New Member - New 8.6KW system

[deyounte]

Hi All,

I'm Tim D from Melbourne Florida. I've been lurking for quite a while. Now I have a reason to join and post.

Finally made the leap to purchase an 8.6KW system. Its SolarWorld 285 Plus panels with Enphase M250 inverters. I'm working on finalizing the financing this week and it should be installed in about 6 weeks. I have been thinking about this technology for many many years and I just can't believe that I'm finally going to make it happen.

Its' sized to cover 100% of my electric needs. I've got a Chevrolet Volt and as such this will cover both my home electric and that includes most of my daily transportation energy needs - so almost no gasoline bill either.

The price came out at around $3.30/Watt with interesting (written) promises for all warranty labor covered (including for warranty replacement of the Enphase units). I'm taking that with a grain of salt, but I'll take what I can get. I'm particularly happy that all of the major parts are made domestically.

I've got some shading issues, but have plans to remove some of the offending trees. Having the Enphase units will help me in keeping some of the lessor offenders - or at least delay their demise.

I'm having to upgrade my load center because there were no free slots. I could have gone with a tap with a small subpanel, but I'm electing to enlarge an existing subpanel in a big way because I have need for future expansion. That work will be done friday. I tried to get the installer to do the electrical expansion work but they didn't have the expertise or desire to do that level of electrical work. (I tried 3 different installers and got the same treatment.) As a result I won't be able to include that electrical change in my tax credit. They could have sub'd the work, but by the time they put their markup on it I wouldn't have gained on the tax credit and they didn't appear to have the attention to detail that my electrician has. I'm also adding a whole house surge protector while he's in there making the changes.

The solar installer is planning on using S5 ridge brackets on my corrugated metal roof. He didn't finalize the racking, but it is either Unirac or Ironridge. They have to see what will work with my roof. I've got a lot of space to fit this and I'm looking forward to approving their layout to ensure that my multilevel roof and the trees are not causing unnecessary shading problems.


Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[SunEagle]

Hello Tim and welcome to Solar Panel Talk.

I am sure others, beside myself, would be interested is seeing some pictures of your new pv system.

[solar pete]

Hi All,

I'm Tim D from Melbourne Florida. I've been lurking for quite a while. Now I have a reason to join and post.

Finally made the leap to purchase an 8.6KW system. Its SolarWorld 285 Plus panels with Enphase M250 inverters. I'm working on finalizing the financing this week and it should be installed in about 6 weeks. I have been thinking about this technology for many many years and I just can't believe that I'm finally going to make it happen.

Its' sized to cover 100% of my electric needs. I've got a Chevrolet Volt and as such this will cover both my home electric and that includes most of my daily transportation energy needs - so almost no gasoline bill either.

The price came out at around $3.30/Watt with interesting (written) promises for all warranty labor covered (including for warranty replacement of the Enphase units). I'm taking that with a grain of salt, but I'll take what I can get. I'm particularly happy that all of the major parts are made domestically.

I've got some shading issues, but have plans to remove some of the offending trees. Having the Enphase units will help me in keeping some of the lessor offenders - or at least delay their demise.

I'm having to upgrade my load center because there were no free slots. I could have gone with a tap with a small subpanel, but I'm electing to enlarge an existing subpanel in a big way because I have need for future expansion. That work will be done friday. I tried to get the installer to do the electrical expansion work but they didn't have the expertise or desire to do that level of electrical work. (I tried 3 different installers and got the same treatment.) As a result I won't be able to include that electrical change in my tax credit. They could have sub'd the work, but by the time they put their markup on it I wouldn't have gained on the tax credit and they didn't appear to have the attention to detail that my electrician has. I'm also adding a whole house surge protector while he's in there making the changes.

The solar installer is planning on using S5 ridge brackets on my corrugated metal roof. He didn't finalize the racking, but it is either Unirac or Ironridge. They have to see what will work with my roof. I've got a lot of space to fit this and I'm looking forward to approving their layout to ensure that my multilevel roof and the trees are not causing unnecessary shading problems.


Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

Hi Tim and welcome to the neighborhood. Thanks for chiming in, sounds like you have got a handle on it, cheers

[solar_newbie]

Wonderful to see another 8.6KW system up

[deyounte]

Moving forward with this 8.6KW system

Hi All,

I'm Tim D from Melbourne Florida. I've been lurking for quite a while. Now I have a reason to join and post.

Finally made the leap to purchase an 8.6KW system. Its SolarWorld 285 Plus panels with Enphase M250 inverters. I'm working on finalizing the financing this week and it should be installed in about 6 weeks. I have been thinking about this technology for many many years and I just can't believe that I'm finally going to make it happen.

Its' sized to cover 100% of my electric needs. I've got a Chevrolet Volt and as such this will cover both my home electric and that includes most of my daily transportation energy needs - so almost no gasoline bill either.

