Coming Soon to NJ - 12.35 kW Hanwha DUO-G5 + SolarEdge Inverter/Optimizers by GPE

[sunpoweredev]

A common error in sizing ventilation equipment, among other common errors, such as not providing any/adequate inlet venting is not sizing equipment properly. Often, a fan is thrown at an attic venting application with little/no regard for how much air needs to be moved to effect a desired temp. reduction. The fan makes a lot of noise so that makes folks happy and they often think it's meeting its intended purpose. But it may be undersized, and to my experience usually is. That may have happened to you, or inlets may have been blocked along the way somehow, or other things. Now, you have an inlet at the soffits (as before ?) and an outlet at the ridge that replaces (or perhaps acts as an adjunct to) the fan. I'm unaware of your fan size/location, but depending on that fan size and location, when operating, it may well defeat some or all of the effect of the ridge vents by drawing air into the attic through the ridge vents instead of exhausting air through them. Or, if the soffits are blocked or undersized, the fan may be now meeting it's intended duty with inlet venting now supplied by the ridge soffit.

I live in a large subdivision of cookie cutter homes (smallest ~2800 square feet to ~3800 for the largest model), and this developer has other several other developments in the state. You would think that a developer with that kind of experience knows what they're doing, but I guess the reality is what they're good at is saving every nickel wherever possible. The roofer didn't give me a breakdown on the ridge vent since it was all included, but it listed the materials as being $200 per roll, and at my request I paid an extra $300 for the breathable underlayment. I didn't exactly time the roofer when they started putting on the ridge vent, but it was perhaps under an hour. I know when they started cutting the ridges and when the hammering subsided. So, for the $400 the developer charged for that attic fan, surely they could've put on the ridge vent instead. The fan was placed near dead center of the house, and precisely fit in between the rafters. In weather like we're having this week, that fan would be running all day and with the AC running until well into the evening and it'd still be like a toaster upstairs.

The soffit intakes (around nearly the entire house) are put on by the original builder. The roofer didn't touch it. Evidently there's plenty of air intake, now that I have sufficient outlet vents for the soffit intakes to actually draw in air, so I guess I should be thankful. The roofer told me the attic fan must be removed since it'll work against the ridge vents.

It's funny that you mentioned the attic fan making noise. Yeah I used to think it was doing its thing, that upstairs feeling like a toaster is just part of summer lol. Now that we're well into summer, I can say the ridge vent made a huge difference. My great room and foyer are opened to the second floor 17' up and they also are noticeably cooler than before.

Redoing the roof was probably as good as investment as the solar system itself.

In almost all homes an attic fan does more harm than good. The fan moves way more air than can come though the soffit vents, the result is air being sucked out of the conditioned space below and out. The ridge vents are a much better solution for properly ventilating the attic.

Evidently so, now that I have fully experienced the before and after. In the winter it should be less humid upstairs too, but I do wonder if it'll also be colder..

[J.P.M.]

In almost all homes an attic fan does more harm than good. The fan moves way more air than can come though the soffit vents, the result is air being sucked out of the conditioned space below and out. The ridge vents are a much better solution for properly ventilating the attic.

That's why about half of the ventilation exercise involves inlet sizing considerations. Unfortunately, that's usually the part that's not considered.

An attic fan can do a lot of good. It's the crappy design process for the entire poor execution of the application that usually causes the problems.

[malba2366]

Thanks. Is the end user supposed to have access to the inverter via Setapp?

I think it's their standard operation in stages. The previous visit was for the tech to configure and fire up the system for the very first time for the inspection. He said the next time they come out will be to give me a formal "training session" on operations and monitoring. Perhaps also to make sure I don't turn on the system by "accident"



Our house 14 years old which is not that old. Nearly the entire house is surrounded by soffit intake vents, BUT it was only vented by a single power fan and that was a $400 *option*. I gotta admit we were ignorant about stuff like this back then, but at least common sense told me I need to vent the attic so we opted for the attic fan. Many houses around here don't even have that attic fan. And no, ridge vent is not a thing in this community here. I didn't even know what ridge venting is until we looked into redoing the roof with the solar system. I thought it was a new invention not available 14 years ago (is it?!)

