What I like most is the competition that is emerging in the renewable energy business that's the key to getting rid of fossil fuels and getting renewable energies into the consciousness of the average person who probably doesn't understand the impact pollution is having on our lives and our economies. Great Vid

this is the future, i wanna thank you for sacrificing for the earth. a lot of people need to do this.

That was a crazy fast mount :-)

Thank you very much for showing your work to others like myself.

@BobKovacs

3 жыл бұрын

You are welcome. It's hard to believe that I shot this more than 11 years ago. Still, I hope it gave you some good ideas when you watched this.

i am in the process of planning a system. I don't want to pay $15k to have it installed. this video is one of many to prep me. thanks

Osha must be loving seeing these guys working without harness!

@Samuelian220

4 жыл бұрын

Ari D even your grandma can walk on that roof without a harness.

Really appreciate you taking time to share your experience. I am on the fence and undecided.

One of the best residental PV installation videos I have found on KZread the past few years. Thank you so much for sharing. Makes it easier to understand what to expect and demand. Hope you can provide enphase enlighten videos and more post-installation videos.

The entire system actually produced more power in its second year over the first. Overall generation went down in year 3, mostly because I had 2 dead Enphase inverters (out of 18, about an 11% drop). I just got the inverters replaced about 6 weeks ago, missing the peak summer generation period. Assuming all inverters stay working, I should have good generation data in the next couple of months. Factoring in the bad inverters, PV panel production has not fallen off at all.

This is the best install video. I have been looking at videos to see how to mount panels on the roof and your video is the only one that shows brackets being mounted to the roof and it's associated flashing. exactly what I was looking for. Thumbs up!

Thanks for the nice comment! Not sure why you are no longer interested in doing solar panel installations, but I hope you can do something that you find satisfying.

Oh that would make sense. It drives me nuts to see solar panels shaded. Thanks again for the great video!

wow thanks for sharing this now.. I can now start the installation.. got instructions but its different when there is actual presentation..

Thanks! Where I live, we get regular rain that keeps the panels clean. I just looked at them a few days ago and they were spotless after being on the roof for nearly 3 years. To clean them, try using water and a squeegee. Make sure you use enough water so that the dust doesn't scratch the panel when you wipe it with the squeegee. Hope that helps!

Apparently it looks like the solar breaker is in a secondary load center or panelboard. If that is the case, then according to 2008 NEC, section 690.64(B)(1) the back-fed breaker needs to be fastened down with appropriate item listed for that panelboard or load center.

I am glad to hear there have been no leaks and Im shure the trees have protected it from high winds. No disrespect was meant. My observations from a professional stand point is that the installation was sub par, in fact way below. Especially at premium pricing. The modules and inverters are high quality but all the other equipment and installation techniques are of poor choice. This does not reflect on you the home owner but if it were my company I would be ashamed.

I've read that photovoltaic panels have not taken off commercially as much as expected, but there is a LOT more of it going on today than there was 10 years ago. If you have the right tools and know the correct installation techniques, then it sounds like a good rewarding job to me. Good physical work outdoors, and you make the world a better place when you're done -- there's a lot to like about that.

1 dislikes = oil company...

@ramvaradan Thanks for the nice comment! Our power seldom goes out -- it's probably up 99.99% of the time. Batteries and inverters are expensive, and batteries need maintenance and replacement. It's hard to spend $5k or more on something that will be used 0.01% of the time, then have ongoing battery replacement every 6 years. I have a couple small standalone UPS systems for minor outages and a generator for longer outages.

Federal rebates are $1,000 per installed (nameplate) kilowatts, up to '$6K, can be taken over several tax years. Micro inverters like these are the way to go, but I would wait until later this year when panel makers will include them within the panel, thus no need to mount the inverters seperately. And they will cost a LOT less than the Enphase inverters used here (which run $160 to $220) per panel. They will also ALL have a warranty equal to the 25 year warranty for the panels.

This is the first solar install video that has the home in what looks like is a rainforest so to speak. Wow, I'm sure the system works great as is but I wonder how much better it would perform if the entire house wasn't surrounded by so many trees.

@BobKovacs

4 жыл бұрын

A couple weeks after this system was installed, we had four of the biggest trees cut down. This system is in Virginia, so it is more temperate forest and not jungle vegetation. These trees are deciduous, so the leaves drop in the fall and there is less chance of shading at that time. All that said, we always did have some shading in the morning and afternoon. When the system was exposed to full summer sun, it generated 3,700 Watts. We did not pay for electricity for 8 months out of the year. We sold the house in March 2016, and I assume the current owners still have the system running smoothly.

