Install your own solar panels Designing and installing a photovoltaic system to power your home

Joesph Burdick, 1968-

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.

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Subjects
Genres
Handbooks and manuals
Published
North Adams, MA : Storey Publishing [2017]
Language
English
Main Author
Joesph Burdick, 1968- (author)
Other Authors
Philip Schmidt (author)
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
Review by Library Journal Review

Burdick, president of a renewable energy company, and Schmidt, an experienced author (PlyDesign) and carpenter, carefully outline practical considerations and basics of home solar systems. Rather than trying to convince readers of the benefits of solar, this book assumes they are already onboard and just need help to make it happen. It sets itself apart from other recent titles on solar by focusing on the basics of installation, a topic severely lacking in the field. Be it a roof installation or ground-mounted design, this book focuses on what a confident do-it-yourselfer can do, and what should be left to the professionals. Great instruction and tips are included. For a more general approach, Paul Scheckel's The Homeowner's Energy Handbook covers an array of alternative energy resources. VERDICT An important manual on home solar systems, offering solid advice and instruction. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.