Our Solar Installation Journey - Day 2

Day 2 - Off to an earlier start. First workers were on site at 7:15, ready to start plumbing in the solar hot water heater. Than came the roofing crew to install the solar hot water heater panels on the roof.

Here is the new solar hot water heater.  It is a 115 gallon tank that heats water using an internal heat exchanger (which contains the fluid heated by the solar array).  Behind it is our existing 80 gallon tank, which will remain, and continue to store hot water (just not heated by electrical once I cut off the power!)

 Yeah - still no concrete in the holes!

The 2 components on the right are new.  The DC power goes in on the right, comes back out on the left into that small box (an AC disconnect accessible from outside if needed by the electric company to isolate the array from the power lines).  The meter will be replaced by a digital "net meter" that will "run backwards" if I generate more power than I use.

 Here is the solar hot water array frame.

With arrays installed. 

And finished.  Looks good!

 Here is the solar hot water heater.  There is a bit of plumbing needed to tie in the new tank to my existing tank (on the right).  The black box on the front will be covered, and houses the pump, gages, reliefs, etc.

 Here is the underside of the solar hot water array.  The green bar is what ties the array to the rafters.  The black pipe is a flexible hose carrying a solution that won't freeze in the winter in the array.  It carries the heat from the array into the heat exchanger in the hot water heater.

 Access for the hose in the 2nd floor.  This was the only area where finished house had to be cut into.

Here is the heart of the PV system.  This is a 5000kW inverter that electronically transforms DC to AC and parallels it with the line power from the electric company.  It just ties into the breaker box as another breaker, but this one is supplying power!