Video of a photovoltaic installation

bkovacs

I had a 4.2 kW grid-tied photovoltaic system installed last week and I shot it in HD video. It's on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHCrdtIvD3I.

I've been interested in solar and other alternative energy generation for years and am thrilled to finally get my own system. It won't be permanently online until the power company swaps the meter, but that will hopefully happen in the next couple of weeks.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Edit: For the record, the system has 18 Sharp 235-Watt panels with Enphase M190 inverters.

Bob Kovacs
www.bobkovacs.com

niel

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

hi bob and welcome,
nice to see one of these in hd for a change. i did notice a bit of shading that occurred early on so it might be advisable to cut back somewhat on your tree situation there if possible as that will only get worse in the winter months.
now i don't know for sure if the company doing the install is doing anything wrong, but i observed few of the workers speaking english and the tennis shoes were worn through very far. in general they were quick and did good work from what i saw and i think they could be illegals or vastly underpaid.

dwh

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

Nice.

Only thing I could find to gripe about was the use of plastic zip-ties. I don't favor those for outdoor use. Well that and back when I was a journeyman I required my guys to wear steel-toed boots and long pants.

I noted the use of a magnetic bullet level when setting the disconnect, and one guy properly using a screwdriver and his lineman's pliers to hammer a lockring tight. Good, good. I see the guy feeding the wire down from the disconnect box was feeding it nice and straight without tangles. Good, good.

The bend on that EMT on the corner of the house might have been a touch wonky, but I can't really tell from the video so I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt.

And once again, I give thanks to the Big Kahuna for the invention of battery powered impact drivers and hammer drills. Man, those tools make electrical work SOOOOO much faster and easier.

solar_dave

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

dwh wrote: »

Nice.

And once again, I give thanks to the Big Kahuna for the invention of battery powered impact drivers and hammer drills. Man, those tools make electrical work SOOOOO much faster and easier.

Oh man, just saw my AC guy change a Cap in about 3 minutes, took longer to get the part off the truck or write up the bill. Probably a good idea to work fast as it was 107 F out @ 11AM. He is telling me that motor caps are popping all over the valley.

bkovacs

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

niel wrote: »

hi bob and welcome,
nice to see one of these in hd for a change. I did notice a bit of shading that occurred early on so it might be advisable to cut back somewhat on your tree situation there if possible as that will only get worse in the winter months.
now I don't know for sure if the company doing the install is doing anything wrong, but I observed few of the workers speaking English and the tennis shoes were worn through very far. In general they were quick and did good work from what I saw, and I think they could be illegals or vastly underpaid.

Thanks for the welcome!

We're aware of the tree situation and have just found a tree service to take down the worst of the offenders. The trees should be down by the time the electric company installs the new meter.

There were two crews that did the installation. The first day, the crew was all Hispanic and only the foreman spoke English. (He spoke English very well, in fact.) Yeah, I didn't ask any questions and they didn't tell me any lies... there are huge numbers of Hispanics working in the construction trades in this area, including my neighbors. They are great neighbors, so I don't ask them any questions, either.;)

I didn't notice the worn sneakers until I edited the video, then I couldn't believe the guy was wearing such ragged shoes. Still, they did fast and neat work, and everyone was really polite. I asked in advance about shooting video (and my wife took still photos), and none of the workers complained or gave me any trouble.

Thanks for the feedback!

Bob Kovacs
www.bobkovacs.com

bkovacs

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

dwh wrote: »

Nice.

Only thing I could find to gripe about was the use of plastic zip-ties. I don't favor those for outdoor use. Well that and back when I was a journeyman I required my guys to wear steel-toed boots and long pants.

I noted the use of a magnetic bullet level when setting the disconnect, and one guy properly using a screwdriver and his lineman's pliers to hammer a lockring tight. Good, good. I see the guy feeding the wire down from the disconnect box was feeding it nice and straight without tangles. Good, good.

The bend on that EMT on the corner of the house might have been a touch wonky, but I can't really tell from the video so I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt.

And once again, I give thanks to the Big Kahuna for the invention of battery powered impact drivers and hammer drills. Man, those tools make electrical work SOOOOO much faster and easier.

