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

[Volusiano]

It's over the garage, the radiant barrier people said it would be pointless to put in there too.

Oh, OK. I saw insulation there so I just assumed that where there is insulation, there should be radiant barrier.

There's no insulation over my garage. If your garage space is not air conditioned, wouldn't the insulation trap in the summer heat too much?

[HX_Guy]

Oh, OK. I saw insulation there so I just assumed that where there is insulation, there should be radiant barrier.

There's no insulation over my garage. If your garage space is not air conditioned, wouldn't the insulation trap in the summer heat too much?

I don't know, the builder put it in there when they built the house.

[HX_Guy]

To follow up on the "faulty" meter, that wasn't the problem.

The installer was supposed to come out yesterday with a new meter, of course he was a no show, so I went on Craigslist and bought one myself for $10.

Popped it in, and nothing, that wasn't the problem. So busted out the volt meter to check the connections...everything looked ok until I got to the AC disconnect panel and even in the ON position, I wasn't getting anything on the other end (top side was reading 241v). Shut off the power and checking for continuity with an ohm meter and what do you know, the left side wasn't making a connection. Looking at it closer, the "clamp" was too spread apart, so used a screw driver to bend it a bit and bam, works like a charm. Now I should probably shut it off before the electric company notices Im backfeeding power without their consent.

[Volusiano]

Wonder how an "open" wiring condition could have killed the installer's voltmeter in the first place? Unless they didn't know how to use it properly and ruined it themselves somehow. Or maybe it was already busted even before that.

[Alisobob]

Unless they didn't know how to use it properly and ruined it themselves somehow. Or maybe it was already busted even before that.

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[Ben25]

I've been following this thread for a while, glad it's finally up and running!! On a side note, I believe you are missing a ground lug in the disconnect. The conduit has a bonding bushing, but nothing on the disco itself.

Ben

[HX_Guy]

Hmm, so where should that be grounded?

[Ben25]

There should be a ground lug attached to one of those holes in the back of the disco with the ground wire running to or through it.

[sensij]

There should be a ground lug attached to one of those holes in the back of the disco with the ground wire running to or through it.

Here is a picture.

[HX_Guy]

Here is a picture.

So you're telling me my installer didn't connect something? Nooo! His attention to detail is great! /sarcasm.

Looks like I have to pull the box away from the wall to add the lug? That seems kind of like a pain in the butt, or can the screw just go through from the front side (no nut on the other side?). Do I just connect a #10 ground from the conductor bushing grounding there in the box?

[control4userguy]

Wonder how an "open" wiring condition could have killed the installer's voltmeter in the first place? Unless they didn't know how to use it properly and ruined it themselves somehow. Or maybe it was already busted even before that.

Yeah, wondering that too. The idiot probably had the DVM in resistance mode and popped the meter's fuse.

[Volusiano]

So you're telling me my installer didn't connect something? Nooo! His attention to detail is great! /sarcasm.

Looks like I have to pull the box away from the wall to add the lug? That seems kind of like a pain in the butt, or can the screw just go through from the front side (no nut on the other side?). Do I just connect a #10 ground from the conductor bushing grounding there in the box?

I don't think you need to pull the box out to add the lug nut. On mine, I see they scraped the paint off the inside of the disconnect box where the ground lug is screwed on. I guess to make sure the lug nut makes good electrical contact to the box and not have the paint act as insulation. I'm sure you can use a short self-fastening screw to fasten the lug nut to the box without needing a nut on the other side. I see there are a couple of holes in your disco box. Probably there for the lug nut to get fastened to. I would probably put the lug nut on the lower left hole since that's closer to your ground wires.

Sorry I don't have a pic of mine, but in mine, the ground wire that goes in from the meter to the disconnect box (through the conduit) gets clamped to the ground lug nut that's fastened to the disconnect box. From there a short ground wire is clamped to that lug nut, and from there it goes to lug nut that's tied to the bonding bushing of the conduit that goes out to the main panel, and its other end gets clamped there. The ground wire going out to the main panel through the conduit also gets clamped there. Hope this is clear enough.

All my hot and neutral wiring in and out of the meter and disconnect box are #6 wires, and the ground is 8 awg. My whole system is rated at 11 KW. If your system is at comparable size, I don't think at that point #10 wire is big enough even for ground. My current rating is 46 A for 11 KW at 240V. It goes to a 60A breaker.

[Ben25]

You should be able to attach a box lug to the tub with a green ground screw. They do thread in if you try hard, but I usually tap the hole first to make it easier. Should be at least 8awg ground wire. I'm guessing you have 6awg wire from inverter to point of interconnect?

[Ben25]

Also, Volusiano you should not have 8awg wire for a 11kw system. The breaker is sized right, but wire needs to be 6awg.

Ben

[Volusiano]

Also, Volusiano you should not have 8awg wire for a 11kw system. The breaker is sized right, but wire needs to be 6awg.

Ben

Hi Ben, thanks for catching this error. I didn't say it right. What I meant to say was "all my hot and neutral wires are actually 6 awg, and my ground wire is 8 awg". I confirmed this both on my electrical plan and I also went out to verify visually inside the disconnect box. I made correction to the previous post, too. Thanks.