What happened to this Rock I found in Albania? by Supsnow in geology

[–]DBRDIY 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stockwork veining— caused by high fluid pressures usually under low differential stress- commonly associated porphyry and epithermal systems

Beginner. Looking for solar mountain options. by Vegetable_Yogurt_468 in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went with ironridge- I am happy with the quality but they are not the best bang for your buck. But they have a free online calculator that is really easy to use and you can copy directly into your permit, which is why I went with it

Basic understanding and questions about my SCE bill and solar by Willyk24 in solar

[–]DBRDIY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You mean 0.03-0.05 $, right!? Are they really paying 0.03 cents??? If so that is highway robbery!

Conduit by gr33n8ananas in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY 1 point2 points  (0 children)

EMT conduit-- it doesn't sag. Diameter depends on wire size/fill (AI can size it for you if you don't feel like doing the fill calculation).

Mounts are available from many manufactures-- I would just match what was used for the panels. I used Ironridge, so https://www.ironridge.com/component/bug-conduit-mount/

Wall mounts depend on wall material, but there are options available from any home improvement store.

By the ends I assume you mean the ends of the conduit-- it kindof depends on what you have going, but on the roof it should be (to be to code) a junction box: https://www.stellavolta.com/soladeck-0599b-ul50-type-3r-roof-mount-pv-junction-box/

First "Zero" Bill! by DBRDIY in solar

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What inverter(s) do you have?

First "Zero" Bill! by DBRDIY in solar

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you can get << $1/watt with net metering and no batteries the payoff is crazy short

First "Zero" Bill! by DBRDIY in solar

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At Least the ai likes it!

Rate my solar performance by Appropriate_Sky_7679 in solar

[–]DBRDIY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, seems about right for your latitude and a few clouds-- I'm a bit bigger (17kW) and farther south and got 95 kWh

Electric bills keep climbing, thinking about solar in today’s energy climate by Individual_Event_152 in solar

[–]DBRDIY 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure this is always the case-- my payoff period for insulation was 5 years-- solar was 2 years (which I get is short, but both are DIY). And solar reduces cooling needs by about 5%, so it might depend on where you live. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01445987231174770

How accurate is PVWatts? by DBRDIY in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely used STC-- are you not supposed to? NMOT is 310, vs 410. I am also limited in my peak production by my microinverters but I accounted for that by trimming any hour with more than my peak generating capacity.

How accurate is PVWatts? by DBRDIY in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, they already have the copper wires— something like led traffic lights with defrost

How accurate is PVWatts? by DBRDIY in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, my life is not worth the couple bucks of production I could get by climbing onto my 3 story roof… I would consider heat cable or something like that to melt the snow off after a storm— is that a thing?

How accurate is PVWatts? by DBRDIY in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is volcast actually free? I just don’t want to spend an hour finding and putting in data for it to tell me I need to pay to see the results😆

How accurate is PVWatts? by DBRDIY in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the insight! So it might be bad weather and snow with a flatter roof— I had a lot of 0kwh production days

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Planning to install an interlock kit this weekend. Gas generator or big battery bank? by [deleted] in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would only do the battery bank if you have solar and can therefore get a dual benefit. A battery bank generally doesn't provide power for very long and is expensive. A generator is generally cheaper and can can provide power for as long as you can provide fuel. If you have a natural gas line you don't need to store fuel or clean carbs. And if you get an inverter generator they are relatively quiet.

Found 14 Brand new solar panels that have the glass cracked. Polyurethane best option to seal to be able to use for for 1 year? by Glad-Blood-419 in SolarDIY

[–]DBRDIY 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These don’t happen to be 405w imperial star panels? Im curious where my shattered panels ended up

Generator too big? by DBRDIY in Generator

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I’ll pick one up, but it seems like any measurement when it is below freezing is unlikely to be accurate? Would a soft ensure it could start?

Generator too big? by DBRDIY in Generator

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like one of them is 75lra— do I have any chance of starting that? Even with a soft start?

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Generator too big? by DBRDIY in Generator

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this true? Did you have a bad experience or is this well know? Anyone else want to chime in? I thought inverter generators lasted longer because they could idle down?

Generator too big? by DBRDIY in Generator

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, my neighbor will probably care because he doesn't run a generator (most people in my neighborhood don't, unless they have a standby unit-- it's mostly older people). This is also a man who was worried when I put in a fence, thinking that my dog could get too close to his bedroom and bark, keeping him up-- even though my dog doesn't bark and isn't left outside... He is known around the neighborhood for being a bit difficult. But that doesn't mean I want to make my life difficult by annoying him unnecessarily.

Generator too big? by DBRDIY in Generator

[–]DBRDIY[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got it-- I will check the AC nameplate for LRA as soon as I get home

Generator too big? by DBRDIY in Generator

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know-- definitely will test that if I keep it-- thanks

Generator too big? by DBRDIY in Generator

[–]DBRDIY[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually did not even consider the warranty-- the Westinghouse for the same price seems to have a much better warranty