diy pv solar installation?

15 years ago

I did a quick check but didn't see this covered: I've been wondering about whether it is possible to do a PV installation all by ourselves.

FWIW, this would be a ground mounted system. Not because I hate ladders, which I don't, but because our 19th c buildings aren't hankering for having new stuff parked on their roofs and because I've got lots of land.

My DH is a lic. electrician so that's not an issue. We have plenty of heavy equipment for trenching and setting up mounts, etc.

We would want to have it set up as a net-metered system in NY.

So, is it possible, and legal? Is it less expensive than using installers? Would DIY completely leave us out of the various tax rebate schemes? It just seems as though the aggregated components aren't as expensive as the estimates I've seen for installed systems. For us, it's always a pain to have contractors here, not a boon.

TIA for any ideas you have.

Molly~

Comments (4)

nevea2be
15 years ago
Anything can be diy if you have the skills to do it. As far as rebates go that would depend on the places offering the rebates. Of course all equipment would have to qualify (like UL listed) for any such rebate.

It's all legal if you pull the correct permits and the person installing or tying the whole system together is a lic. electrician.
greif
15 years ago
possible yes... dangerous oh yes. Your husband is used to working with AC... this is DC which can be alot more deadly if not done correctly. Totaly different breakers/switches etc are used with Dc and you can not use Ac parts as Dc will weld these toegther.
IF he wanted to do this have him take classes on solar dc from the MREA.com or Solar Energy International http://www.solarenergy.org/index.html

good luck
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kzaker
14 years ago
I dont think DIY solar is covered in the NYSERDA rebates (if that is the rebates you were reffering to). but please post for us to see what you find out! i would be interested in knowing - I live in NY too.
hdavis
14 years ago
I agree. As long as you have the correct permits and the contractors are licensed you should be fine. I would guess that there are rebates. I am also geting into solar panels and solar energy and I have done a lot of research on solar panels / solar energy and there seems to be quite a bit of good information on the climate / energy industry. There is also a lot of information on do it yourself installation.