Solar Self Installation

I often receive requests from customers who intend to install solar themselves.  They want to know how much the material would cost.  Quoting modules and inverters is easy.  The hard part is estimating the rest of the equipment without doing a full up design.  Without this information, the customer would be required to supply the Balance of the System.  In our business, the installation crew has an electrical service truck that is equipped with hundreds of specialty parts, specialty wire and bulk quantities of standoffs, flashings, rails, conduit

and electrical balance of system parts.  Most of this equipment can’t be purchased at your local Home Depot or Lowes.  You can purchase some of it at an Electrical Supply and some can be purchased on-line.  Most of the solar distribution companies will not sell to the general public so many specialty parts are hard to come by.

Without a good electrical design, the customer would probably have a difficult time determining wire size, wire gauge, over current protection (breakers) and conduit size.  For example, we use THWN-2 wire from the roof to the inverter.  This wire is designed for a wet environment and is rated to 90 degrees Centigrade.  You can’t buy this at Home Depot.  Additionally, we use ILSCO grounding lugs.  Only a few Electrical supply houses carry these specialty lugs that are rated of outdoor use.

One of the second questions I usually ask is if the customer will need any help filling out the paperwork.  The learning curve on this steep.  Most reservations, permits, interconnection agreements and Incentive claim forms will be rejected multiple times, depending on the utility and the jurisdiction.  Our company works in 70+ cities and the variety and range of permitting hurdles and home owners association hurdles is astonishing.  The list below is the minimum required paperwork to be successful in the California Solar Initiative.

Checklist for Reservation Request Form
Completed Reservation Request Application – Wet Signatures

• Proof of Electrical Service for Site
• Electrical System Sizing Document 5kW and greater, expanded only (not required on < 5kw system)
• Documentation of Energy Efficiency Audit
• Printout of EPBB tool Calculation
• Shading Analysis with Pictures and documentation
• Copy of Executed Contract with Customer
• Monitoring Exemption Letter
• Monitoring Exemption Quote from Supplier

Checklist for Incentive Claim Request

• Complete Incentive Claim Form with Original Signatures
• Copy of Building Permit and Final Inspection Signoff
• Proof of Warranty
• Final project Cost Breakdown Worksheet

Checklist for Interconnection

• Interconnection Application
• Single Line Drawing
• Site Drawing

Checklist for Permit

• Cover Sheet
• Table of Contents
• Large format sheet sizing (various districts)
• Site Drawing w/lot numbers and boundary sizing
• Single Line Drawing (major electrical components)
• Electrical Characteristics
• Cut sheets for Inverters, Modules and other components

This list is the bare minimum.  Some jurisdictions have extensive requirements that add 4 or more engineering hours to a permit design.  Some utilities require special signs which we call Picasso’s.   Some jurisdictions require series fusing, even when it adds no safety and decreases reliability.

The list is long.  My recommendation is to use experienced installers if you can and write off 30% using the new Federal Tax Credit.  Another options is to make friends with a good electrician or C-10 electrical contractor.  This will help solve the installation problem.  The utilities are usually pretty good about answering questions after they have rejected your paperwork as are the local building departments.  It just amounts to making a lot of phone calls and doing a lot of driving.

Good luck.

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