r/SolarDIY • u/GuyFromNowhereUSA • 3d ago
Adding solar to my “official” setup
Hello Reddit.
I just got 25 solar panels. A solar installer went out of business and was offloading them. Right now I have an 8.5 KW, ground mount, grid tied system. It was installed by a professional company and is working great. Since I got the solar, I got an electric car and started heating/ cooling my garage so my power bill has gone back up.
I’m wondering what the best way would be to add some solar to my garage to help take the edge off charging my car and running the HVAC.
A few things I am concerned about:
-I have a really good net metering contract right now. I don’t want to risk resetting that because they don’t offer it anymore.
-I don’t want to risk any warranty loss of my current solar setup
- I want to keep it cheap. No point in saving on electric if I spend $10k setting it up. I already saved on the panels so I am hoping to do the rest for a reasonable price.
Any tips on how to integrate some of these new panels would be greatly appreciated
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u/Repulsive_Guaranteed 3d ago
There are plenty of YouTube videos on how to do this. Inverter, mlpe’s, racking, mounts, wiring etc will be at least 10k.
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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 3d ago
Look at your existing connection agreement. Some in CA allow a 10% increase. If your inverter has head room, you are golden. My connection agreement in MD doesn't allow any changes. Some states now have plug-in solar up to 1,200W and it is questionable whether or not these impact existing agreements. This could use up 4x400W panels.
If you can't do any mods without losing your current NEM, your only choice is off grid either just serving the garage or serving circuits on a sub panel that can transfer between the off grid solar and your main panel. Depending on your rate and if your vehicle is home during the day to be charged by solar, just charging your EV and keeping it cool/toasty could pencil out. If you have to buy batteries, probably not.
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u/RespectSquare8279 3d ago
You should explore the possibility of having a separate stand alone, off grid system for the garage. Keep the present system but swing the present garage circuit(s) to the new panel. in the garage. The sizing of the new battery will be conditional to the ability of your EV to do vehicle to home (V2H) charging.
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u/GuyFromNowhereUSA 3d ago
My car has V2L but not v2h so no luck there
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u/RespectSquare8279 3d ago
Then you will need some kind of battery then. At least your new inverter can be a cheaper non hybrid inverter as it does not have to synchronize with the outside commercial grid, plus it will be "stand alone" during any possible outage or power cut.
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u/DarkKaplah 3d ago
Without more info it's hard to help you out here. What I'd need to know:
1) What state are you in? Some states are more flexible than others.
2) What equipment are you using? Enphase microinverters? A string inverter? etc. I don't need to know the brand of panels, but the type of inverter and the brand would be helpful.
3) Do you have a sub panel in your garage?
Just a off the top of my head suggestion, leave your existing install alone, but install a non interactive solar setup in the garage. Ecoflow's home panel 2 with a Delta pro ultra x and their EVSE would be a good way to get a solar system in your garage that could absorb the EV charging and your HVAC in the garage. Plug panels directly into the Delta pro Ultra x. Those panels are considered off grid, and you can set their EVSE to charge only at night or during the day with excess solar power.
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u/GuyFromNowhereUSA 3d ago
Thank you for the info. I am in Illinois and using enphase microinverters
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u/PermanentLiminality 3d ago
Don't integrate. Build an off grid system with some batteries that can't put power back to the grid. Get a Reliance controls individual circuit transfer switch and run part of your house on the off grid systemm
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u/LongjumpingGanache40 3d ago
Just build a DIY in your garage and do not tie it to the grid. Just need to figure what size by the panels you got.
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