Knowing what I know now, it's a shame to have wasted power all these years because the builder didn't properly vent the roof to save a few bucks (not that it's a surprise). I mean how much more could it have been for them to put ridge vents on when they literally built hundreds of houses here smh. The attic fan used to stay on all day and it'd still be suffocating upstairs, the fan thermostat was set to 120 IIRC. I can only imagine how toasty the other houses here are where the buyer cheaped out on opting for the $400 attic fan, assuming a single fan can even do anything to draw air in from the soffit intakes. Evidently not much based on how much cooler it is now that we have the ridge vent.

In almost all homes an attic fan does more harm than good. The fan moves way more air than can come though the soffit vents, the result is air being sucked out of the conditioned space below and out. The ridge vents are a much better solution for properly ventilating the attic.

[bcroe]

I have a similar situation here. After moving in and tracing down loads, I discovered
a thermostat controlled fan under one of the roof vents. However the bearings were
seized, so it would just come on for a few seconds till the overload tripped out, then
recover for more cycles some time later. It was a pretty shoddy add on, so I removed
it all. It is pretty hard to do much up there in summer 135F, so no more progress has
been made to date.

Another idea has come to mind. I could put a vent pipe with an inlet or two just under
the ridge, run it down to the basement, over an air to liquid heat exchanger carrying
water headed to my water heater, and then outside. I have plenty of variable speed,
robust fans to move air. Sure the heat exchanger could be in the attic, except the
idea of a plumbing failure up there is scary. Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

Our house 14 years old which is not that old. Nearly the entire house is surrounded by soffit intake vents, BUT it was only vented by a single power fan and that was a $400 *option*. I gotta admit we were ignorant about stuff like this back then, but at least common sense told me I need to vent the attic so we opted for the attic fan. Many houses around here don't even have that attic fan. And no, ridge vent is not a thing in this community here. I didn't even know what ridge venting is until we looked into redoing the roof with the solar system. I thought it was a new invention not available 14 years ago (is it?!)

Knowing what I know now, it's a shame to have wasted power all these years because the builder didn't properly vent the roof to save a few bucks (not that it's a surprise). I mean how much more could it have been for them to put ridge vents on when they literally built hundreds of houses here smh. The attic fan used to stay on all day and it'd still be suffocating upstairs, the fan thermostat was set to 120 IIRC. I can only imagine how toasty the other houses here are where the buyer cheaped out on opting for the $400 attic fan, assuming a single fan can even do anything to draw air in from the soffit intakes. Evidently not much based on how much cooler it is now that we have the ridge vent.

A common error in sizing ventilation equipment, among other common errors, such as not providing any/adequate inlet venting is not sizing equipment properly. Often, a fan is thrown at an attic venting application with little/no regard for how much air needs to be moved to effect a desired temp. reduction. The fan makes a lot of noise so that makes folks happy and they often think it's meeting its intended purpose. But it may be undersized, and to my experience usually is. That may have happened to you, or inlets may have been blocked along the way somehow, or other things. Now, you have an inlet at the soffits (as before ?) and an outlet at the ridge that replaces (or perhaps acts as an adjunct to) the fan. I'm unaware of your fan size/location, but depending on that fan size and location, when operating, it may well defeat some or all of the effect of the ridge vents by drawing air into the attic through the ridge vents instead of exhausting air through them. Or, if the soffits are blocked or undersized, the fan may be now meeting it's intended duty with inlet venting now supplied by the ridge soffit.

[sunpoweredev]

You can access all that information on the monitoring portal. There is no reason that the installer cant give you access to that now, they need not wait for PTO. You can set up monitoring with ethernet, cellular( GSM) currently with wifi option coming soon.