The price came out at around $3.30/Watt with interesting (written) promises for all warranty labor covered (including for warranty replacement of the Enphase units). I'm taking that with a grain of salt, but I'll take what I can get. I'm particularly happy that all of the major parts are made domestically.

I've got some shading issues, but have plans to remove some of the offending trees. Having the Enphase units will help me in keeping some of the lessor offenders - or at least delay their demise.

I'm having to upgrade my load center because there were no free slots. I could have gone with a tap with a small subpanel, but I'm electing to enlarge an existing subpanel in a big way because I have need for future expansion. That work will be done friday. I tried to get the installer to do the electrical expansion work but they didn't have the expertise or desire to do that level of electrical work. (I tried 3 different installers and got the same treatment.) As a result I won't be able to include that electrical change in my tax credit. They could have sub'd the work, but by the time they put their markup on it I wouldn't have gained on the tax credit and they didn't appear to have the attention to detail that my electrician has. I'm also adding a whole house surge protector while he's in there making the changes.

The solar installer is planning on using S5 ridge brackets on my corrugated metal roof. He didn't finalize the racking, but it is either Unirac or Ironridge. They have to see what will work with my roof. I've got a lot of space to fit this and I'm looking forward to approving their layout to ensure that my multilevel roof and the trees are not causing unnecessary shading problems.


Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

Well... Things are moving along. Financing done. Measurements and pictures taken. They are off designing and preparing for permits, and ordering now. It's a race to see if they can get it in for this year's tax credit. They claim it will be completed, inspected and online in time. I'm nervous about that.

The guy doing the measuring commented on how much good roof I had. When I mentioned I was getting 30 panels he indicated that I have space for much more than that. (All facing due south, btw). I'm betting I could put about double that on this roof. (But I'm not in the mood to help the POCO that much.)



Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[solar pete]

Well... Things are moving along. Financing done. Measurements and pictures taken. They are off designing and preparing for permits, and ordering now. It's a race to see if they can get it in for this year's tax credit. They claim it will be completed, inspected and online in time. I'm nervous about that.

The guy doing the measuring commented on how much good roof I had. When I mentioned I was getting 30 panels he indicated that I have space for much more than that. (All facing due south, btw). I'm betting I could put about double that on this roof. (But I'm not in the mood to help the POCO that much.)



Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

Howdy Tim, thanks for the update. Hope it all goes well, cheers

[deyounte]

Install is pending

I got a call Monday from the installer. They want to do the installation next Monday and Tuesday. The county told them the permits would be done Monday. I'll work from home those days. Looks like this system will be commissioned well before the end of the year.

I had some questions about the standoff's which are going to be worked out when they come, but they know my concerns. They wanted to use Ironridge L-foot standoffs, but my metal roof has foam insulation under it. The concern is that it will "crush" when they torque down the bolts. They have S-5 Corrugation standoffs they can alternately use which bolt into the ridges of the metal panels with 4 screws on opposite sides of the ridge. (I don't have standing seam roofing.)

I had some questions about where they were going to tap into the electrical. I had my sub-panel upgraded for more free space and a larger 100 amp feed and a surge protector put into the main panel. I wanted them to tie into the new sub-panel so that the panels/inverters would be surge protected. They are ok with that. I think that they would have preferred to do a line-side tap out by the meter to avoid the whole load center, but then the system would be outside the surge protector.

Later that same day the sales guy called and mentioned that they couldn't get the SW 285's. He wanted to switch it out for SW 280's. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence he mentioned that he'd throw in an additional panel to cover the diff in output. That was nice. I thanked them.

Anyway. I'm attaching a before pic of the roof. (Sorry it is a panoramic so it is a little distorted.) About a week from now I should be able to put up a pic of the completed install (fingers crossed).

IMG_0947.JPG

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[deyounte]

Per Panel Monitoring

The forums have been a big help. I didn't realize that the "per panel monitoring" wasn't standard. I called Enphase to get a clarification. The result is that I need to come to agreement with my installer to pay an extra fee ($250) to get the "per panel monitoring". I sent an email to my installer asking if I'm getting "basic system monitoring" or "per panel monitoring". I haven't heard back yet.

After reading on this forum and across the internet I found that the "per panel monitoring" does not come automatically with the Enphase Envoy/Enlighten feature. This has been reserved for an extra package called "Enlighten Manager". (I'm paraphrasing what I've read in other places.) For the most part this is reserved for the installer and can be provided via the installer for extra cost.

