One of my original goals with the new awning was to add some capacity to my solar system. Although this is not something that homeowners typically do themselves, I have become quite comfortable with electrical work and decided to do it myself. I purchased the solar panels on craigslist and picked them up in Yuma, AZ, and I purchased the microinverters and combiner panel on eBay and then the rack mounts I picked up in Palm Desert. Once I had acquired everything I needed, I got to work, with Noah’s help. Surprisingly, I was able to complete the entire install in two days. Here we are wiring the microinverters after putting up the rack mounts:
And here’s a look at the wiring inside the combiner panel:
Even though this might look complicated, it’s actually really simple and pretty easy to do. I also had to add some conduit to the roof in order to clean up and protect the wiring from moving the old solar panels:
And finally, here’s a look at the new solar panels once the install was completed:
The new system has been very helpful and has increased my electricity generation by 40%. I’ve got an app on my phone that lets me view the power generation. Super cool!