Thanks. Is the end user supposed to have access to the inverter via Setapp?

I think it's their standard operation in stages. The previous visit was for the tech to configure and fire up the system for the very first time for the inspection. He said the next time they come out will be to give me a formal "training session" on operations and monitoring. Perhaps also to make sure I don't turn on the system by "accident"

A common error with venting most any space is not understanding and so not accounting for the idea that a space needs about as much area for air inlet as for air outlet. a good fan w/ a lot of flow or natural vents is often defeated by restricted or non existent inlet(s). You can't exhaust what can't get in.

Our house 14 years old which is not that old. Nearly the entire house is surrounded by soffit intake vents, BUT it was only vented by a single power fan and that was a $400 *option*. I gotta admit we were ignorant about stuff like this back then, but at least common sense told me I need to vent the attic so we opted for the attic fan. Many houses around here don't even have that attic fan. And no, ridge vent is not a thing in this community here. I didn't even know what ridge venting is until we looked into redoing the roof with the solar system. I thought it was a new invention not available 14 years ago (is it?!)

Knowing what I know now, it's a shame to have wasted power all these years because the builder didn't properly vent the roof to save a few bucks (not that it's a surprise). I mean how much more could it have been for them to put ridge vents on when they literally built hundreds of houses here smh. The attic fan used to stay on all day and it'd still be suffocating upstairs, the fan thermostat was set to 120 IIRC. I can only imagine how toasty the other houses here are where the buyer cheaped out on opting for the $400 attic fan, assuming a single fan can even do anything to draw air in from the soffit intakes. Evidently not much based on how much cooler it is now that we have the ridge vent.

[J.P.M.]

Just my 2-cents, but I feel like the added ridge venting on my lower roof did nothing besides make things quieter for me when they removed the powered fan.

Partially I think this is due to lack of intake air flow which I plan to try and improve by adding and enlarging my eave vents.

My upper roof already had ridge venting and the reroof just deleted the powered fan there, so I guess I'm just saving a bit of electricity.

Unfortunately, my AC system is single zone and the upstairs returns (X3) are all at the floor level so I will likely need to do some modifications to improve the cooling situation.

A common error with venting most any space is not understanding and so not accounting for the idea that a space needs about as much area for air inlet as for air outlet. a good fan w/ a lot of flow or natural vents is often defeated by restricted or non existent inlet(s). You can't exhaust what can't get in.

[NJturtlePower]

My money's on both, but mostly the ridge vent.

Just my 2-cents, but I feel like the added ridge venting on my lower roof did nothing besides make things quieter for me when they removed the powered fan.

Partially I think this is due to lack of intake air flow which I plan to try and improve by adding and enlarging my eave vents.

My upper roof already had ridge venting and the reroof just deleted the powered fan there, so I guess I'm just saving a bit of electricity.

Unfortunately, my AC system is single zone and the upstairs returns (X3) are all at the floor level so I will likely need to do some modifications to improve the cooling situation.

[J.P.M.]

BTW the new roof made a very noticeable difference upstairs. Not sure if it's just because of the added ridge vent, or if the upgraded breathable underlayment also adds to it. The upstairs AC rarely kicks in during the day now.I

My money's on both, but mostly the ridge vent.

[ButchDeal]

My installer configured the inverter using Setapp via the inverter's built in wifi. I believe that's all that the built in wifi is used for. Regular inverter monitoring and communications can only use the Ethernet (or the optional cellular module). I think he did mention that with Setapp and the inverter's wifi, the missing screen on the inverter can be replicated using Setapp. I didn't want to disturb him too much for info, but he said I'll be granted access within the SolarEdge portal when my system gets the PTO.

I tried connecting to the inverter's wifi by scanned the QR code but I was unable to connect. Not sure if I'm supposed to have access via Setapp.

ButchDeal2 can you chime in? My inverter is on standby right now awaiting for PoCo inspection. How can I view the info that would've been shown on the inverter's LCD screen?