And I thank you, too. I also am not crazy about the nylon zip ties for this sort of thing, particularly considering the temperature extremes we get here. It will probably go from 0F to 150F on that roof, and it's only a matter of time before the ties start to fail. At least they're not exposed to UV radiation.

I thought the close-up of the guy snipping the tie and the ground wire being screwed down (and a couple others) add interest to the video. And the crew doing the wiring on the second day of installation was a great bunch of guys. They really seemed to know their stuff.

Bob Kovacs
www.bobkovacs.com

Slappy

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

nice set up, looks like every worker did a great job from start to finish
and the sneakers......hummm had a few of them in my early years before they ate the dust, but that is when they get comfertable

drees

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

Nice video - those guys were definitely very fast and efficient - I imagine that it could have been done in just about a day if both teams were there at the same time.

Make sure you post your link to the Enphase Enlighten system when you get it so we can see how much power you are generating in near real time.

bkovacs

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

drees wrote: »

Nice video - those guys were definitely very fast and efficient - I imagine that it could have been done in just about a day if both teams were there at the same time.

Make sure you post your link to the Enphase Enlighten system when you get it so we can see how much power you are generating in near real time.

Unfortunately, we don't have a reliable Internet connection at this house, so we are not feeding the data to Enphase. At the moment, the Enphase Envoy monitoring box died after a couple of days, so I can't even get local information until that unit is replaced.

Yes, the entire installation could have been done in a single day, with time for lunch and knocking off early. These guys were really quick!

drees

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

bkovacs wrote: »

Yes, the entire installation could have been done in a single day, with time for lunch and knocking off early. These guys were really quick!

Yeah, my only quibble is that they didn't use roof standoffs/mounts that have an integrated flashing instead of those little aluminum bits they stuck in there.

autoxsteve

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

Nice link. How much of your consumption will be provided by this system?

We just surpassed 18 MWhours on ours in less than 30 months.... We'll be generating more than we consume when our son moves out in Sept (off to college). I've also reduced my natural gas bill from about 35.00 per month to 6 and change....

bkovacs

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

autoxsteve wrote: »

Nice link. How much of your consumption will be provided by this system?

We just surpassed 18 MWhours on ours in less than 30 months.... We'll be generating more than we consume when our son moves out in Sept (off to college). I've also reduced my natural gas bill from about 35.00 per month to 6 and change....

It's an all-electric house, so I expect that the PV system will provide 75 percent or so of our consumption.

Just so the forum knows, the new digital electric meter was installed a couple days ago. We are now generating power... YAY!

jcgee88

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

bkovacs wrote: »

I had a 4.2 kW grid-tied photovoltaic system installed last week and I shot it in HD video.

Hope you enjoy the video!

...the system has 18 Sharp 235-Watt panels with Enphase M190 inverters.

Thank you for making and posting the video. This hit
close to home for me because I went through a similar
experience in mid-June: 13 Sharp 235s + Enphase inverters.

From a functional standpoint, the major difference
between yours and mine is that your conduit is on the
outside of the house, whereas they ran all my
conduit inside my house. I showed my guys a chase
that I used previously between the attic and the
basement, and they were more than happy to just
drop some flexible conduit down the same chase. I
specifically asked them to try to do inside the house,
for better esthetics and to minimize roof and soffit
penetrations.

[Another difference that is unrelated to the installation
experience itself is that I did two facets, i.e., 8 panels
on one roof and 5 on another, to avoid a shading
problem from a large oak tree. I could see right away
from your video that you installed in an area that has
shade, so I assume you decided to assume the burden
of regular tree trimming? The fact that I had two facets
was the principal reason I went with Enphase, although
I also liked other advantages of the micro-inverter
approach.]

From a time-to-completion standpoint, your
contractor used a much larger crew than mine, and
consequently completed the installation much quicker.
My contractor used just two guys. It took them
about two days to physically install all the exterior
hardware, and two more days to do the cabling
and Enphase implementation.

