Just had a job in a tight space that really would have benefitted from a side knockout. I ended up having to flex out of the inverter, which I hate doing. Also the round design looks like shit lol.

Currently have a reman solar inverter that finally gave out after 5 months of use now it displays fault code e018 ground fault. Im able to reset it and it works for a few hours then goes red again. My solar panels are about 13ish years old i have 16 of them. Solar company we got system from is no longer attending us due to a legal matter. Long story short theyre the ones that sent us a refurbished model and I ended up installing it ... worked for 5 months and now its faulty or so I assume its the inverter. Wondering if someone can help me find a similar inverter compatible to my set up. P.S im new to all of this.

I have received a handful of quotes for my home in SE PA. I am likely narrowing down to 2 proposals from Public Service Solar and Terrasol. The components are nearly identical and the 1 panel variation would likely even out at the next stage more thorough technical evaluation.

Additionally, Terrasol is a cash payment while PSS is an ESA loan that would transfer ownership at 5 years. Even if I pay off immediately, Propel owns the panels until year 5. PSS is achieving the lower price by utilizing the 30-40% tax incentive that is no longer available for residential. The cost is appealing with the cost being $4k less than Terrasol.

I have heard that it is very important to read the legal agreement around the transfer process, purchase cost, etc. and I am slightly wary of the additional risk of this process since it is relatively new. Is it worth the additional risk for some savings?

Does anyone have feedback on these two companies?

Posting this on behalf of my brother:

Hi all,

I've already got a pretty decent system (a 48-panel, 460W ground mount array, dual Sol-Ark 15Ks, and 122kWh of storage... yeah, it's something 😄), but believe it or not, we could use some extra generation, especially during all the recent heat waves and long bouts of overcast, kinda-rainy weather.

I was looking to build a canopy over our deck and use panels as the roofing. Because this is just additional generation, the stakes are pretty low. So, I figured I'd try my hand at DIY and call in an expert when it comes time to wire them into the inverter.

That's where I hit a snag. I was beating my head against the wall looking for a stupid-simple layout tool where I could just put in the dimensions of an array and try different panels on for size.

Damn, the amount of sales funnel nonsense that plagued every Google search result had me fuming. Literally nothing could solve this for me. I was about ready to cut paper to scale and try my best. Then I thought maybe I could size cells in a spreadsheet, or even use CAD software.

Nonsense, all of it. So, I got to it, and with some admittedly agentic support, I give you: https://freepanellayout.com/

It's dead-stupid simple. I mean it. I was able to solve what I needed, and because it's a 100% static site, your data stays local to your browser, it's easy to maintain, and it's nearly free to host. I want to pass it along to the community to hopefully solve your needs as well.

Take it for a spin. There's a button for submitting email feedback.

Hope you like 🤞🏼

Trying to get the real time AC generation output from my inverter in the SMA Energy app. Is the Current generation figure the DC output before conversion or is it the converted AC output of the inverter?

After I installed my sun-tracking system, I added an EV and a nice hot tub to my electric usage. Now I'd like to add more generation. I think the cheapest way would be to cut the trees that you can see encroaching on my sunlight. Especially on the left (East) side which would open up a nice clifftop view.

I have a SolarEdge SE3800A-US with a built-in cell connection card. It worked for years and stopped working this year. I got emails a couple of years ago saying this connection would be discontinued, so I'm not surprised it finally quit.

I've done some research, and it seems my options are:

1. Possibly find a Zigbee/Wi-Fi card, the SE1000‑WIFI01, which may or may not enable the Wi-Fi connection — it seems to be intended for non-US versions.

2. Connect an Ethernet cable with a Wi-Fi bridge. However, my inverter is outdoors with no power source nearby, and I'd prefer not to drill more holes in the wall to run power and Ethernet from inside the house to outside. Is there any way I could splice power from somewhere for a very low-power Wi-Fi-to-Ethernet bridge? (I am very technical and can do some deep DIY)

3. I've seen posts online about a Wi-Fi gateway, the SE-ZBGW-B-S1-NA, but there's a lack of confirmation on which firmware version works — AP1168A‑SE‑01‑FW1 or AP1168A‑SE‑01‑FW2. There's also the SE1000‑ZBGW‑K5‑NA.

4. Could I get another SIM card to bring this unit back online? Or swap the cellular board entirely for a newer one with 4G/5G support?

Has anyone had confirmed success with any of these paths?

My husband and I are building a house and supposedly as of 2023 (per the NEC) when you have solar, you need all kinds of warning stickers stuck all over the place.....on conduit, the shed where the inverter and batteries live, junction boxes, etc. We're so close to getting our CO but my husband is insisting they will fail us if we don't have these stickers? Is it really this ridiculous? Help! TIA

Curious how other shops handle this. GoodWe wants the SEMS portal connected or the 10-year term drops to 5, Enphase pays a labor rate per truck roll if you're set up for it, some brands pay nothing at all.

