Install your own solar panels Designing and installing a photovoltaic system to power your home
Book - 2017
This fully illustrated step-by-step guide provides the essential advice you need to successfully install your own solar array. And by doing it yourself, you'll recoup your initial investment faster than ever. Solar professional Joseph Burdick and veteran builder Philip Schmidt take you all the way from assessing your site, designing your system, and getting a permit to shopping for parts and installing the modules. You'll use the same thorough process that the pros do, find answers to all your questions, and set up a complete system for a fraction of the cost.--Cover.
- Subjects
- Genres
- Handbooks and manuals
- Published
-
North Adams, MA :
Storey Publishing
[2017]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Other Authors
- Physical Description
- 190 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9781612128252
- Introduction
- 1. The Basics
- Anatomy of a Solar-Electric System
- Can I Install My Own PV System?
- Going Solar - From Start to Finish
- Working with Solar Professionals
- Answering the Big Three
- 2. Assessing Your Site
- Measuring Area, Slope, and Azimuth
- Sizing Your System with PVWatts
- Snow, Wind, and Shade
- 3. Choosing PV Hardware
- Modules
- Module Support Structures
- Inverters and DC Optimizers
- 4. Designing Your System
- PV Circuit Fundamentals
- The Design Process
- Sample System Designs
- One-Line Electrical Diagrams
- Wire Types for PV Systems
- 5. Getting Ready to Install
- Permitting and Inspections
- Shopping Solar
- Solar Financials
- Assembling Your Crew
- 6. Mechanical Installation: Rooftop
- Laying Out the Racking
- Installing Footers and Rails
- Installing Modules
- 7. Mechanical Installation: Ground-Mount
- Setting the Support Posts
- Assembling the Ground-Mount Structure
- 8. Electrical Installation
- Final Project Steps
- Running Conduit
- Component Connections
- Final Inspection and Turning On Your PV System
- 9. Off-Grid System Design
- Off-Grid Basics
- Batteries
- Sample Off-Grid System Design
- 10. Beyond Installation: Tips for Troubleshooting, Maintaining, and Monitoring Your PV System
- PV Safety Rules
- Shutdown and Startup Procedures
- Maintenance and Troubleshooting
- Monitoring Your System
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Metric Conversions
- Index