You can access all that information on the monitoring portal. There is no reason that the installer cant give you access to that now, they need not wait for PTO. You can set up monitoring with ethernet, cellular( GSM) currently with wifi option coming soon.

[sunpoweredev]

I installed my first HD Wave last week. Very impressed with how quiet it is. Kicking out >10kW you can barely hear anything.

SolarEdge published a video showing a SetApp inverter connecting directly to a WiFi network via WPS. Has anyone heard when this feature will be available in the US?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNd7DNiat8M&t=35s

My installer configured the inverter using Setapp via the inverter's built in wifi. I believe that's all that the built in wifi is used for. Regular inverter monitoring and communications can only use the Ethernet (or the optional cellular module). I think he did mention that with Setapp and the inverter's wifi, the missing screen on the inverter can be replicated using Setapp. I didn't want to disturb him too much for info, but he said I'll be granted access within the SolarEdge portal when my system gets the PTO.

I tried connecting to the inverter's wifi by scanned the QR code but I was unable to connect. Not sure if I'm supposed to have access via Setapp.

ButchDeal2 can you chime in? My inverter is on standby right now awaiting for PoCo inspection. How can I view the info that would've been shown on the inverter's LCD screen?

[sunpoweredev]

I actually got an update today after sending a group email out to GPE yesterday since being in install limbo for the past few weeks.

They are targeting the week of July 22nd for my install and should be able to confirm by the end of next week. They are still citing weather related issues/rain for the schedule delays which is frustrating since my roof has been complete and ready for 3+ weeks now.

In the meantime I've been getting my basement space cleaned up, primed and ready to paint in the next few days. Nice thing about basements...it's always good weather/temp. down there.

When I last spoke with my salesman before my installation was scheduled, weather was one of the things he complaint about, that all the rain has many of their installations pushed back.

Enjoy painting your nice cool basement BTW the new roof made a very noticeable difference upstairs. Not sure if it's just because of the added ridge vent, or if the upgraded breathable underlayment also adds to it. The upstairs AC rarely kicks in during the day now.

It's too bad the PoCo will switch out the analog meter with a digital one. I enjoyed watching the mechanical meter physically spin backwards. During the inspection was the only time I'll ever see it.

[NJturtlePower]

NJturtlePower any updates on your installation?

I actually got an update today after sending a group email out to GPE yesterday since being in install limbo for the past few weeks.

They are targeting the week of July 22nd for my install and should be able to confirm by the end of next week. They are still citing weather related issues/rain for the schedule delays which is frustrating since my roof has been complete and ready for 3+ weeks now.

In the meantime I've been getting my basement space cleaned up, primed and ready to paint in the next few days. Nice thing about basements...it's always good weather/temp. down there.

[nwdiver]

I installed my first HD Wave last week. Very impressed with how quiet it is. Kicking out >10kW you can barely hear anything.

SolarEdge published a video showing a SetApp inverter connecting directly to a WiFi network via WPS. Has anyone heard when this feature will be available in the US?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNd7DNiat8M&t=35s

[sunpoweredev]

So, my system was alive for about 3 hours, after the GPE rep configured the system (including the consumption meter) and while waiting for the town inspector. He said during the configuration everything worked the very first time including configuring the consumption meter. I assume that's supposed to be comforting lol. It's so cool watching the meter spin backwards It was actually spinning backwards really fast, even when I turned on the central AC. The first pic was when the meter first started spinning backwards at 10:40, and the second was at 12. It spun back by a decent amount in just an hour twenty minutes and I had the AC going By the time he shut the system off after the "inspection" (took all 2 minutes if that), the SREC meter was at 25kWh. Did it really generate 0.025 of a SREC in under 3 hours? So now I await the final step which is for the PoCo to inspect and change the meter.

NJturtlePower any updates on your installation?

alive1.JPGalive2.JPGalive3.JPG