed on a thick stone wall on the 1st floor of the building, pings data to a SolarEdge Wireless Repeater in the 1st floor furnace room, and from there transmits it upstairs into a cabinet in the kitchenette. It's quite a distance, horizontally and vertically, with thick stone and cement block walls everywhere.

Before I discovered that it was an isolated network, I considered installing a router in the kitchen on the other side of the wall from the Inverter. I was looking into a Wi-Fi Bridge, but there's no way to achieve line-of-sight. Running Ethernet would be complicated given the structure and distance. I looked into an Outdoor Wi-Fi Amplifier but I'm not sure if that would help. I've watched videos of people installing these things themselves, but I don't know if it would be applicable in our circumstance.

https://preview.redd.it/96yw237zpi1e1.png?width=682&format=png&auto=webp&s=66d8073692a522ce5be526bd14235a008a3f6b20

Looking to convert my land into a solar farm and sell the electricity to local neighbors or electric companies. Land get plenty of sunlight and 0 trees on it.

How hard would it be? Would it even be profitable?