@Resistoon I've not had any of the inverters fail yet, but it's my understanding that the system will continue to work with all the other inverters if one fails. That means that an inverter failure will knock out only one of the 18 panels and leave the other 17 working. One other advantage of the roof inverters is that it simplifies the wiring. It's a simple 240V/30A circuit to the roof and I don't need heavy cables for DC panels. Thanks for the comment!

@premiersat There is flashing... I mentioned it in the video. The flashing are the little aluminum bits that the workers put a bead of caulk on, then slip under the shingles. FWIW, the system has been in place for more than a year and works great. There have been no leaks or other physical problems.

Like others have noted, no safety harnesses on these workers. Violation of OSHA guidelines. I wouldn't recommend this solar company for that reason. Looks like Enphase Inverters, so the shading will have less of an impact than if it was a system inverter.

Great video! Well shot, well edited with a clear narrative. I'll be starting on my 6kW system soon and look forward to seeing the meter spin backwards!

Lightning does indeed love a straight path. That is precisely why you WANT it to be straight with gentle bends where necessary to avoid lightning current surges from "jumping off" the ground path. The whole purpose is to channel those destructive forces safely to ground. Look at any lightning protection installed on building rooftops (mainly large buildings) and you will see wiring to air pylons installed in this manner.

It's still working fine and looking good after 3 years, including some heavy winter and summer weather (a hurricane and heavy snow, for example). There have been no leaks, and the system generates the same amount power it did right after it was installed.

Very unique and fast work.

This installation was inspected and approved by the local electrical inspector. And keep in mind that it was installed in June 2010 - subsequent changes in the code do not apply. That said, I have no idea what the code violation is. I'd guess that they shouldn't be tying up cables with nylon cable ties.

@ebayisajoke If you read the comments below, we got the 235-Watt panels because they were available and the primary panels (230-Watt) were not. I don't know if Sharp had 240-Watt panels at the time (summer 2010), but availability was key. Every Watt helps, but the difference is pretty negligible.

@carypeck They are Enphase M190 inverters. Thanks for stopping by!

Do you mean, "Have I started earning a profit on this?" No, not yet. However, I'm still quite pleased with the results, and there is emotional satisfaction to know that I did something to solve a long-term problem. I'm considering selling this house, and think that with what I've saved and earned back, plus the added price to the house for the solar panels, I will make a profit. FWIW, as of today, this video has earned about $350.

@straightshooterz Yes, we are aware of the shade you can see in this video. Since the video was shot, we cut down several trees and will be cutting down several more. We put off installing solar at this house for several years because the house is literally in the middle of the woods. Unfortunately, we have to sacrifice the trees for our solar array.

Awesome video. I start taking classes on PV system installation this upcoming Monday. Can't wait to get my career going!

We cut down some of the trees causing the shading, so production is a little better. We may take down still more, but some of the offending trees are on my neighbor's property. We do pretty good with the SRECs -- I just checked and we get $800 per year. The company that services the SRECs offered to buy our SRECs out for 10 years with a lump-sum payment of $4230... we turned that down. Between power savings, property value increase and SRECs, we're doing very well.

I'm pretty sure by now in 2017 the mounting technology is much improved

Many thanks for you Mr. Bob Kovacs it very good video

It looks nicely done. One critical point, at glance you have so many tall tree surrounding you solar window, I hope you don,t have lot energy waste.

@BobKovacs

9 жыл бұрын

Rafael Camilo We've cut down some of the trees, but there is still shade on some of the panels at various times of the day. The only way to eliminate that shade would be to clear-cut out to 20 meters from the house, and we're not ready to do that

If you've read through the comments below, you'd see this has come up before. After the system was installed, we had several trees removed. However, at peak sun time (10AM to 4PM), there was/is no shade on the panels.

Half hour in and already rail??? In this half hour maybe we start flashing. Depends how many water breaks boss says to take hahahahaha

They drive the lags into the plywood roof decking. I was a little surprised by that, too. I've now had this system installed for more than three years and no problems with leaks.

@artoliva The overall system has a maximum capacity of about 4.2 kW. The realistic maximum is closer to 3.9 kW. This past summer, I saw 3.5 kW output at one point, and that was well past the summer solstice.