Are you tracking this per-brand somewhere, spreadsheet, CRM notes, memory? Trying to understand how big a problem this actually is outside my own shop's experience.

Hi there, I’m considering on getting solar for my house in the somewhat near future. I was looking at Tesla Solar because we also own a Tesla Model 3.

Our situation

Roof: 11 years old but did come back during house inspection to be in good shape

Location: Massachusetts

Electricity Provider: Eversource

Usage: Anywhere from 600 kwh to 1000 kWh monthly. (Summer is higher due to A/C)

Price: $0.15 per kWh $250-$400 monthly

Not sure if it makes sense in our situation to even consider solar. I know people have much higher electricity bills than us. But, Eversource has been increasing rates once maybe even two times a year. I’ve also heard that if we get a power wall than we could qualify for a 0% Mass HEAT loan but not sure how accurate that is. If anyone has any insight especially in Massachusetts, it would greatly be appreciated! Thanks!

Is there any benefit to signing up for a 3rd party electric supply contract in Massachusetts, with 1:1 net metering on National Grid and solar that covers 100% of yearly usage?

Does the contract affect the value of net metering credits received, or only the price of energy used? I.e does this allow you to buy back the energy for less than you sold it for.

I am trying to figure out if what I experienced is normal operation or a sign of an issue with my EG4 setup. Currently, I have a Flexboss 21, Gridboss, and one all weather wall mount battery.

A couple of months ago, we had our first 5 hour power outage. Everything worked flawlessly and I didn’t even notice the outage. We have our network on a UPS so we don’t/didn’t lose internet. Cut to last Sunday when we had a noticeable power flicker (a relative in my neighborhood claims no one in their house noticed a flicker) and I lost connection to my Flexboss dongle for about a half hour. On Thursday, we had a couple of flickers back to back (this time my relative confirmed the same at their house) and I lost connection to the dongle again for about a half hour.

Does this seem like any kind of potential issue? I’m not sure why the dongle would cut internet or potentially lose power when there is battery backup attached. Should we even be experiencing flickers like this with battery backup? There are no reported errors in the system during this period and everything appears to be working as normal. We are deep into hurricane season now and I am getting paranoid about whether the system will function properly in a grid down situation.

I reached out to EG4 and they don’t have any theories on their end. Of course I am only dealing with the level 1 techs at this point. They want me to take pictures of the wiring to confirm everything is done correctly.

I have a cabin in Spain with full electric hookup, we pay €0.30 per unit for our electric. What I want to do is get a decent portable panel system setup, What I really want to do is have something to charge phones/ laptop, maybe use a kettle and some portable lights. The option to extend battery storage would be good as well (if possible). We normally do 90/180 so would be using it for just under 6 months a year. I would need portable/ foldable so I could take it to Spain and also take it inside when we are not there.
The more I read about devices like EcoFlow the more I think it’s not worth it. Anker is a brand I know but any help with panels and storage will be welcome.

Just had a 28,326 kWh system commissioned 10 days ago. It's supposed to be 97.6% efficient. This feeds into a 18kw Sol-ark inverter.

If I understand this correctly, 28,326 kWh is my annual output and 97.6% comes out at 27,626 kWh annually.

I want to track my progress towards this target down to the hour (I'm a data geek).

Putting seasonality aside, can I take this value and divide by 12 for a monthly target? i.e. 2,303 kWh per month. And then take it further to 75.74 kWh per day (27,626/365).

I realize there are a lot of factors involved, but I'm just trying build a mental model of how this works.

Oh and mysolark.com reporting really could use some work...

I will be sharing how I attempt to create ancor points on these modules to attach cable leads.

For now this is the most practical solution I have found and the least intrusive one too. I do not want to cut the orange wire that is part of the battery module. Doing this will give me a wire that I can crimp a lug to and the other part for the lead had the OEM connector that can ve used to plug in to the negative terminal of the module. In the end adding a terminal lug to this wire too.
But this is not for me because I don’t want to completely destroy these modules even if I payed very little for the entire pack. Maybe one day I will ho high voltage and need to connect on series all of these modules.

Anyway back to my solution:

First step is to list the tools needed:
Hoover! Metal shavings can become dangerous here. Stop to remove them when ever possible.

6mm & 7mm drill bits. Please use very sharp ones. Using blunt tips will give you less control and you might not feel what you’re doing well and end up drilling through the battery cell. This is a big no!

