Home made panels connected to enphase inverter

[MarineLiner]

mike was wondering about building my own panels using the enphase micro inverter.
Also in a couple of your post you mention water vapor.
I am new to this but it looks like if i do the work with buying an enphase inverter i can make a complete panel grid tied for about $400.00.
Does this seem right to you? I am not interested in batteries i just want to produce as much electric as possible. Sorry about where i placed this post as i am new to this whole thing . Delete if necessary.

copied to make new thread,

building my own panels using the enphase micro inverter ?

[MarineLiner]

Mike's reply

legally, you cannot use home built (non-ul approved) panels in/on any insured structure.
And, as strange as it sounds, you can't feed non-ul electricity from your own panels, into a micro-inverter, and then legally, feed it into the grid.
But hey, i'm not a lawyer.
Grid tied is about 95% of harvest, into usable power, add batteries and it drops to about 50%.

coresponding reply copied also.

[MarineLiner]

Tying into grid

Mike, you mean to tell me that all these sites on building your own solar panels really only work if you are not tying into the grid but using a battery bank. (legally)
Does that mean I would have to get my electrians license, get UL approved to build my own panels and then grid tie.
Also how did you get so knowledgeable and how long have you been doing this. I'm not questioning your knowledge merely interested in how I can become more knowledgeable in this field.

I've read a post about insurance company will not pay claim if using non-UL.

[Mike90250]

copied to make new thread.

WHY are you making a new thread

[MarineLiner]

Thanks for asking.
I read a post in "Welcome New Members", from an enphase technician, and hope he could participating here without disturbing the original post over there which discuss seriously about monitoring.

[MarineLiner]

Can provide systems to do-it-yourselfers?

Howdy all - this is my first post on Solarpaneltalk.com. I work as a Sales Engineer for Solartown.com and have been working in the industry for the past year.
We can provide systems to do-it-yourselfers across the country.
I'm a big fan of Enphase's micro-inverters and you can see how my system is performing here: http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/p...stems/GGkg2993.
I've learned a lot this year and I enjoy learning new things.
I hope this forum will help us all learn more about solar energy - how to design it, install it, and make a meaningful contribution to future generations!

Can provide systems to do-it-yourselfers across the country?

[Walt_Solartown]

Enphase Inverters & Homemade Panels

Hope I'm replying in the right spot to this - if you are capable of making a homemade panel I don't see why it wouldn't work with an Enphase inverter. Just be sure you meet the input specifications on the spec sheet and it should work. But I haven't made a solar panel, nor am I a lawyer! The inverter specs are available at the Enphase Enlighten website. http://www.enphaseenergy.com/product...info/index.cfm. What are you trying to do?

[Walt_Solartown]

Hello - well, yes that is what SolarTown does. You can find us online at SolarTown.com. I help do-it-youselfers make good choices for solar systems - I'm partial to grid-tie arrays and micro-inverters, but the components we have are all well-known and good quality. If you hit the [ask an expert] button you're e-mail lands in my inbox and we can discuss what you want to do.

[trbizwiz]

Hey walt,not exactly a monitoring question, but I have priced some systems with different suppliers. They all seem to price the enphase M190 inverter, but most spec the 220 to 230 panels. Wouldn't the M210 be a better choice for the panels over around 205 to 210 watts. Seems you are paying for watts you'll never see with the 190?
Perhaps this is just a sign I should avoid these vendors?? Or maybe I am missing some other detail. Also from your site it seems the 210 comes in a 208 volt and a 240 volt and the 190 comes in several configurations. IS there an advantage to a particular voltage. I believe the 240 would best match my homes voltage.

[Walt_Solartown]

Howdy - if you check out Enphase's white papers you'll see that the recommend picking a panel that is 1.25 times the power of the inverter. For the M190 (which can output 199 watts) that means 199 x 1.25 = 248.75 watt panel. I haven't seen any 250-watt panels yet though I understand they are coming. I also have CSI 230s paired with the M190s - and I don't believe I am leaving many watts on the roof. Be sure to check Enphase's module compatibility sheet! And even that won't show you that the M190 CAN work with a 240 watt panel, if it is the right voltage range. Now that you know whay I'm using you can see how my array is faring here: http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/p...stems/GGkg2993

[crxvfr]

WHY are you making a new thread

I have never seen a thread-hijacker quite like MarineLiner.

You crack me up sometimes ML. ...and I mean in a good way.

[MarineLiner]

I have never seen a thread-hijacker quite like MarineLiner.
You crack me up sometimes ML. ...and I mean in a good way.

[crxvfr]

[QUOTE=MarineLiner;11181]

[MarineLiner]

Thanks again,

you make me feel brand new.