I am going solar

This varies considerably by jurisdiction. Some fully impose this fire industry requirement, some impose it only above sleeping spaces, some are satisfied with half the edges open, some make no such requirement at all.

On many single families homes, the full edge-space requirement would very sharply reduce the total solar capacity, to far below the home's electrical needs. Some in the solar industry are pushing back.

Building codes are driven by many different interest groups with competing and often conflicting goals. If all the groups -- fire fighting, fire sprinklers, water purveyors, electrical safety, mechanical, mental health, accessibility, environmental, sustainability, historic preservation, neighborhood preservation, open space preservation, growth management, stormwater management and more groups got all their wish lists adopted, far fewer people would be able to afford a home. Compromise is essential, and different jurisdictions end up with different mixtures.

My community doesn't impose this fire requirement, only a mechanical limit on added roof load without engineering review. (My home has fire sprinklers, but even unsprinklered homes here don't need to leave edge gaps.) The state and utility impose the state's version of the National Electric Code, and the state is delaying last year's new shutdown requirements until July 1 this year, so I need to get my expansion inspected before then. No other codes for me to worry about.

I currently have 16 panels on a roof pitch with room for 40 without edge gaps, or maybe 20 with edge space. The current expansion project will boost the total to 26, putting this all-electric home in the cloudy Pacific Nothwe(s)t just above Net Zero. But this is after considerable conservation efforts over the past decade. Before conservation, Net Zero would have needed nearly 50 panels.

 

Agree with jzchen. I think the two landscape panels add to the overall symmetry of the upper roof.

 

You must have 12 really Efficient ones. What a joy it is to run the pip on solar ! But realize, depending on how much you drive, that leaf might offset your solar energy and you might be paying the grid again..just saying

 

My first concern was that the would be removing racks and reorienting them, meaning more holes in your roof. 2nd would be they left a nice lower edge for emergency crews. Can you tell I'm more about function than looks? (I actually think it looks fine as well, but I wanted to qualify that looks don't really matter to me over functionality.)

Again, glad you found the SolarEdge. It's a really good system.

MT2L03 ?

 

Actually, now that I look at the picture more carefully. That landscape panel does not look like it will fit in the portrait orientation. It might hang over the edge of the roof!

 

Before I was using 6-9 kwh per day, depending on the month, without charging any car. I'm getting 18-20 kwh per day (so far in the first week).
Of course, the average for the year (which is what counts) will be lower. I think it is 11-12 kwh/day from the estimate. 4 or 5 kwh per day will be about 15-25 miles per day (depending on speed) in a Leaf or PIP. That's ~7K miles. Plus I charge for free at work.

Mike

 

The expansion to 26 panels (7.1kW DC-STC, 6.1 kW AC) went live ('for testing') late this afternoon, so this all-electric house should now be 'Net' Zero' or 'Net Neutral'.

It should be inspection-ready shortly, after several minor issues are cleaned up.

A neighbor is now considering taking down some trees, the ones causing the late afternoon shade impairments. If that happens, this expansion will be several panels of overkill. Or we won't need as many more panels when a plug-in car is acquired. But for now, it will conserve some hydropower water during this year's drought.

 

So - once you get the final - can you flip the switch? .... or will you still have more gymnastics to do

 

If his panels already registered, and can be monitored through the portal, it sounds to me as if the switch has already been flipped. At least temporarily to check everything out. 'For testing'.

At my end, there was nothing to force the switch to be un-flipped between initial testing and the inspections. My state's electrical permit gives a day or two grace period from energizing the permitted project until calling for the agency to schedule inspection, but none of my inspectors (two solars, one water heat, and a minisplit heat pump project) ever questioned how much time actually elapsed.

In the case of a new solar installation, the system also will lack the official production meter until the utility comes out to install one, which happens only after the code inspection approval. As a DIY installer, I just plugged in a spare meter (readily available through RV suppliers) as a temporary. (An open meter base can also be jumpered to energize the system, albeit unmetered, and an electrocution risk. A spare meter is far safer.) The production incentive paperwork in my state even expects this, so includes a section to report or estimate how much energy was delivered before the official meter was installed.

 

If you're curious for yourself, and are in SCE territory, I had to wait until SCE said it was okay to turn the system on.

 

Interesting. Here the meter is probably one of the first things to be checked, and replaced if it doesn't work "backwards". Still had to wait for authorization though.

MT2L03 ?

 

Bummer about month-long delays, especially during the summer solstice month, peak production time.

I have several old-style remanufactured meters (and sockets) from hialeahmeter.com. These are used to submeter several 240V loads (heat pump, water heater, dryer) that can't be monitored by a Kill-A-Watt (tm) meter. One was borrowed to plug into the PV production meter socket until the official meter arrived. It was up during a regular bi-monthly meter reading (covered with a note that it wasn't an official meter), and during the state electrical inspection, and when the utility meter installer arrived. I received absolutely no flak from any of them. Being my own installer, did I get more slack, or is my region more lenient and PV-friendly?

Local electric supply houses also sell meters, but only newer types for much higher prices. Buying one of those for pre-approval guerrilla production is not cost effective for most homeowners, even absent flak from inspectors and utilities.

In my region, we use two meters. The production meter needs to run forwards. The regular billing or net meter can run backwards when the house load is less than production, but I was the only one to look for that.

 

Done! It was ready yesterday, and approved a few minutes ago.

I still need to file updated paperwork with the utility and state department of revenue, but that is post-commissioning stuff.

 

Congrats! If yours is as efficient as our 6.7kW system, you'll be making money off your power utility. In less than three months, we are up to a net credit of $60.

 

You've got to save up for the winter (depending where you live I guess).

We went from spending about $80 in the winter to now netting -$20 or so.

One of the factors in the winter was an electrical oil heater... not sure if that was smart, in terms of saving oil versus electrons. Still though, I'd bet we'd be charged in the winter. I hope these next few months we net -$40 or so per month to pay for the winter, fat chance though lol.