With great help from Solar Guppy and a few others I have "taken the plunge" and I'm working on getting a 4.7kw system installed here in Bartow, Florida.

As an update, it will be 21 Sharp 224 panels, with Xantrex XW6048 inverter and two XW-MPPT60-150 charge controllers, with the XW Power Distribution Panel and two Midnite MNPV6 combiner boxes. The Sharp panels will be set up as one array of three strings of three panels, and the other array of four strings of three panels. (As an aside, I really did try to get the Evergreen panels and other items from Sun Electronics in Miami, but I never was really able to get anything finalized with them. I don't know why.)

So I did many, many hours of research and put together the system layout and figured out all the wiring and where everything should go. The inspector said all my work looked to be acceptable!! It seemed that I had thought of every detail I could.

But NO.

When I tried to get the permit, the inspector denied it because the Conergy SunTop mounting hardware isn't certified for Florida. In my opinion their Sizing Tool indicated it was. Even that wouldn't have been so bad, but it took several weeks between ordering the Conergy parts and now finding out they aren't certified. Conergy, to their credit, has indicated that they are working on this, but I am left wondering what I should do next.

One way to get around this is to have a PE sign off on the part, that's all the building department is looking for, someone to say it meet Florida wind codes

In Lakeland is a PE, Robert Haug ... very down to earth guy ... I would call him and explain what your doing, I would think based on my experience with him he would review the part and give you a formal sign off for your project, once the building department has this you should be good to go

His number is 863-687-4874

He signed off on my systems, which made the permit process very simple .. he is a one man shop and is VERY reasonable in his rates

Thanks for the quick help! I'll give him a call and see what he can do.