Solar production. Panel ratings/claim vs reality

[sd455dan]

Yes, coop's are good in that we rarely have outages....and when we do they are short-lived.

IF you are liking an adjustable ground mount...I would look no further than Sinclair sky-rack Sinclair Designs & Engineering - Michigan's leading Solar Racking Manufacture

I saw those experiments too of vertical mounting. Yes total production is less.....but a combo of vertical and horizontal can really flatten a curve and have good production ALL day. But from what I saw the single biggest benefit of vertical was still allowing use of the land between the panels for farming crops that dont get tall. Like hay being the biggest one

Well after kicking around the idea of trying to build a wood tiltable rack and then use uni strut to put under the panels to save money, I have been convinced that 'time' has value as well and as the wife says we aren't getting any younger, my engineering may fall way short...and we can get it installed ourselves before the ground freezes.

So... in the morning planning on getting the tiltable Sinclair Sky Rack 2.0 system ordered and on the way.

Thanks for the tip LD1.

After looking around this really does seem to be the perfect match for what I want to do and should be much easier to get the panels up and running sooner as well. Long life design and quality mount is worth it.

 

[LD1]

Well after kicking around the idea of trying to build a wood tiltable rack and then use uni strut to put under the panels to save money, I have been convinced that 'time' has value as well and as the wife says we aren't getting any younger, my engineering may fall way short...and we can get it installed ourselves before the ground freezes.

So... in the morning planning on getting the tiltable Sinclair Sky Rack 2.0 system ordered and on the way.

Thanks for the tip LD1.

After looking around this really does seem to be the perfect match for what I want to do and should be much easier to get the panels up and running sooner as well. Long life design and quality mount is worth it.

After putting my system up....that racking exceeded my expectations. Super easy.

The only challenging part was post depth. They spec'd me a ~7' deep hole 24" diameter and filled with concrete.

Part of that was panel selection as I went with relatively large 540w panels.

But the whole process of working with their engineers and footer design was very easy.

I do have my system up and running now....here is that thread:

Solar is complete

Finally got everything done with solar....so time to dump some pics. Site prep was challenging.... hillside.... The racking is Sinclair sky-rack 2.0 seasonal adjust. They spec'd a 7' deep hole 24" in diameter. Had to make an auger extension for that. Panels are Canadian solar 540w bifacial...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[sd455dan]

After putting my system up....that racking exceeded my expectations. Super easy.

The only challenging part was post depth. They spec'd me a ~7' deep hole 24" diameter and filled with concrete.

Part of that was panel selection as I went with relatively large 540w panels.

But the whole process of working with their engineers and footer design was very easy.

I do have my system up and running now....here is that thread:

Solar is complete

Finally got everything done with solar....so time to dump some pics. Site prep was challenging.... hillside.... The racking is Sinclair sky-rack 2.0 seasonal adjust. They spec'd a 7' deep hole 24" in diameter. Had to make an auger extension for that. Panels are Canadian solar 540w bifacial...

www.tractorbynet.com

Thanks, I will be checking it out for sure. So much to learn with and about residential Solar as a DIY project.

Yes panel size and weight those are larger than what I have '450 watt' but they are over 68lb each (double sided tempered glass) was worried about hail storms and these did test well on that.

That sure seems like a lot of Concrete. I went same hole width with the Barn and shop drilled 2' diameter holes for the logs barn and for the 6x6's for the garage, but I only went down about half that depth for the concrete, then again the building triangulates the support where the Sinclair Solar mount posts have a whole lot of weight to the front side it seems and uplift during bad storms.

 

[LD1]

Thanks, I will be checking it out for sure. So much to learn with and about residential Solar as a DIY project.

Yes panel size and weight those are larger than what I have '450 watt' but they are over 68lb each (double sided tempered glass) was worried about hail storms and these did test well on that.

That sure seems like a lot of Concrete. I went same hole width with the Barn and shop drilled 2' diameter holes for the logs barn and for the 6x6's for the garage, but I only went down about half that depth for the concrete, then again the building triangulates the support where the Sinclair Solar mount posts have a whole lot of weight to the front side it seems and uplift during bad storms.

Actually the mounts are pretty evenly balanced. But yes with wind it's a lot of load

Especially the ability to go 55 degrees.

Think about your barn wall.....take away 3 of the walls and the roof and a 20mph wide is probably gonna lay it over.

Yes this was a learning experience. As with everything I research and shop it to death. Finding the best deals I can.

But the single most frustrating part was dealing with my power company. Very untimely in answering questions or responding to emails.

I would send an email and ask maybe 5 questions.....I wouldn't get a reply til 4 days later....then it only answered ONE of the 5 questions. Rinse and repeat.

It took about 3 months of dealing with them before I ordered anything.

Basically they have 4 requirements spelled out on their website.
1. Site plan
2. One line diagram
3. Disconnect
4. $250 application fee

Site plan I couldn't provide initially because I was still trying to design and work around two services and best location and had a bunch of questions.

