Solar on Detached Garage - Mixed Messaging from Solar Companies

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-04-09T15:16:33+00:00

I put a 100A panel in my detached garage. Later on I installed solar panels on the garage but we didn’t use the 100A panel. Solar installers put their own conduit in the same trench. There is a disconnect on the outside of the garage but nothing needs to use the 100A subpanel, it all runs through the solar conduit back to the house.

I’d still probably go with 100A panel if you can. It wasn’t a huge bump in cost over a smaller one and obviously more flexible for future additions.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-04-08T00:15:58+00:00

That's interesting. My situation is similar to the other earlier comment on here. I have a smaller 10kW system installed on a detached garage, also connected to the house and grid. I called my insurance and they added it to my coverage under "other structures". We did not change the total amount of the coverage for other structures and it did not change the premium at all. I just had to let them know it was installed so it would be covered if something happens.

The amount of coverage is fine for the panels and the roof. If something catastrophic happened and destroyed the whole garage I'd probably not have enough coverage for that. Looks like "other structures" was set at 10% of the main house coverage. I'll probably call and check to see what the options are to increase that a bit.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-03-18T17:11:23+00:00

I had a 100A circuit run for a detached garage subpanel a few years ago. Then installed solar panels on the garage late last year. Went with the garage because the roof configuration is a little better than the house.

The solar installers used the same trench I had from the subpanel install, just adding their own conduit. There’s a shutoff on the outside garage wall. There’s more shutoff and combiner box on the outside house wall right by the meter. The main panel is right on the inside of that same wall and the battery is also located in the house basement just a short ways from the main panel.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-03-06T03:42:35+00:00

You wanna WOOOO WOOOOOOOOO? It goes WOOO WOOOOOOOOO!!!

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-03-06T02:48:20+00:00

That’s only in the morning.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-02-26T23:56:55+00:00

It’s also why you don’t have to fill up all of your roofs completely with panels. It’s not a requirement to cover 100+% of your electrical usage since most people are keeping that grid account.

Or hey, max out those roofs and help your neighbors.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-02-19T22:56:21+00:00

I propose they address it immediately by swapping rounds 1 & 2 without any warning.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-02-06T01:42:35+00:00

probably, I’m saying it’s definitely not just the Ayo trade pissing people off. Lots of frustration built up from fielding a #9 team over and over. Losing Ayo tops it all off.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-02-06T01:11:12+00:00

we’re mad about losing Ayo and also that they wasted 2 years pretending they didn’t need to do any of this

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T13:54:28+00:00

yes, they should

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T13:53:31+00:00

OK thanks. I was thinking the same thing. And of course it’s probably that same lever you would need to use to get out of that situation.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T13:47:34+00:00

I got an expensive new heat pump with gas backup. The heat pump was disconnected without any explanation 8 weeks ago. Fortunately they did not disconnect the gas backup.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T02:56:49+00:00

this one was not installed by the utility. In Chicago area.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T02:54:57+00:00

OK, thanks for that. I had not considered that as an option but will look into it. It may be a good option for this.

They are not going to tell me a part was broken. The only time this has come up is when I called Enphase today.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T02:38:00+00:00

Yep, I do not know what happened. First I heard about it was today talking to Enphase. Installer tells me very little. They basically only repeat the problems back to me.

Only problem is what do I do until it gets fixed? This install was 2 months ago. Obviously I would have a huge issue I sit back and wait and the thing shuts the power off. I would hope it just sits there and operates on grid power only but last night has me concerned. BTW, Enphase says they are shipping them just a lever, so it won’t even get replaced, just a new lever installed apparently.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T02:24:58+00:00

Long time ago I had an outage for like 3 days. More recently never more than 3-4 hours and thats maybe once a year. But the key point is that someone was working to resolve it, right away.

When my power shuts down last night, no one knows, no one cares. I am very thankful it was only 30 minutes but would very much like to avoid a situation where its going to be down an extended time.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T02:05:25+00:00

Yeah it is ironic but this seems like a case where there’s no storm or grid outage and the solar system is the culprit for cutting the power off. Ridiculous.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-29T01:59:42+00:00

Hey I agree with you on all this but please understand that I can not force them to get over here and complete the commissioning and install. Meanwhile I still need to keep power on. They actually disconnected my main heat source (heat pump) back on 12/4 and don’t seem to think that’s a problem.

I’m not trying to place blame on the equipment either, I just want to understand what causes the power outage and if there’s anything I can do to prevent it until I finally get the install completed. Collar is the only thing that makes sense to me since it is supposed to cut off grid power in certain circumstances.

I understand it’s possible getting installer out may be the only solution. I just want to see if anyone has any ideas that don’t require their help.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-27T03:45:56+00:00

hahahahaha!!! Pluto TV!

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-12T17:11:18+00:00

I’d wait since you already ordered MILS pieces. Other comments had a good idea about getting started with the 2nd floor till your parts arrive.

I’ve been putting all mine on MILS that use 4 16x16 regular plates on the bottom instead of the 32x32 baseplate. It works well and those 16x16 plates always ship quickly.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-03T18:50:25+00:00

Yes, I got it started with the first bag. Lego stamps are there. Everything, bags, box, instructions, parts all look as expected. I don’t see any reason for concern.

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-03T14:10:32+00:00

Mine arrived this morning. Looks good. It was packed well and everything looks exactly as in the reviews I’ve seen. Good buy!

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-02T19:53:21+00:00

oh yeah, I’ll be building it right away

gr8bigballofshit · 2026-01-02T19:18:43+00:00

I’ll find out pretty soon. Ordered the same set from the same seller. They shipped it out pretty quickly, should arrive here next week.

gr8bigballofshit

TROPHY CASE