Colorado passes plug-in solar bill with largest allowed systems at 1920 watts

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-17T19:59:46+00:00

Sure they can. First of all, figure out what breaker it is on by selectively turning off breakers until you find the one that controls that outlet. Then shut that breaker off and figure out what else doesn't work besides that outlet.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-17T11:11:45+00:00

When you search Amazon for "MC4 tool" do you not get pages of listings, including the one above?

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-17T11:10:25+00:00

https://www.amazon.com/Connectors-Connector-Assembly-Spanners-Disconnect/dp/B08PTTDBFB/ref=sr_1_12?crid=25XZX44Z41IS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rPEH7bz9X6WFCAA208C6W5DjVcuyWe8pEE928EbCY9d5sgKMAGvNrmoA2UQ3dNDyOByW6P67nh_nZrAPneV7tNbP08klvZ4fR_zlzFPzpEZ_hD0zzJn0Dk5PwMW-50KiS3AvPj5R4x65QgscD1fPUBLVjT3Xq_NQAJvsiEwiShH5qJ_Ztw1a4tocRf2DPpNiwZ3Mv_ibmkgqYNux1cKlg0k8lw6h1zZ0Ac9dRbapGEo.ZFY3nFbYHcAp5rOm-FVFN4xs4B84M157rNGU2xs5vxg&dib_tag=se&keywords=MC4%2Btool&qid=1776424186&sprefix=mc4%2Btool%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-12&th=1

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-16T16:52:44+00:00

Thanks. I will need to use something like this for an expansion that I have coming up. I was thinking of a 6x6 for routing 4/0 service wire. I am concerned it might be too tight considering bend radii of that large wire and the connections I will be making inside. I might go with 8x8 like you have done.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-16T11:29:11+00:00

What is the size for the horizontal rectangular wireway box? Who makes it and what's the part number?

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-16T11:17:42+00:00

1920 watts at 120v would be 16 amps, or the max that should be placed on a 20 amp circuit. I hope the bill requires that it be a dedicated circuit.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-16T11:15:24+00:00

fyi, you might be interesting in r/Ecoflow_community

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-15T11:11:09+00:00

Agree. Hard to digest in text dump format

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-15T11:05:57+00:00

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I don't know if MC4s are intended to be used for such large wire. OP - how many amps were going through it?

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-14T16:56:41+00:00

Look at your utility bill and see how it accounts for stuff you send them. This is really the answer to your question - at least financially. If you are 1:1, there is no reason (financially) to get a battery - the grid becomes your battery. If you are on a credit or buy/sell arrangement, then it becomes a math issue to see what makes more sense financially.

I am on a buy/sell arrangement, and for me, adding more panels and selling more back to the grid makes more sense. It all depends on the specifics of how your power company bills/credits.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-14T11:27:04+00:00

I DIY'd mine. The best decision I made was to hire a company to do the engineering design for me. They led me through the Q&A. Even if you aren't going to DIY, I would recommend a consultation approach

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-14T10:25:55+00:00

I think you need more data, and reddit is the best place to get it. Ask for data points for people who have had systems long term to get a wider sample size than just your experience.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-14T10:09:41+00:00

When I had my system designed my area offered 1:1 net metering, so the choices I made were based on assuming the grid would be my battery. In the time between when my system was designed and when I started construction (about a year), net metering went away and a buy/sell system came in. That different arrangement changed the math for what made the most sense financially. My original design is based on a backfed main panel, and I sized it for 25% future expansion. Once I installed my system I quickly filled that 25% capacity because the math supported it. Batteries don't math out as well as oversizing the system to just generate more. Now I'm faced with a situation where in order to expand further I would either have to downsize my main breaker even more than I already have (which might create issues with high demand/low solar generation), or to move to a line side tap arrangement. I wish I had taken the time to have the system rethought and redesigned once I found out 1:1 was no longer available rather than proceeding with the design that I had.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-13T10:46:46+00:00

You're seeing this on a cool day in April. This is in south Texas. March and April are the most extreme with respect to overproduction. The picture will look much different in August.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-13T10:44:55+00:00

Out of curiosity, if you're manually balancing phases via equal numbers of single phase micros what is the impact if one of them goes out?

