In my Solar Installation I added a breaker to my main electrical panel and extended conduit to the roof where my Enphase Microinverters are wired. Detailed wiring details are shown for the Jbox on the roof, Enphase combiner box wiring and the utility shutoff switch. I also discuss permitting in California.
Here is an outline with links you may want to read if you are doing your own wiring. 1. I do not recommend you do this dangerous work yourself. I am not an electrician but the City of Redondo Beach does permit homeowners to do electrical work on their homes. Doing your own work is dangerous and it is safer to hire an experienced licensed electrician. 2. This video documents my DIY Solar install of the electrical portion of my project. This is the most time consuming portion of the project and it also the most risky because you are working with the main panel. You need to turn off the entire panel before working on the panel. Be ready to shut off power to your entire house while you do this work. 3. You may choose to do some of this work. The job is segmented into: a. Main Electrical panel 4. In California most cities like Redondo Beach, California have adopted the California PV Permitting Guidebook plans as a way to expedite permits. You can get over the counter approval if you use these plans. I also used Solar Design Tool https://get.solardesigntool.com/ to generate a set of plans that incorporates my roof layout etc. 5. This design used Enphase Microinverters iq7plus rated and 290W 6. 2.7 kw project small but I don’t want do any more vertical wiring to the roof in my lifetime. It is likely there will be better solar technology in the future on the rooftop and it is possible that electric vehicles will cause more demand on my electricity. I may get a SPA in the future so I may expand. I have 2 spare #10 wires in the Jbox in my 7 panel array so I can hook into with my hex array. 7. Conduit selection was chosen for me by plans EMT Also it seemed that California PV Permitting Guidebook chose ¾ Emt on page 46 section 3.3 . 8. Solardesigntool.com chose 1/2 however I changed to ¾ inch conduit per the requirements of the California PV Permitting Guidebook. 9. With ¾ conduit I chose 10 heaver wire because I had excess room and #10 has lower voltage drop and is more upgradeable. 10. I am pulling 2 extra wires #10 wires for future for expansion. This costs about $30. A 500 foot roll of #10 wire is $85. 11. Enphase Microinverters ac wiring to main panel 12. Pull setup – using saw horses 13. Pull coding using one spool black THHN #10. Use red electricians tape to mark your strings with 1, 2 , and 3 red stripes and keep one string plain black. 14. Ground is Green THHN #8 from panel to solar rack then bare #6 wire from Jbox at rack to frame of rack using Ironridge bonding connector on my RX 1000 iron ridge racks. The California PV Permitting Guidebook did not call this out. The solardesigntool.com plans I bought did call out minimum #10 awg for Equipment Grounding Conductors relating to NEC Equipment Bonding and Grounding section 690.43. The California PV Permitting Guidebook does refer to 690.43. https://solarprofessional.com/articles/design-installation/equipment-grounding-conductors-sizing-and-methods/page/0/1#.W-QOAmhKiUk. Some jurisdictions have mandated 6awg wire because of “risk of physical damage”. I just went with larger wire #8 wire. See this link for more detail. 15. The plans called for a 15A breaker see your existing breaker for your panel manufacturer and order a 2 pole breaker for back feed. 16. The utility shutoff is a Square D DU221RB 30A I ordered a grounding buss. 17. Here are good videos on electrical install a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9LRRFryO1Y&index=22&list=LLs8Vv5ZIwpA5CxPdRSvs9Og&t=0s b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqI810knl7Q&index=23&list=LLs8Vv5ZIwpA5CxPdRSvs9Og&t=0s c. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_5MPI2XFLs&index=30&list=LLs8Vv5ZIwpA5CxPdRSvs9Og&t=0s 18. Here is a wire pulling video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnhSOmNpwWI&index=16&list=LLs8Vv5ZIwpA5CxPdRSvs9Og&t=0s 19. Labels on panels . see playlist for video https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCal7Co3mAHSR5tg48M8NGKBcjBso8Wle look for video.
