At 9:20, Best way to sink a grounding rod is to dig a small bowl in the ground and use about a gallon of water, keeping that bowl full as you work the rod up and down. Not sure how smooth it'll go in that rock, but has always worked amazingly easy.
Really great information David. Hearing the final expense continues to motivate me to move off grid. It proves the overall system cost has greatly reduced over the past few years. I suppose less expensive components (as the demand and production has increased) and the increase in manufacturer and regional sales company competition. What I call "competitive deflation". Great episode.
you have to remember he is 100% grid tie so he sells back to the electric company.. If you go off grid you will spend a lot just for the batteries.. but if you go off grid you can buy used panels for 30% of new ones.. its a trade off but for me its the cost of batteries keeping me on the grid.. and the cost to replace them and that doesn't even account for the generator you need for backup.. you can end up needing a couple hundred hours a year of backup power if you are totally off grid.. its not as easy as it seems to be your own power station ... but the system here is pretty easy.. basically keep the panels clean and they will last 20+ years and thats all you need to do.
yeah the whole time you are wiring those boxes i am freaking out a bit as you twist the hots together .. but the inverters don't pass electric... If you were off grid you would want to wire that at night so no power is being generated. I know a guy that went from Ground to Roof and he is up north so he gets snow.. not sure that was the best idea for him especially as you get older you don't want to climb the roof. Now you just have to generate enough to break even.. hope you got some good rebates. nice to see you're doing well.
Wow, my last system on my old rental property (was my primary house for 7 years) was a 7Kwh system and was 29 panels...... eventually tesla had to replace them all and ended up being 2 panels less.... Looks like in the 5 years since, the output per panel has gotten even better!
one nice thing about grey pvc conduit is if there is an obstruction like the cement footer just a little far out, you can take a heat gun and heat the conduit up and make it maluable to bend over areas like that. so you get a nice flush conduit. It takes a minute or so with direct heat going all around the conduit to get it hot enough to move around, but its like a jelly where you heated up once its done, then you mold to what you need, then take something cool like water or wet rag and hold it around it to make it go solid again. Otherwise it takes like 10 minutes for it to harden back up naturally. so you have PLENTY of time to play with it.
Hey David, Look up online RST clean tech solutions. They make solar panel cleaning systems. They're main market is huge solar farms. I've talked to them about residential systems, so if you contact them they'll return your call. Not a super cheap system, but keeps your panels clean of dust. My plan is to run a gutter and recirculate the water with some extra filtration, or just let the water run off onto the ground.
I love these videos what im curious of is how much power your generating at peak of the day. Where your at it has to be very high. Not just enough for your house but getting paid for what's going back into the grid. A great investment
Excellent video! Must be because of AZ, but I'm surprised the under panel wiring isn't tucked a bit better, since it's accessible. We just put in last November a roof-mount, grid-tied Enphase 10.8kw system (27 panels), and it's kicking azz right now here in SoCal!
Good video but a few pointers. -You need an equipment grounding conductor in you conduit that goes out to your mount. Your #6 wire going to your ground rod will not clear a fault. That wire has a different purpose. You can not re-identify a green wire to a hot conductor.
250.119 in the NEC - Conductors with insulation or individual covering that is green, green with one or more yellow stripes, or otherwise identified as permitted by this section shall not be used for ungrounded or grounded circuit conductors. The rack and the ground rods on a good day and in a perfect world will be about 25 Ohms of resistance. If one off the 120 volt wire faults to the rack it will only pull about 4.8 amps. It will not trip a 20 amp breaker. If that happens the next person to touch that rack and is in bare feet, they will get shocked.
Touch one of the hot wires to the rack and watch it not trip. I show new apprentice’s this all the time. It has never tripped the breaker. Look up Mike Holts grounding on UA-cam a lot of good info. He talks about cases where people drive ground rods thinking it will trip a breaker and people have died with out an equipment conductor pulled to the equipment.
A few episodes ago, you showed the storm damage to your fences, is there any concern for future storms causing serious damage to the solar panel array? Is the system you used rated for a certain mile per hour wind?