I too got the thrill of seeing the meter run backwards,
but by now you must know that that thrill lasts only
as long as it takes the utility company to come out
and swap meters. Replacing the old analog meter
with a digital meter replaces the "backwards spinning"
visual with a forwards/backwards LED arrow. Of course,
the new meter is necessary to enable you to get credit
for the power you generate beyond your current,
instantaneous consumption.

After one month of usage, the stats for my 13 panel,
3.055 kW array are:

Min/Max: 8.5 kwH/19.9 kwH per day
Typical output on a mostly sunny day: 17 kwH
Peak: 2550 watts (= 83% efficiency)
Typical during prime time: 2350 watts
Total output for first 30 days: 450 kwH
My area is rated for 4.5 solar hours per day on average,
and 5.5 solar hours per day in the summer.

You can view my array at:

http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/4CTn5087

How did you decide on going with Sharp and Enphase?

John

mike95490

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

Of course, the new meter is necessary to enable you to get credit
for the power you generate beyond your current,
instantaneous consumption.

NOT TRUE. My net meter install used the same mechanical meter that had been there for 25 years. The digital meters are only needed for:
Quick electronic read via ZigBee radio (like bluetooth)
Time of use Metering
Remote shut-off if you don't pay your bill.

bkovacs

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

Interesting, John... thanks!

I'm trying to get a tree service to cut down the trees causing most of the shade but have been getting a run-around from the contractor. The latest is that the guys will be there Monday (July 19) to start cutting the trees. It will be the last chance for this contractor, as I will fire them if they don't start on Monday.

The digital meter that was installed a few days ago counts up and down. When I first saw the meter, it said "00009." Sometime later, I checked again and it was "00011." Then, after peak sun during the day, it went down to 00010, then 00009 again. The next morning, after running the A/C overnight, it was at 00031. So although the digital meter isn't as animated as the old spinning meter, the numbers can move down.

I chose the Sharp panels and Enphase inverters because that is what the dealer/installer recommended. I definitely wanted a grid-tied system and this design made sense to me. We were initially planning to get 230-Watt Sharp panels but they were unavailable when the time came to install the system. Therefore, we paid a bit more for 235-Watt Sharp panels.

I will not be at the house for a couple of days, so the A/C, TV, water pump and a host of other things are not running. Most of the power generated will go out to the grid and I expect to see a number lower than 00031 when I am next there. I'll let the forum know what I find.

jcgee88

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

mike90045 wrote: »

NOT TRUE. My net meter install used the same mechanical meter that had been there for 25 years. The digital meters are only needed for:
Quick electronic read via ZigBee radio (like bluetooth)
Time of use Metering
Remote shut-off if you don't pay your bill.

OK, not true for you, but definitely true for me, and
others I know. On mine, a flat horizontal disk would spin
backwards, but the power usage counter (a dial) it drove
was not mechanically geared to spin backwards. I could
see the gear mechanism through the meter glass and could
also see that the dial did not run backwards. Hence, I got
no credit for the times I was a net generator until the
new meter got installed.

By the way, the utility charged me $121 for the new
meter!

John

jcgee88

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

bkovacs wrote: »

The digital meter that was installed a few days ago counts up and down. When I first saw the meter, it said "00009." Sometime later, I checked again and it was "00011." Then, after peak sun during the day, it went down to 00010, then 00009 again. The next morning, after running the A/C overnight, it was at 00031. So although the digital meter isn't as animated as the old spinning meter, the numbers can move down.

My new meter is rather complicated. It sequences through
a variety of metrics, with no description of what those
values represent. In other words, I am not sure what
the lowest dial (which would be kwHs) is. My only indicator
is therefore the arrow.

bkovacs wrote: »

I chose the Sharp panels and Enphase inverters because that is what the dealer/installer recommended.

Same thing happened to me re the Sharp panels. He told
me that he felt that they were the best in class of the capacity/
style that I wanted. We vectored to the Enphase because of the
original possible shading issue, and we ended staying with
Enphase even after we were able to take shading out of the final plan.