@carypeck No, I've not yet had any trouble. However, they were installed at the end of June 2010, so they've only been in place for three months. The system could be engineered with batteries and/or other generation devices (such as a windmill), but that would definitely increase the complexity. It definitely could be done, though.

Just from these pics it seems you have a pretty shaded spot there...

@BobKovacs

4 жыл бұрын

Not long after this installation video was shot, we had the four tallest of the trees cut down.

@lipsee100

4 жыл бұрын

@@BobKovacs I have much the same kind of roof,,(and a tree),I want to fit the panals myself so learned alot just watching ...regards

Sorry, timcat100, KZread is not showing me a "Reply" link to answer your question, so I will answer it here. There are a few ways to know if an inverter is bad, but you have to be observant for most of them. If you have the system connected to the Internet, all data about your system gets sent to the inverter's manufacturer (Enphase), and I'm told that Enphase will notify you if an inverter is bad. My system is not connected to the Internet, so I simply noticed that I was producing less electricity than I should have been producing. I connected the Enphase control box to my computer (using an Ethernet cable) and called up the control box using a router. Using that, I could see the status of each inverter. That's where I saw I had two bad inverters. Fortunately, the installer replaced the inverters at no cost to me. Even the installer's visit to my home was under warranty... very painless. I could keep the Enphase controller connected to my computer so that I could check it every time I use the computer, but I'm too lazy for that. The good news is that my system was generating 3.2 kW of power at one point today (March 9, 2014), which is an excellent amount of power for a day on the winter side of the equinox. Good to see that.

@BittyFromATitty

8 жыл бұрын

+Bob Kovacs Did this get monetized in the end?

@BobKovacs

8 жыл бұрын

+BittyFromATitty Sorry, but I didn't see this until now. Yes, I got it monitized and it has done well.

I would recommend that people check or even replace their shingles (depending on condition) before installing these panels.

@BobKovacs

6 жыл бұрын

Our roof was about 12 years old at the point we installed these shingles. You're right to be cautious -- it would be smart to put down a new roof on the side that has the solar panels, since that roof has a lifetime about equal to the panels. I figured that we would sell the house before replacing the roof was necessary, and that is what happened. We installed the panels in 2010 and sold the house in 2016.

I've answered this question before... scroll down to the bottom of these comments and read up from there. Keep in mind that I installed this system more than 3 years ago, and I think the panels cost less today. Also, I had two of the Enphase M190 microinverters fail, but they were replaced for free under warranty.

it's best to make your ground wire look ugly,lightning loves a straight path

Gracias Sr. great video

@BobKovacs

Жыл бұрын

De nada.

Very nice video, However I was wondering why I do not see your system on the enphase website. Maybe you could add a link so we could look at your output. Have a Nice Day

Good luck with your system! I've very good with DIY projects and will tackle almost anything. However, I had a contractor do this installation as much for the paperwork as the physical installation. They took care of permits, inspections and government rebate paperwork, and really kept on top of things.

I've since cut the trees back some, but no... a little shade doesn't hurt the cells. It does reduce the production of electricity, but it doesn't damage anything.

Thanks for this video! very nice quality, steady hold camera and nice coments from you in the video!!! great job!

Thank you for the very kind comment! I have not made any follow-up videos about the system, mostly because the system has required no attention - it has generated power nicely for nearly 2 years. If I did make a follow-up video, what would you like to see in it? I honestly can't think of much to show.

We did have a big storm a few weeks ago, but there was no damage at our home. After the panels were installed, we spoke to our insurance company and adjusted our coverage to include the solar panels. Considering the value of the solar panels, we thought that was a good thing to do.

Its a real nice solar panel installation. Good job.

@Diesel_9370_

7 жыл бұрын

hey can i send you private message?

@Rajankumar-fp9oi

7 жыл бұрын

Nice sir

Me being a solar technician a lot has changed

@BobKovacs

3 жыл бұрын

Can you mention a couple of things that are done differently today?

why would anyone dislike this video. they did a perfect job

@BobKovacs

8 жыл бұрын

The Internet is a big hairy place where people can do whatever they want anonymously. If they don't like one of my other videos or something I said in a comment, a few of them will hit "thumbs down." If they have a competing video and want to improve its chances against mine, they'll hit "thumbs down." And sometimes, in the infinity of the Internet universe, the wrong thing gets clicked on. I refer to that as "click happens."

@pvreditor Yes, and the inverters have a warranty of 15 years. I have 16 of them on my system, and I think it's the way to go. More pros than cons, IMO.