Pretty smart having the solar array separate from the house. What a pain in the butt if a panel went out trying to access it on the roof. Should help keep the house and beers cold.
@@OdellCompleteConcrete Who inspected it? You should not be able to reidentify a green wire as a hot coming off of the PV panels. I'm really surprised they didn't make you redo that part.
Nice! Hope it works well for you. Having solar installed is a major ripoff but buying a pre engineered DIY kit like this looks much more reasonable especially with grid tie in. Next Energy Solution out of Wisconsin, correct?
A few minutes in after you are installing the frame for the power box the sound drops out Thought it was my device Did we miss anything or is it just a few holes and some boxes? Thanks
So in the northern hemisphere you point them south and its opposite in the southern hemisphere. Where would you aim the panels if you live right at the equator.
Are solar panels worth it? Is it kinda like youre paying your power bill for the foreseeable future? How much did this cost to do, and how much is your power bill?
I was thinking of a bypass switch on the main panel to go to a propane powered generator, or a big battery storage device in case we have another grid failure.
So is this the type of system that doesn't use a battery bank but instead runs your electric meter backward? 13K for that kit sounds like a very good deal.
Roof mounting is a very bad idea. When you reroof it’s a nightmare, and many people are having their homeowners insurance cancelled now if they have rooftop solar. Beware!!
My son has one, the cooling fan for the batteries run constantly even when the car is not in use. I don't know if that matters but it definitely takes energy to run the fan non stop.
I don't know how to figure this out. But what is the magnitude and duration of the fault current Generated By the renewal energy system - Ac output inverter, ______Amps ,_______seconds Also, voltage at which above fault current is generated at _______volts. Thank you. My spec says 3 cycle arms 2. The inverters continuous 1.58 amp, 240v so would this answer those questions
David Odell the goat
TY
Yes
The goat makes it look easy
At 9:20, Best way to sink a grounding rod is to dig a small bowl in the ground and use about a gallon of water, keeping that bowl full as you work the rod up and down. Not sure how smooth it'll go in that rock, but has always worked amazingly easy.
good idea, I'll try that the next time
After a hard day of work......i watch people having a hard day of work :P Enjoy watching though!
Ty
I'm happy for you and your family looks like you guys have a nice peaceful place there in AZ. God's Blessings to you
Thanks
You to
Really great information David. Hearing the final expense continues to motivate me to move off grid. It proves the overall system cost has greatly reduced over the past few years. I suppose less expensive components (as the demand and production has increased) and the increase in manufacturer and regional sales company competition. What I call "competitive deflation". Great episode.
Yes I think that's what it boils down to.
TY
Wow great efficient comment I wonder how the nuclear fusion is going to play out though?
you have to remember he is 100% grid tie so he sells back to the electric company.. If you go off grid you will spend a lot just for the batteries.. but if you go off grid you can buy used panels for 30% of new ones.. its a trade off but for me its the cost of batteries keeping me on the grid.. and the cost to replace them and that doesn't even account for the generator you need for backup.. you can end up needing a couple hundred hours a year of backup power if you are totally off grid.. its not as easy as it seems to be your own power station ... but the system here is pretty easy.. basically keep the panels clean and they will last 20+ years and thats all you need to do.
Odell thats the best way of driving a ground rod, dewalt, hilti etc also make a ground rod bit specifically for the purpose.
Sweet I may have to get one.
TY
Nice job. Free A/C baby. Hopefully your array can bank enough during day to offset night use of electricity 🙏💕👍
Hopefully
Another great video. Nice solar system install.
TY
You are a scholar and philosopher David! Awesome job!
I try
TY
What kind of rack system is this? Great job!
yeah the whole time you are wiring those boxes i am freaking out a bit as you twist the hots together .. but the inverters don't pass electric... If you were off grid you would want to wire that at night so no power is being generated. I know a guy that went from Ground to Roof and he is up north so he gets snow.. not sure that was the best idea for him especially as you get older you don't want to climb the roof. Now you just have to generate enough to break even.. hope you got some good rebates. nice to see you're doing well.