I called Enphase to get clarification. When I dialed them I chose their "sales" department. I asked the nice gentleman on the other end to clarify what I had heard about "per panel monitoring" and whether it can be provided to the end customer. His response was that the installer has to pay for it and request it at the time of registration on the phone during the system installation. He went on to say that they only work through business accounts and thus the end customer can't purchase this directly. I asked which department the installer should call to do this and the answer seemed to be "sales", but that "support" could do it too. He mentioned that many installers don't know about this and thus don't offer this.

I've got one more business day before they come to install (that's tomorrow - Black Friday). I will call them directly to ask the question. I don't mind paying the extra money. (Well, I'm annoyed, but I'll pay it.) One of the reasons I went with micro-inverters was the "per panel monitoring". I saw the Youtube videos and assumed this came with the Envoy. Well, for the next guy. Now you know before you buy - get the installer to include "Enlighten Manager" in the deal or you will not get to see the output of the panels individually.

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[deyounte]

Well, we're installed, but not yet commissioned. The building inspector is coming tomorrow. The utility can take up to 14 days to change the meter and commission the system. Oh well. Patience..... In the meantime I keep bugging them for the per panel monitoring.

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[deyounte]

We're finally online!

The inspector came on Dec 2 and signed off. The POCO changed the meter on December 7. I had an appointment today (December 9) with the installer to turn it on. He called first thing in the morning and basically said if I was comfortable that I could turn it on. (It was a 1 hour trip one way and there wasn't much else to do than that for today.) I closed in the two breakers and away we go. It took maybe 20 minutes for it to bring all 31 Enphase inverters online and it started showing output on the Enphase Envoy LCD screen. What remains is to setup the Enphase Enlighten Manager so I can see the details on the web, but in the meantime the system is running. The installer is working on the Enlighten Manager. I presume he has to draw the panels for the website and assign the individual inverts to each panel. (Never done that, so I am only guessing.) I'll upload a pic of the installed system when the new SolarPanelTalk site software will allow it.

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[solar pete]

Wooo Hoooo.......welcome to the solar electricty producers club and thanks for keeping us informed, we will be getting onto the picture upload thing hopefully today although I dont know what Greg has planned, fingers crossed, cheers.

[radareclipse]

Welcome, nice and congrats! More pictures or it didn't happen.

[deyounte]

Here's the pic of the installed (and running) system.

(Yea! I was finally able to upload it.)

Also, got the Enlighten Manager software setup and I've got it collecting to pvoutput.org now. I would recommend my installer. (I'll link to the SolarReviews later.)

Cheers.

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[deyounte]

Per Panel Monitoring

The forums have been a big help. I didn't realize that the "per panel monitoring" wasn't standard. I called Enphase to get a clarification. The result is that I need to come to agreement with my installer to pay an extra fee ($250) to get the "per panel monitoring". I sent an email to my installer asking if I'm getting "basic system monitoring" or "per panel monitoring". I haven't heard back yet.

After reading on this forum and across the internet I found that the "per panel monitoring" does not come automatically with the Enphase Envoy/Enlighten feature. This has been reserved for an extra package called "Enlighten Manager". (I'm paraphrasing what I've read in other places.) For the most part this is reserved for the installer and can be provided via the installer for extra cost.

I called Enphase to get clarification. When I dialed them I chose their "sales" department. I asked the nice gentleman on the other end to clarify what I had heard about "per panel monitoring" and whether it can be provided to the end customer. His response was that the installer has to pay for it and request it at the time of registration on the phone during the system installation. He went on to say that they only work through business accounts and thus the end customer can't purchase this directly. I asked which department the installer should call to do this and the answer seemed to be "sales", but that "support" could do it too. He mentioned that many installers don't know about this and thus don't offer this.

I've got one more business day before they come to install (that's tomorrow - Black Friday). I will call them directly to ask the question. I don't mind paying the extra money. (Well, I'm annoyed, but I'll pay it.) One of the reasons I went with micro-inverters was the "per panel monitoring". I saw the Youtube videos and assumed this came with the Envoy. Well, for the next guy. Now you know before you buy - get the installer to include "Enlighten Manager" in the deal or you will not get to see the output of the panels individually.

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

So, I ended up getting the per panel monitoring. The installer expressed surprise that the policy had changed. I'm not sure why they were surprised. This changed in early 2014 as far as I can tell. I think they just been giving their customers the basic service and no one said anything to them. Anyway I offered to pay because they didn't cost in the extra $250 (trying to ensure they wouldn't try to skip it on me.) They ended up just eating the cost and setting up the per panel monitoring even with my offer to pay. They must have wanted the good press. Anyway, I can only say good things about my installer. I'll post a review of them on solarreviews and add a link later.

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL

[deyounte]

Here's the link to SolarReviews for my review of the installer. The other reviews are very positive for this installer too.

http://www.solarreviews.com/view-review/?reviewid=16295&newreview=1&displayothersites=1

Tim D.
Melbourne, FL