One line....the company I got inverters from was gonna draw that up

But I wasn't about to spend $5000 on material to get a one line....then them deny my install. But they refused to approve an install without site plan, one line and $250 app fee. So round and round we went.

 

[ericm979]

I would send an email and ask maybe 5 questions.....I wouldn't get a reply til 4 days later....then it only answered ONE of the 5 questions. Rinse and repeat.

I have that problem with just about everyone. Hardly anyone reads the entire email these days. The worst thing is when you ask multiple questions and get a reply like "yes".

I'm about to start sending individual emails for each question to people.

 

[ning]

I have that problem with just about everyone. Hardly anyone reads the entire email these days. The worst thing is when you ask multiple questions and get a reply like "yes".

I'm about to start sending individual emails for each question to people.

I try to break it out to make it really obvious like

"I have a few questions:

1. can you answer this please

2. you can see that this is another question and even though you probably won't anways please answer it

3. jfc can you frikken read there's 3 questions answer 3 questions what are you in first grade"

then when I send back, I can refer to the numbers as well, hopefully get some shame going for the piss-poor reading comprehension

 

[DarkBlack]

effective as of August 1, 2024: Under the Sec. 201 tariffs, all imported solar cells and panels (regardless of country of origin, except for a few minor exceptions) are currently tariff Free for the first 12.5 GW of solar cells imported.

It doesn’t say that. That’s only wishful thinking.
The only thing the ruling administration helped with was raising the cutoff for individual offshore cells, for the little bit of US PV panel production.

Solar panels are still under full tariffs , likely to rise even higher. The majority of PV panels installed in the US are fully assembled in China, or an offshore country a Chinese company is using in an attempt to circumvent China tariffs.
Cheep Chinese EV’s are soon to get 100% tariffs too

 

[sd455dan]

It doesn’t say that. That’s only wishful thinking.
The only thing the ruling administration helped with was raising the cutoff for individual offshore cells, for the little bit of US PV panel production.

Solar panels are still under full tariffs , likely to rise even higher. The majority of PV panels installed in the US are fully assembled in China, or an offshore country a Chinese company is using in an attempt to circumvent China tariffs.
Cheep Chinese EV’s are soon to get 100% tariffs too

That source I used does appear to be wrong, and a 14.25% has been and still is applied.

Sorry about that.

Like I said, I am not really sure what is happening or going to happen with solar equipment beyond the day I bought. My goal was to get a kit delivered in case prices do increase ( seems like they have been on a downward spiral since the end of 2022, get the entire hybrid system installed this year-"hopefully to reduce the power bill", and most important finally have decent emergency back up power, and then take advantage of reducing my taxes next year.


I might have bought cells assembled in Texas, but they (Signature Solar) did not have any US made Bifacial panels, and like you folks in Canada, every extra watt that can be absorbed from the back side of a panel is an improvement.

At the time the sales person did not have any Canadian Solar brand panels either that were Bifacial and in stock for the kit, so Offshore it is. The concept of keeping the entire system from one seller for warranty and support also made sense.

 

[DarkBlack]

Biden administration is doubling the solar tariffs , and removed 5 of the original exclusions, so it’ll actually be even worse for consumers.

“Last week, the USTR unveiled modifications concerning tariff actions under Section 301, which includes the increase of solar cells (whether or not assembled into modules) tariffs from 25% to 50% as well as semiconductors and batteries”

I’m no fan of government tariffs. It’s just another federal tax in sheep’s clothing, payed by the consumer to the federal government.

US finalises Section 301 tariffs, proposes 50% duty on wafers and polysilicon

Section 301 tariffs to be implemented in 2024 will take effect on September 27, such is the case for solar cells.

www.pv-tech.org

 

[sd455dan]

Actually the mounts are pretty evenly balanced. But yes with wind it's a lot of load

Especially the ability to go 55 degrees.

Think about your barn wall.....take away 3 of the walls and the roof and a 20mph wide is probably gonna lay it over.

Yes this was a learning experience. As with everything I research and shop it to death. Finding the best deals I can.

But the single most frustrating part was dealing with my power company. Very untimely in answering questions or responding to emails.

I would send an email and ask maybe 5 questions.....I wouldn't get a reply til 4 days later....then it only answered ONE of the 5 questions. Rinse and repeat.

It took about 3 months of dealing with them before I ordered anything.

Basically they have 4 requirements spelled out on their website.
1. Site plan
2. One line diagram
3. Disconnect
4. $250 application fee

Site plan I couldn't provide initially because I was still trying to design and work around two services and best location and had a bunch of questions.

One line....the company I got inverters from was gonna draw that up

But I wasn't about to spend $5000 on material to get a one line....then them deny my install. But they refused to approve an install without site plan, one line and $250 app fee. So round and round we went.