It's a little scary, but if the inverters are flashing red no power.
Wow, my last system on my old rental property (was my primary house for 7 years) was a 7Kwh system and was 29 panels...... eventually tesla had to replace them all and ended up being 2 panels less.... Looks like in the 5 years since, the output per panel has gotten even better!
Wow panels keep getting better.
As far as I understand it they’ll typically drop 10% the first year and a percent every year after.
one nice thing about grey pvc conduit is if there is an obstruction like the cement footer just a little far out, you can take a heat gun and heat the conduit up and make it maluable to bend over areas like that. so you get a nice flush conduit. It takes a minute or so with direct heat going all around the conduit to get it hot enough to move around, but its like a jelly where you heated up once its done, then you mold to what you need, then take something cool like water or wet rag and hold it around it to make it go solid again. Otherwise it takes like 10 minutes for it to harden back up naturally. so you have PLENTY of time to play with it.
That's a good technique, I did consider that option.
TY
Great video and content
TY
Who did you purchase the panels and ground array from?
Love seeing the goat ❤
TY
Hey David, Look up online RST clean tech solutions. They make solar panel cleaning systems. They're main market is huge solar farms. I've talked to them about residential systems, so if you contact them they'll return your call. Not a super cheap system, but keeps your panels clean of dust. My plan is to run a gutter and recirculate the water with some extra filtration, or just let the water run off onto the ground.
That kit is sweet, can’t wait to hear how ya like it in the future. Good work
Me too
TY
@@OdellCompleteConcretewill there be an update video on the property soon? Hello and thank you
excellent work very professionally done could you tell me material list what size pipe and holding panel rail thanks
Nice 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
I love these videos what im curious of is how much power your generating at peak of the day. Where your at it has to be very high. Not just enough for your house but getting paid for what's going back into the grid. A great investment
5,800 watts at peak
Now you need to hook up an automatic sprinkler system to wash all that dust off your panels every day.
good idea
Excellent video! Must be because of AZ, but I'm surprised the under panel wiring isn't tucked a bit better, since it's accessible. We just put in last November a roof-mount, grid-tied Enphase 10.8kw system (27 panels), and it's kicking azz right now here in SoCal!
I may add 4 more if needed in a year
Good video but a few pointers.
-You need an equipment grounding conductor in you conduit that goes out to your mount. Your #6 wire going to your ground rod will not clear a fault. That wire has a different purpose.
You can not re-identify a green wire to a hot conductor.
The entire ground mount rack is a ground.
I can change the color of any wire to meet my needs.
250.119 in the NEC - Conductors with insulation or individual covering that is green, green with one or more yellow stripes, or otherwise identified as permitted by this section shall not be used for ungrounded or grounded circuit conductors.
The rack and the ground rods on a good day and in a perfect world will be about 25 Ohms of resistance. If one off the 120 volt wire faults to the rack it will only pull about 4.8 amps. It will not trip a 20 amp breaker. If that happens the next person to touch that rack and is in bare feet, they will get shocked.
Touch one of the hot wires to the rack and watch it not trip. I show new apprentice’s this all the time. It has never tripped the breaker.
Look up Mike Holts grounding on UA-cam a lot of good info. He talks about cases where people drive ground rods thinking it will trip a breaker and people have died with out an equipment conductor pulled to the equipment.
The devices are grounded to the rack as designed.
The ground wire goes back to the main panel.
So everything your talking about doesn't apply here.
The ground rods were not even called for in the Engineered drawing, I put those as a bonus.
This system is actually over grounded.
A few episodes ago, you showed the storm damage to your fences, is there any concern for future storms causing serious damage to the solar panel array? Is the system you used rated for a certain mile per hour wind?
Yes this is designed for 120mph
Pretty smart having the solar array separate from the house. What a pain in the butt if a panel went out trying to access it on the roof.
Should help keep the house and beers cold.
Thats my goal
TY
This passed inspection!👍
A+
@@OdellCompleteConcrete Who inspected it? You should not be able to reidentify a green wire as a hot coming off of the PV panels. I'm really surprised they didn't make you redo that part.
