Solar install turning out really bad - looking for some help/advice please.

[Willy T]

NO>>>NO>>>>NO>>>

Dont call, dont text, dont do ANYTHING!!

You want to kick his ass off the job, and you can do so as "Abandonment".

If you would have taken my advice and contacted a construction lawyer.... you would already know this.

You must be oblivious to whats being played out here, he's got the installer in checkmate and controls all the moves. The Installers only recourse is to finish the work his way and at his price. Once someone gets you by the short hairs like this you take the path of least resistance. The Installer has few options.

[HX_Guy]

I swear could these guys have done one f*cking thing right?! What good is the star washer going to do ABOVE the optimizer? Ground it to itself??



I'm guessing I need new ones now? These can't be reused if I remember correctly.


And this is my bolt and sealant. It was driven down about 3" into the rafter with 5" above and actually flexed if I pushed on it with my foot.
The sealant basically scabbed right off the tar paper, you can see in a couple spots it actually had good contact as some of the paper came off with it, but at the vert top, where water would actually enter...clean as can be!

[Alisobob]

I swear could these guys have done one f*cking thing right?!

And this is still the guy you want on your project.

You know those news stories where some guy is beating the wife... and the cops come out... and then she beats on the cops for trying to arrest him??

Thats exactly whats going on here...

black-eye-girl-picture.jpg

[HX_Guy]

And this is still the guy you want on your project.

You know those news stories where some guy is beating the wife... and the cops come out... and then she beats on the cops for trying to arrest him??

Thats exactly whats going on here...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5385[/ATTACH]

Don't have a lot of choices here (maybe those women don't either ). I've called several solar installers and it seems not one really wants to touch this thing mid point.

[Living Large]

I swear could these guys have done one f*cking thing right?! What good is the star washer going to do ABOVE the optimizer? Ground it to itself??



I'm guessing I need new ones now? These can't be reused if I remember correctly.
{snip}

I am not familiar with this equipment, but I don't see how the washer being above or below the flat washer would make much difference from a grounding standpoint. Reason being, if it were below the flat one, the flat one would then be flush against the nut - not much different than the flat washer being flush against the part beginning with "P400". I may be missing something. It appears there is a hole to mount a ground to the P400, which hasn't been done yet.

[HX_Guy]

The optimizers can and should be grounded with a star washer directly to the rail according to SolarEdge. It would save a lot of time and money not having to run all that ground wire too. Maybe I'm expecting too much from my installer, but I figured he would read the directions for a product he's never used before.

[Living Large]

The optimizers can and should be grounded with a star washer directly to the rail according to SolarEdge. It would save a lot of time and money not having to run all that ground wire too. Maybe I'm expecting too much from my installer, but I figured he would read the directions for a product he's never used before.

OK - yes, absolutely. I see now. I was not thinking about between the P400 and the rail - and I should have because grounding the anchor bolt didn't make sense.. Doh! Evidently the installer wasn't thinking either.

[bcroe]

And who is going to pay or have time for this construction lawyer? I don't want to drag this out to court and other things, I just want my system finished and producing electricity.

Honestly my ideal situation would be for me to finish up the project like I said earlier...do the roofing, do the wiring and then have him put up the panels since I can't handle that part and whatever else he needs to be part of for the commissioning/inspection, plus he holds the permit and I don't want to start that process over. I don't need it warrantied by him or any other of his services.

There are some competent people out there, if you can find them. But honestly, I learned half a
century ago, the only way to be sure it will be done right, is to do it yourself. When the 3/4 ton
of aluminum for my array arrived, the holes weren't right. I hauled it all to my shop and drilled
half a thousand holes. Some were custom done to match up to misplacement of the concrete,
which was off as much as an inch. That meant I also pre assembled it all, to be sure the customized
pieces didn't get mixed up. Took 5 (desperate) days, before they came back.

The main thing here is to get a project up to my standards. Pursuing "justice" is a secondary issue,
most of the time I don't see it as useful. good luck, Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

There are some competent people out there, if you can find them. But honestly, I learned half a
century ago, the only way to be sure it will be done right, is to do it yourself. When the 3/4 ton
of aluminum for my array arrived, the holes weren't right. I hauled it all to my shop and drilled
half a thousand holes. Some were custom done to match up to misplacement of the concrete,
which was off as much as an inch. That meant I also pre assembled it all, to be sure the customized
pieces didn't get mixed up. Took 5 (desperate) days, before they came back.

The main thing here is to get a project up to my standards. Pursuing "justice" is a secondary issue,
most of the time I don't see it as useful. good luck, Bruce Roe

Bruce:

I'm mostly in agreement with you on the best way to ensure getting what you want but, and perhaps similar in this case to pursuing correction and perhaps some justice through the legal system, I bet both of us are wasting time and keystrokes writing about it.

[sensij]

And this is still the guy you want on your project.

You know those news stories where some guy is beating the wife... and the cops come out... and then she beats on the cops for trying to arrest him??

Thats exactly whats going on here...

And here is 2014's winner for posts in poor taste. I understand the analogy you are trying to make, but the worst that happens to the OP in this case is spending more money than desired. Installing a PV system is a luxury, a gamble on future rates and regulations that people who can afford it convince themselves they should make. The OP tried to do it cheap, and is suffering the consequences. That is not even close to the involuntary psychological and physical trauma that is involved in the situation you are describing.

[Alisobob]

Continuing to work with a completly incompetent contractor, then belly aching about it .... is pretty close to my analogy.

Separate yourself from the drama..

If he abandons the job... GOOD.

He's on the hook for whatever you have to pay to get it resolved.

Turn him in the the contractors board, so no one else will have to go through what your going through.

Otherwise, your just kicking the can down the street...

[Alisobob]

Doh! Evidently the installer wasn't thinking either.

A nice, shiny , aluminum rack... lagged to wood rafters... isnt grounded.

Anything you bolt to the rack.. with star washers or not... isnt grounded either.

Electricity 101

[HX_Guy]

A nice, shiny , aluminum rack... lagged to wood rafters... isnt grounded.

Anything you bolt to the rack.. with star washers or not... isnt grounded either.

Electricity 101

Of course, but with the star washer method and grounding clips for the panels, you can run a ground wire to just one end of the rail and then the whole string on that rail is grounded. Much easier in my opinion than grounding each individual optimizer and panel.

[sensij]

Of course, but with the star washer method and grounding clips for the panels, you can run a ground wire to just one end of the rail and then the whole string on that rail is grounded. Much easier in my opinion than grounding each individual optimizer and panel.

Yes, as long as the racking is UL listed for that purpose. Your understanding of code seems a little thin from what you've posted about the wiring so far. Really, you need some help to get this worked out correctly.

[HX_Guy]

Yes, as long as the racking is UL listed for that purpose. Your understanding of code seems a little thin from what you've posted about the wiring so far. Really, you need some help to get this worked out correctly.

I'm using Unirac SolarMount racking which is how the instructions say to do the grounding. I don't know much about electrical code, but I do know how to follow directions pretty well.