Great job on the video. Thanks for posting! I also wouldn't mind others' comments as sometimes people just like to complain. No way I would wear a harness on a roof that flat and that low. I do worry about the mounting method they used though. It seems like it will be very prone to leaks in the future with such minimal flashing. But I have read your comments saying there are no leaks thus far so that is good to hear.

@BobKovacs

10 жыл бұрын

Thanks! The system has been in for more than 3.5 years, and I'm most of the way through the 4th winter for this installation. There continue to be no leaks. Part of the reason may be that every screw installed into the roof had some black sealer applied to it. Another reason is that not much water makes its way under the panels, as there is just a small amount of uncovered roof above the panels.And I don't mind critical comments here or elsewhere online. In fact, I've learned from them over the years. If you put stuff out in public, you can expect a response. To think it will all be positive is naive.

@ShamiKhanusa

10 жыл бұрын

Hey Bob just curious how much it cost? I'm thinking about get solar panels, too. Thanks.

@BobKovacs

10 жыл бұрын

Shami Khan The cost I paid for this system has been answered below in the comments. Start at the bottom of the comments and read up. However, I installed the system in 2010, and the cost of panels is quite a bit lower today. It should cost less than I paid.

It's still in the early stages. Right now it's much bigger in California, New Jersey, and New York because of the tax incentives. Whenever a state implements tax incentives more companies open up in those particular states. Overall the industry has grown and will continue to do so the next few years.

God dang, where are the safety harnesses?

Any chance make another video? Would greatly appreciate if you share kw production and cost analysis against savings monthly. When do you expect to brake even.Again great job.

@BobKovacs

4 жыл бұрын

I actually have two more videos about my solar system (which was on a house I sold in 2016). I made a video that is a tour of the system (kzread.info/dash/bejne/e3WNl5SIhdXHfaw.html) and I did a detailed cost analysis (kzread.info/dash/bejne/qah2xrSaeNKZerg.html). I hope you enjoy those... and thanks for the comments!

Several trees were shading our panels at various times of the day. We cut down seven trees and may cut down more. However, the panels now get full sun from 8AM to 6PM, at least in the summer.

Yes, the federal and state subsidies add up to about 50 percent of the full cost. It's definitely expensive but we've always been interested in this and (as you probably can remember from the windmill we tried to build years ago) have wanted to alternate energy for a long time. I wish we could just run the meter backwards and get paid for our generation, but it's a little more complicated than that. Still, it was good to see the meter going backwards!

There is a code violation with the solar breaker. Can you guess what it is?

@ljpapadak No. If grid power is lost, then there is no power from the solar panels. It's possible to design a system with batteries, a standby inverter and automatic disconnect switch, but that adds LOTS of complexity. The fact is that the grid is on 99.99 percent of the time, so it's hard to justify spending $10,000 to handle 5 minutes of outage per year. Still, it's worth thinking about.

No safety equipment on these guys. What if someone falls off the roof and is paralyzed. Better make certain that all these guys are covered by workers compensation insurance otherwise the owner might be sued as well as the employer. Which brings me to my question. Should these guys have tie down lines ?

@All4Solar If you scroll down and read, this question has come up a couple times and been answered.

@RedwoodGeorge Thanks! And good luck with your system... it's good to be part of the solution.

@a1pilote Sorry, I don't know what brand of hardware was used. It was all supplied by the installation company and it was not discussed with me.

The mounts are not waterproof and do not meet code requirements for flashing. I wonder how long before the roof leaks.

Obrigado por este vídeo. Ótima instalação solar. Eu sou instalador aqui no Brasil.

@BobKovacs

4 жыл бұрын

Você é bem vindo!

Thanks for the reply and the info rockhot

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the comments and read up from there. I've answered that question a couple of times. The company that installed the system is called Standard Solar, which is based in Maryland's Washington, DC suburbs.

Nice Video, concise yet informative.

It's been installed for more than two years... no leaks yet, that I know about. However, I'm not looking forward to removing the panels to replace the roof in 10-15 years, when the roof's lifespan is up.

@BobKovacs

4 жыл бұрын

@Free Speech A mechanism to continuously point the solar panels at the sun is prohibitively expensive. Yes, the solar panels' power output goes up and down depending on the angle of the sun. Tracking the sun would definitely create more power, but it is too complicated for a homeowner system.

good video. Since this is a grid tie system does it provide power to your home if the power from the utility company is off? Just curious.

