The palm trees are coming down this Wednesday.

I'll update the web site with before and after pics once it's done.

JimmyD

Can you sell the palms to a nursery or landscaper ? [ or give them away, rather than slice them up for the landfill? ]

I've tried that. With the local market, no one wants them. The cost to dig 'em and transplant 'em simply isn't worth it to anyone. I know I don't have the money to move them myself. The queens palms grow very quickly, which is why no one really wants them.

Plus, there is the live-ability factor after they're moved. The queen palms survive fairly well (assuming someone wanted them), but the king palms have a VERY high mortality rate.

I wish there was another way, but sending them back to the ecosystem is about all I can do at this point.

JimmyD

We have activity on the install!!!

The electrician came over the other day and installed a grounding line!! WOOT! I now have....a......grounding wire. (sigh) Ok, it's not much, but it's a start.

They say they'll be back this week to begin the trenching and putting in the new panel and meters, etc. Once THAT'S in, I'd guess it's a pretty quick install on the rooftop panels. I figure one day for the rails, and one day for the panels and wiring. I guess it would all depend on the size of the crew they send.

Details, pics, etc., at http://www.jjhamilton.com/solar.html

JimmyD

The electrical upgrade are installed and complete. I've updated the website at http://www.jjhamilton.com/solar, so stop on by!!!

JimmyD

Here's an update:

They have finished my install, everything minus the monitoring equipment. They will install that in the near future. We powered up the system to test it and around 2:30 in the afternoon, with a winter sun slanted fairly low in the sky, we were getting Pac 4040 watts. Not too shabby. I can't wait to see what it can do under a full summer sun!!

I've updated the web site with more pics etc., so if you're interested, it's at:
http://www.jjhamilton.com/solar

More to come!!

JimmyD

jimmy,
very nice. i am wondering about a few things though. firstly, you stated that all was grounded with one continuous ground wire, which is good, but seeing how long the roof is and there's 2 sections of pvs to be interconnected that i was wondering if the ground wire is just strung from one end of the roof to the other and then down to the ground. i ask this because ground wires should be as short as is possible. although it would be fine as is, i would've done it differently with 2 seperate ground rods each at opposite ends of the house, one of which would be the ac ground rod that should already be there. from the 2 rods i'd place at least a #6 bare copper wire underground to interconnect the 2 rods. this gives a shorter path to ground and increases the ground area available to dissipate any charges or strikes lessening the possibility of harm to you and your property inside. if you do this in the future, then put the wire at least 1ft down to minimize any possible accidental cuttings of the wire. i used a piece of plywood about 14in deep and about 6-8in in length and hammered it to make the slot into the soil for wire placement. this takes time, but is better than digging up your yard and you may need several sections of plywood to make a run that long as hammering plywood destroys the plywood.
the second thing was the ground connection to the rails. i don't remember off hand if it was you that had this brought up before or not, but i'd like to see a closer more detailed pic and description of this ground connection to the rails. if it wasn't you then please state the make of the rails.

Niel...

I'd guess my house is about 80 feet long, give or take. Here's how they did the ground: On East end of the house is the main water. They attached a large black grounding wire to the main water pipe and ran it up under the eves to the West end of the house (where all the electrical boxes are). On the West end of the house, they sunk a 6 or 7 foot copper rod straight into the ground. They attached the grounding wire from the main water pipe to this copper rod. They ALSO attached a grounding wire from the solar electrical wiring to this rod. So we are in effect double grounded (main water pipe and new copper rod), but the set of panels over the garage DO run their ground across the length of the house to the West end. (the garage panels are on the East end of the house and are only 10 feet from the main water pipe ground.) Why they didn't run a ground wire from the bank of panels over the garage to the main water pipe is beyond me. Maybe more than one ground on the circuit would mess this up?? Does that explain things suitable, or are you as confused as I'm guessing?

As for grounding the rails, I'll see what pics I have. I took a TON, but only posted a few. Do you want to see the grounding point on the rails, the panels, or what exactly?

I don't know the manufacturer of the rails right now. I'll call the installer tomorrow and see what brand they used.

From the pictures the rails look to me like the black anodized version of the Unirac SunFrame rail. I was the one who started an earlier topic about grounding this type of rail here: http://www.solar-guppy.com/forum/electrical-grounding-of-unirac-sunframe-rails-t693.html. I also am very interested to see pictures of how the rails are grounded.

Just an update, folks....

I flipped the switch on my solar this past Wednesday. With a winter sun, we're generating over 28 kWh/day, which isn't half bad!! The SunPower monitoring system is up and running as well. I'm trying to set something up so that the web site will have live data, but since I run on a Mac, that might take a while. But I have a guru that will help me get everything automated, so it's only a matter of time.

I've updated the website with some new pics and stuff.....

Up next, I'm going to throw together a YOUTUBE video of the pics/video of the install, completed with a totally unauthorized soundtrack. After that, I'm gonna kick back and simply let the system do what it does best.