While I trust my contractor's word on this, I still have a sneaking
suspicion that Sharp started offering incentives on their panels. The
reason I say this is because I see him all over the place with
other vendors' panels on his previous projects. No big deal, I'm
happy with Sharp anyways.

bkovacs wrote: »

We were initially planning to get 230-Watt Sharp panels but they were unavailable when the time came to install the system. Therefore, we paid a bit more for 235-Watt Sharp panels.

I too had the same experience. I originally ordered the Sharp 230s,
which are black on black. I waited a month for these to arrive,
and finally the contractor told me these were on indefinite
back order...BUT that he could get the equivalent new Sharp
235 black on black immediately. He gave me the same price.
What was your incremental cost per panel for the 235s?

John

BB.

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

230~235 watt panels... Many times, the cell vendors/assembly folks get better control over their processes and the now are "slightly better" cells (chips, processors, etc.) than when they first started up--So sales can now punch the specs up a bit, and up the price for better performance.

In some cases, electronic components are tested and bin'ed... In this case, it may be that the process has improved that they no longer get 230 Watt bin parts. In some cases, the vendor may have a +/5% range on their parts, but testing/binning shows a +/- 3% on shipped product... Magic--exactly the same panel can now be spec'ed +2% higher and yet--everything still outputs the exact same wattage 230 vs 235 -- both output "230 watts" but still fall in the -5% spec. range.

My guess is that the two sets of panels are otherwise identical except for possibly slightly better spec'ed output and $15-$30 more (extra profit for vendor/mfg. for +2% better nominal/minimum output).

-Bill "lots of ways to play the game" B.

bkovacs

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

The dealer told me that demand in Europe for photovoltaic panels was so high that most of the manufacturers' product was going overseas. (Sharp manufactures the panels I have in the US.) The 235-Watt panels were available because they were a newer product and didn't have as many sales contracts on them. Or so my dealer said. Could all be baloney as far as I can tell.

What happened in my case is that it took much longer than expected for the state of Virginia to allocate grant money for my system. I was only going to build the system with the kickback from the state (about 22 percent of the total cost), so we waited and waited. When the approval finally came, we had to make do with installation times and materials.

The price difference between the 230- and 235-Watt units was about $37 per panel.

Here's something to consider for anyone else researching the installation of a system like this. We told the sales guy before signing the contract that we wanted to take photos and videos of the installation process. He said that was fine and we reiterated a couple more times that we were going to shoot pictures and video. When the crews came, the guys told me repeatedly that they were the best guys the company had. The crew that did the final wiring all looked at each other and said that they didn't understand why the company sent its most experienced foremen to do my project. Then they saw me shooting video and figured it out... the company only wanted its best, most reliable guys showing up on YouTube!

niel

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

i guess that turned out to be a plus for you.;):D maybe we all should recommend picture taking more strongly.:cool:

jcgee88

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

bkovacs wrote: »

The crew that did the final wiring all looked at each other and said that they didn't understand why the company sent its most experienced foremen to do my project. Then they saw me shooting video and figured it out... the company only wanted its best, most reliable guys showing up on YouTube!

The video was excellent. You did a great job condensing
all that work into ten minutes!

I documented my installation the old fashioned way...still
pictures.

John

P.S. Regarding your original comment about sneakers....
Did you know that roofers have special shoes? My installer
said that the typical 100+ degrees on a roof will melt
the rubber in regular sneakers, and that's why such footware
doesn't last long. However, most installers are not roofers,
so they don't know about the special roofing shoes you can
get.

alberta

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

Great video! Good advertising both for your contractor and for your skills as a videographer.

I am looking for some black roof mounts. Do you know what brand of mounts your installer used? Of if you could give me his phone number I could always phone them and ask
Thanks

bkovacs

Re: Video of a photovoltaic installation

alberta wrote: »

Great video! Good advertising both for your contractor and for your skills as a videographer.

I am looking for some black roof mounts. Do you know what brand of mounts your installer used? Of if you could give me his phone number I could always phone them and ask.

Thanks! I hadn't really thought about advertising my skills as a videographer but I do that sort of work on a semi-pro basis.

As for the mounts, I don't know the brand. The company that did the installation is called Standard Solar and it's located in Rockville, MD. The phone number there is (301) 944-1200.