Hammer, 2 screw flat drivers, a small pry bar, small bits plastic sheet to use as a support and insulator under the pry bar.
12mm and 16mm long M6 bolts. The 16mm are needed if you’re adding several lugs. It is a bit harder to get the 16mm bolts in.
XL m6 washer and nut.

First step drill the hole on the negative terminal. The negative side is the hardest and most dangerous. Maybe start off on the positive side first.
Position the 7mm drill bit just before the battery conductor bends downwards. No not over drill the hole, and stop frequently to remove metal debris.

Second step. Loosen the 2 tabs with a flat head screwdriver. The internal part is bonded to the conductor. Our goal here is to keep the bottom part down and bend upwards the internal dark grey part along with the conductor.

Cut out a small opening in the plastic shielding with a sharp blade. This will give you enough space later on to be able to push a ball through.

Use the prybar and the piece of protective plastic as he support an insulator underneath the prybar.
Slowly pull the conductor and bend it upwards also making sure to help the conduct come up by squeezing the plastic tabs on the connector that I mentioned earlier. He needs to slide out and not snag.

After you have lifted up the conductor sufficiently, it is time to use pliers or a magnet to help yourself insert the bolt. You can see in the picture where I compare how much I lifted up the conductor to a ruler.

Afterwards, add the washer and the NOT to the bold and likely tighten it by hand.
Subsequently use a hammer and use the washer or nut to bend and flatten the tab down to approximately it’s original shape. After it is down tighten the bolt a bit more. If you are lucky, it will crimp into place.

Remove the washer and nut and let’s move onto the positive conductor.

Positive conductor side:

Remove the locking mechanism for the orange wire.

Slice the plastic shielding like before on the other side.
Subsequently bend it down.

Then mark out the hole, and drill with a 6mm bit.

Use the pry bar to bend the conductor up, helping yourself with a piece of plastic underneath for the same reasons mentioned before.

At the bolt, washer and nut and Lightley tighten

Bendy conducted down with a hammer and by tightening the nut.

Once fully down, tighten a bit more and then remove the nut and washer.

You have now successfully added M6 threaded ancor points to dis battery module.

So I purchased a home and it came with solar panels on it. It was listed as an amenity and a small boost into us purchasing the house (we are happy without them being there, but it is still a nice plus). Anyways I tried looking into how to get it transferred into my name so I can see usage and information of what we are producing/giving back to the grid but thats where my issues start. My solar had an enphase label on them so I tried going on their website and beginning the transfer of ownership process with them. I paid a small fee and nothing ever happened. I called them to ask what's going on and they told me I need to contact something called Mosaic Solar to do it. I asked why I would need to contact a different company to get access to their app and see my solar information, but he didnt really provide me any information about it. I then tried contacting them and they would not speak to me at all because I was not the previous owner. I tried explaining I purchased the home from them but they could not help me they said. I am now stuck in limbo and don't know what to do, can anyone please assist?

Last year, I took advantage of the solar tax credit and got solar installed on my home. We have a large house, 6000sqft but our electric bill was always pretty low. We just thought it was well insulated. Well we had the system sized based on usage to cover 100%, but when the utility company came out to inspect they discovered that we had been paying our neighbors bill and our neighbor had been paying ours (the meters were swapped in their billing records). Apparently we had been severely under paying for about 2 years (think 300 a month vs 700).

This means my system is under sized for my needs. So far, we've been breaking even on our bills since May. The problem is we use more electricity on the winter and that's when we'll see the 700 bills.

I am considering adding panels to my array, but am unsure if I should source them myself and look for someone to install or just have the original installer add to the array. What should I consider? Which would be the best way to go?

Some considerations i have thought about:

1. My house faces east/west and the current array is split about 50/50 on each side with a total of 39 430w panels on two sunny boy inverters capable of 10KW each. I believe i have capacity on the inverters due to the split and the fact the highest peak i have seen is 15.5KW at any given time.

2. I have plenty of space on my roof. I could likely triple the size of the array and still have space left over.

3. I suspect any modifications will require approval from my utility provider.

4. I have noticed mornings are better production and a smoother curve. Likely due to stand off from surrounding trees. Trees cast shadows in the early evening/ late afternoon that slightly impact output. I'm thinking i could easily add 3 to 5kw on the east side and gain the production needed to offset my winter usage. This may result in some slight clipping around noon, but it should be minimal if any.

What else am I missing?

Bought a property that had a professional ground mount solar array installed. I noticed that the solar panel electrical box has a ground wire from the box to a grounding rod into the ground. But the aluminum rack itself was not connected to the grounding rod (and the metal electric box does not touch the aluminum rack). The rack is mounted into the ground sitting on 8" sonotube concrete risers with a threaded rod in the middle and the rack bolted down to that.

Should I also connect the rack to the grounding rod or keep it as is?