Just curious; and this is from an outsiders point of view. I see five openings in the flashing; for the bolts to secure it to the roof. Now, all five can't be going into the roof rafter unless the rafter itself is just some really fat piece of lumber. Are those screws going just into the flat roof or are some of them being screwed into the roof rafters themselves? Something else too, as the bolts are being driven into the roof, I saw what appeared to be a rubber gasket kind of mold itself to the roof shingles as the flashing is being secured to the roof. Is that observation correct? And if so, won't the rubber wear out over time?

@BobKovacs

4 жыл бұрын

The bolts were screwed into the roof decking, which is 1/2-inch plywood. The rafters are 16-inches apart, so any bolts that hit a rafter just happened to be in the right place at the right time. There is no way to hit a rafter with every bolt, nor was that required by the building department (which did inspect this installation). The gastket material you saw was some sort of sealant, perhaps silicone. Everything wears out over time, even rock, but the sealant will probably last as long as the shingles. The solar panels protect the sealant from the worst of the sun and precipitation.

awesome video.. Great Editing.. THANKS for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!

did you trim off the branches of the tree which might potentially shade ur solar panels..

@MacOSJoey We had several trees cut down last year, although there are LOTs of other big trees. There is still some shading that cuts down the power output in the mornings, but we hate to cut down 20 more trees to fix it.

Very helpful video. Thanks

@BobKovacs

5 жыл бұрын

You are welcome!

Nice work bud, how do u clean em from dust. in my country a lot of dust storm do u think that will affect.

Yes, I confirmed they all had the proper work documents.

@iceman6ck3 This has been asked and answered in the comments below. But the short answer is: No. When utility power goes, the panels stop producing power.

Ok, thanks for the quick reply. I was wondering how these inverters would deal with a situation like that.

Yes, my electric bills have gone WAY down. I pay for no electricity for most of the year, but I do pay bills in December, January, February and March. The panels do generate some power in those months, so even those bills are reduced. The March bill is small, then we begin to generate excess power through the peak generation months.

Federal is 30%. Just wish that you had less shading up there to make the system produce more. Our PA rebate used to require proof that not too much shading was in place so that their rebate paid for good production levels. The Enphases will help with the shading, though. Did the integrators sell you on the big money you would make with SRECs? I'm going to go with a DIY system because I just feel that SRECs won't pay much and need to offset that with skipping out on the full integrator costs

@dahur Hey, thanks for sharing your experience!

very impressive, I am considering building a solar panel "roof" over my backyard shed of about 30' x 30 to power my home'; just don't know where to begin..

@loretobarbados I never wear a harness on the roof. It's just a 1-story home.

Keep in mind that we did this 2 years ago... I don't know if Virginia still has the renewable energy program that it had when we did our system. It was a cash payment to us of about 17% of the system's cost. The federal government was a 35% tax credit. The energy payments we receive are from renewable energy credits that the power companies get my distributing renewable energy. It's too complicated to explain here, but it's real money.

since somebody said thats the wrong way...whats the proper way to install solar panels?

@Fenix26 Yes, we figure a payoff in about 6-7 years. But when you consider that the panels add about $10-15K in value to the house, the payoff is much better.

Nice video thanks for posting it.

there's shadow falling on the roof.. isnt it harmful for the cells..

Im sorry, but the total lack of solar potential at this location would make it a NO GO!! The is no way I would have suggested solar for you Bob... The trees will kill any kind of ROI!!

@BobKovacs

7 жыл бұрын

jarrodsfamily What this video doesn't show is that I had several trees cut down immediately after installing the solar panels.

@fernandovaldes6914

7 жыл бұрын

jarrodsfamily Life, problems, and solutions aren't black and white... trees decrease heat, which might allow the owners to run the AC for less time. If the AC pulls the most energy in the home... it's possible that a balance between a roof that is always sunny, but the added coolness of surrounding trees makes an optimal system. Again, solutions aren't black and white... I may be wrong about this specific example, but don't jump to conclusion so quickly. Unless you are a professional in the field... which I am not.

good installation. but the safety is poor. btw who design the system?

@BobKovacs

7 жыл бұрын

The system was designed by Standard Solar, the company that did the installation and sold the components. Keep in mind that this was installed in June 2010, nearly 7 years ago.

It looks like you'll get some shading on those panels because of those trees... How does it affect your power output? Good video, though.