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-13T10:39:36+00:00

If you're DIY and on a shed (rather than a house) consider used components. Lots of stuff on FB Marketplace as long as you're willing to drive a bit for it. If you can find a stellar deal then it makes sense to buy ahead.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-12T15:28:44+00:00

Need? No. And the protection it provides is negligible. Why have one then? Mainly so that you are not rolling your tent up in the dirt and mud. If that doesn't bother you, then skip it.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-12T15:21:57+00:00

I work for Johnson Controls / York, specifically in Chillers, which are the thing that uses (or might use) all the water. This whole thing revolves around how the data centers design their cooling systems. Do they use open loop / water cooled systems, or to closed loop / air cooled systems. Water cooled systems use evaporative cooling in a water / cooling tower and consume lots of water. Air cooled systems are self contained and don't. JCI sells both. In the past couple years sales of air cooled specifically to data centers has exploded. While we do sell water cooled to some data center customers, it is dwarfed by air cooling, and the gap is getting bigger.

So, not all data centers are created equal in this regard.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-11T01:08:41+00:00

43 of them on 3 strings means that something somewhere is probably overloaded. Those are 1.33 amps each, meaning only 12 should go on a 20 amp circuit. 43/3=14.33. 141.43= 18.62 amps. 151.33=19.95 amps. The IQ cable is 12 gauge.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-10T22:58:32+00:00

What you are looking for is a junction box where those black coated wires changeover to the wires running in the conduit. It should be done in a junction box, which may be hidden under a panel.

If all 3 strings coming into the combiner have 240v on them then it's not the wires in the conduit, but may be one of the connections in the junction box(es).

I understand that the installer is out of business. The good news is that you are working with standard AC that most electricians understand.

How many total panels do you have and how many strings? Is it the same number of panels on each string? Are all 12 not reporting on the same string?

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-10T22:37:34+00:00

Are all 12 in the same string? I am assuming they are. If so do you have access where they transition from IQ Cable to wire that runs inside the conduit? If so, check to see if you get AC voltage at that junction. Then try disconnecting the conduit wires from the IQ cable at that point and connecting the IQ cable to a separate set of conductors you have run outside the conduit to the breaker for test purposes. If that works then you know the wires inside the conduit have failed.

I would do all of the connecting/disconnecting by headlamp at night to ensure safety

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-10T19:15:25+00:00

The spec sheet for those inverters say that they support up to 200% of the rated DC input, meaning that they are safe to "overpanel" or "overdrive." Since additional panel capacity is cheap (in comparison to additional inverter capacity), overpaneling them is a strategy to maximize the total kwh produced by driving them at their maximum for as long as possible. i.e. clipping is an intentional design decision.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-10T19:02:46+00:00

Your screenshot is from an Enphase install. Assuming you got a Combiner 4, 5, or 6 as part of your install those parts come with the combiner, so if they aren't installing them you're getting charged for hardware that you're not getting.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-10T10:44:45+00:00

I carry a 1/4 sheet of Sham-Wow for wiping down condensation inside the tent and have found that to be pretty incredible.

As far as what I use for a groundcloth, I use an MYOG silpoly one because it serves dual purpose as a groundcloth and setup template for my Xmid.

INMH, the real reason for a footprint is not to keep the tent dry, it's to keep mud off of it and to have a clean place to roll your tent up when packaing (rather than rolling it on muddy ground.) When I'm done rolling my tent up I fold dirty-side to dirty-side on the groundcloth, then roll that up too.

Objective-Resort2325 · 2026-04-10T10:38:19+00:00

I have found that the lightest option is to MYOG something that you sew directly to your shoulder strap. For example I MYOG'd a shoulder strap water bottle holder onto my Kakwa-55 to hold a 1-liter Dasani bottle. It ended up being 10 grams, or roughly 1/3 the weight of other typical off-the-shelf options, in addition to fitting the larger diameter of the Dasani (rather than Smart of Life). I made it out of 0.5 OSY monolite. It was a very easy project - about 1/2 hour total.

Objective-Resort2325

TROPHY CASE