Nice! Hope it works well for you. Having solar installed is a major ripoff but buying a pre engineered DIY kit like this looks much more reasonable especially with grid tie in. Next Energy Solution out of Wisconsin, correct?
I believe Utah.
Leasing doest work for me.
You never mentioned who sells the kit or what it's called. Please add to the description. Thanks.
A few minutes in after you are installing the frame for the power box the sound drops out
Thought it was my device
Did we miss anything or is it just a few holes and some boxes?
Thanks
Not a thing missed
Now you can rename the channel: Odell Complete Concrete & Complete Solar Electrical Systems😉
Sounds like a winner
Great job! Does the electric company give you money for the unused power that your system produces?
no, but you get credit at half the price they charge.
Electric Companies buy electric at wholesale.
David great videos: ground mount and wiring. I am a DIY person. Can you name the company you purchased the kit from? Roy
I don't remember
I’m confused I click concrete work I’m watching electrical work. Lol
They are Jack of all trade... odell is the best
It's in the construction DIY category.
@@OdellCompleteConcrete Also, there was some concrete right, so you are all good!
What kit did you buy?
Next Energy
What’s the cost of the kit? Do you have a link?
So in the northern hemisphere you point them south and its opposite in the southern hemisphere. Where would you aim the panels if you live right at the equator.
Straight up, or the best is mounting them on a moveable mount that tracks the sun.
Are solar panels worth it? Is it kinda like youre paying your power bill for the foreseeable future? How much did this cost to do, and how much is your power bill?
Pays for itself in 4 to 5 years
@@OdellCompleteConcrete Wow, that quick, how much did that cost? Thanks for replying so fast gs
13000
Planning to do any more work with the solar? Maybe batteries or whatever?
I was thinking of a bypass switch on the main panel to go to a propane powered generator, or a big battery storage device in case we have another grid failure.
@@OdellCompleteConcrete looking forward to it. I'd wanna prepare for a grid failiure too regardless of where I lived.
Good idea
Will you even get any sun in Arizona? I thought it rained all the time there 😂😂😂
more sun than I know what to do with
👍👍
So is this the type of system that doesn't use a battery bank but instead runs your electric meter backward? 13K for that kit sounds like a very good deal.
Yes no battery needed unless the grid goes down.
The idea is to use what you produce and send the extra to the Electric Company for repurposing.
Where are the batteries located?
grid tied, so need in batteries unless the grid goes down
@@OdellCompleteConcrete so you are just pushing into the grid?
Yes
First 👍
Hi Drummer
2:22 the word you are looking for is “torque” not strength.
I concur
Will wait on one year review of how much you saved on solar
I can't wait to find out.
Its so funny how we could all have solar panels an live cheaper but we choose to keep paying the energy companies? Its time for a change
I concur
You do not talk about batteries? Your only covering 1/2 the system.
Grid tied
I can't fault your concrete work, you're a marvel but your electrical work could do with a little polishing. Just saying..!
Practice makes perfect
Not detailed enough, need to show small components closer
Next time
Roof mounting is a very bad idea. When you reroof it’s a nightmare, and many people are having their homeowners insurance cancelled now if they have rooftop solar. Beware!!
wow 6kwh is pretty darn good and should pay for itself in a few years. Next get an EV car and you will never worry about gas again 🤣
I was thinking that too.
TY
I wonder how an EV would stand up to the heat in Arizona. I'm thinking not very well.
My son has one, the cooling fan for the batteries run constantly even when the car is not in use.
I don't know if that matters but it definitely takes energy to run the fan non stop.
MicroInverters = waste of money.
Works like a charm
I don't know how to figure this out. But what is the magnitude and duration of the fault current Generated By the renewal energy system - Ac output inverter, ______Amps ,_______seconds
Also, voltage at which above fault current is generated at _______volts. Thank you. My spec says 3 cycle arms 2. The inverters continuous 1.58 amp, 240v so would this answer those questions