@David Armstrong I think you made a mistake on the PV combiner circuit breakers. you are only going through one breaker that way instead of both. I think you need to connect your Solar to the top of the breaker instead of the bottom (copper) side. Otherwise I think you are only covering 150 volts instead of 300 volts. kzread.info/dash/bejne/k6eZudGTfLvYdbw.html

@HomesteadEngineering

4 жыл бұрын

David, at first glance I think your right. I will have to look into this. Thanks!

@DavidTuckerII

4 жыл бұрын

@@HomesteadEngineering Btw, thanks for all of your videos!! I am building a similar system and have used your videos for reference many a time.

Awesome video I am just setting up my solar panel system and this video has helped a ton Thank you!

Thanks for taking us through the steps.

@HomesteadEngineering

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Excellent video right to the point no BS

Every step has so far been very interesting. Love your attention to details. Great job!

@HomesteadEngineering

7 жыл бұрын

I'm sure the average person on the street would find them very boring but if you're into solar, like me, then you probably watch them to the end. Thanks for watching!

@ibidapoilawole7120

7 жыл бұрын

You are right about the average person on the street. However I am also a solar enthusiast and I find it very interesting .. Solar is absolutely addictive!!

Looks great...was really scratching my head on the panels wiring for a few mins. Then I realized it is a horizontal vs vertical stringing. With my 2,400 watt array, I tried vertical (north-south) orientation last year...and it didn't work well: (series-series-series-series-parallel, layere-- whereas one string had max shade...the other three would be sun soaked). Nope....not good at all. So, went back to horizontal, much better results with partial shading hitting two strings. That didn't bring down the current as much. With one string totally in shade...brought down the whole array. Can't wait to see some blinky lights on and charging!

@HomesteadEngineering

7 жыл бұрын

I remember when you did that and went back and redid it after it did not pan out. Hey, you don't know until you try right. I asked several people about series/parallel wiring with regard to shading and the answer I got is that it would not matter. I think your experiment shows that it does. That said, this video focusses more on how you get from a pre-wired array through your roof and out to the combiner boxes. Blinky lights coming soon!

Nice install, only issue I see right off is the use of pvc in an attic, it's maximum temp use is 122F in ambient temperature per manufacture. I've used emt for this kind of install a few times with a weather head. However, my local inspected allowed me to use pvc in my attic for a 200 amp service upgrade, I had to keep it on top of the ceiling rafters and in the insulation, no issues as of yet. I'm about to reshingle my roof and am looking at using ironridge hardware to install some more panels in addition to my pole mount I have next to my house. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hoKGzZWSmbC2qNY.html

Turned out good

@HomesteadEngineering

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

This is looking a very nice clean install

@HomesteadEngineering

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

David Armstrong, how do you protect the solar panels from hail and snow? Can you put plexi glass in front of them? Will it still work?

@HomesteadEngineering

4 жыл бұрын

KL, you just have to move to Florida. :) The panels I have are actually pretty strong and I would not be concerned about small hail or snow. I don't think you would need to do anything special, but you should check with your specific manufacturer. Thanks!

It seems that you routed the wires from the roof into your solar/control room and then pulled all the wires to the outside to the combiner box, and then you will bring them inside once combined. Is that the way you are doing this? Thanks in advance, I am planning to do something similar here in Jupiter Florida.

@HomesteadEngineering

2 жыл бұрын

Ronnie, Yes, that is correct. For me that was the easiest and cleanest way to do it so as to avoid conduit across the roof and down the side of the house. Good luck with your project.

David, at the end of your video you showed the panels producing 170 Volts, does the voltage have to go through anything like a transformer to step it down to 120?

@HomesteadEngineering

4 жыл бұрын

Chevy, that's 170 DC. It goes into a charge controller that converts it to 48-60 VDC and charges the batteries. That battery bank is used to drive an inverter that converts it to 120/240 VAC.

@rustusandroid

2 жыл бұрын

@@HomesteadEngineering 12 home runs! That's a lot of wire... Was your charge controller limited to 170v?

I'm not criticizing but why are there so many wires coming from the solar panels? I did something similar with 6 panels but I used series-parallel and used a Y connector to reduce the MC4 coming into the cable entry to 2 lines. Now I'm wondering if I did something wrong. When I think about it though, did you use so many wires so that you can control the string cable ordering through the AJB? By the way, your setup looks very clean and ordered.

@HomesteadEngineering

2 жыл бұрын

DB, I have two wires for every string. I have 6 strings. I am not sure exactly what you did but sounds like you just combined your strings with a Y splitter. I think that's fine as long as the wire is rated for the combined current and voltage. Thanks!

very nice wiring Job indeed.

@HomesteadEngineering

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

why is there a bare cable coming from the solar panels ? or is it coming from the lightning rod !

@HomesteadEngineering

6 жыл бұрын

That's the ground wire and its connected to the ground lug on the rail.

hi i have 9 panels of 245w . how will you wire them on string like 3 each to make the wires to the controller smaller in size

@HomesteadEngineering

5 жыл бұрын

Your probably going to end up with 3 strings of 3 since you have 9 panels. The more in series the higher the voltage and the more in parallel the higher the current. Send me your email and I'll send you a spreadsheet that may help you. Thanks!

@pepe58pepito54

5 жыл бұрын

@@HomesteadEngineering ..9x 245w panels to a 150a midnite controller .. and 12 battery L16 370ah ..thanks. borrallo5858@yahoo.com

@HomesteadEngineering

5 жыл бұрын

@@pepe58pepito54 Just sent the info via dropbox

@pepe58pepito54

5 жыл бұрын

@@HomesteadEngineering ..thanks . looks good with lots of details

@iamfound74

4 жыл бұрын

@@HomesteadEngineering Hello David, great vids amigo. Can I please use your spreadsheet as well? iamfound74@gmail.com thanks in advance!

Hey bud what kind of Twork screwdriver are you using?

@HomesteadEngineering

5 жыл бұрын

amzn.to/2ZdIQFY

@fanman1981

5 жыл бұрын

David Armstrong thanks

be interesting to see how this all comes out. looking good. next major step is charging perimeters

@HomesteadEngineering

7 жыл бұрын

I might be turning the system on for the first time later today. Hope it works!

@royamberg9177

7 жыл бұрын

It will. How are you going to set your charging voltage

@royamberg9177

7 жыл бұрын

You can call if you'd like for voltage settings. 320-760-0448

@HomesteadEngineering

7 жыл бұрын

I don't know yet. My next step is to turn the system on and go through the functional test to verify everything actually works. After that I will start working on tweaking the setup from the default settings. I may call you at that point and thanks for offering your assistance!

@royamberg9177

7 жыл бұрын

OK. See how things go. Your doing a nice install be good to see it all work properly

2:40 what is that thing called?

@HomesteadEngineering

3 жыл бұрын

Roof flashing, pipe flashing, boot.

@rhaenentargaryen9996

3 жыл бұрын

@@HomesteadEngineering I already found it. it's called Service Entrance Mast

@HomesteadEngineering

3 жыл бұрын

@@rhaenentargaryen9996 OK, I thought you were asking about the flashing. I got the mast at Lowes.

Still no audio

L👀ks great... but got to thinking what a nightmare of jobs it will be when time to replace roofing in 20-30 yrs ! Move, just before ! lol

@HomesteadEngineering

5 жыл бұрын

We are thinking of putting on a metal roof so as not to ever have to change it again but definitely not looking forward to pulling off all the panels and putting them back on again. We would also have to change the mounting brackets to work with a metal roof... not fun.