Good example of what a lot of us will need to do over the next 5-10 years. Thanks for sharing! I wish I had a better method for removing the MC4 connectors but looks like you had the best removal tool that I have found. I probably would have cut the MC4 connector out if it gave me too much trouble and crimped on a new end.
Thanks. Nice to hear that from the super star of DYI Solar videos! Your videos helped me tremendously. Thank you for your service! If you were in CA I certainly would have hired you to help. The solar guys here are all too busy and the bid was $4k to remove and replace, but wouldn't give me a date. One company told me: Maybe next year. The total cost of the entire system 15 years ago was only $8k which included really nice hardware, panels, installation and permits so 4k is too much to me. The roofers were great, but don't want to touch electrical. BWT. Some of the wires in the landscape mount had very little slack.
You will love the next video. I was able to get some great shots of your crew because they were doing all the work and I could concentrate on filming. I am editing it now. I would be done, but I am busy putting the solar panels back now. I am about 75% done putting the channels back.
You are absolutely correct. I thought I could talk the roofer into roofing around it, but no such luck. Fortunately, it was very easy to remove the channels as they are very light weight Aluminum. I removed the channels in a few hours working alone this time. They just unbolt with a 5/8 inch socket in an impact wrench. Very straight forward and no new video is needed. I also removed the 32 flashings and mounts because I wanted to do it carefully so I could re-use them. Again, very easy. Just one 3 inch lag bolt with a 1/2 inch head attaches an aluminum base that a 4 inch aluminum post screws into that receives the bolt from the channel. Very easy to figure out. Turns out new mounts are $30 each and they are not even as nice as these 15 year old ones. They figured out how to make them cheaper, but not to sell the cheaper:) There are 32 of them so it will save about $1000 in material to reuse. I will make another video on the re-install. The connectors will be much easier to plug together than to separate, but I am sure there will be other challenges!
Let me think about that! I fully appreciate solar cells as they are quiet and produce clean energy. They actually don't produce energy directly, but harvest it from a huge nuclear fusion power plant that is 93 million miles away which also known as the sun:). Yes, the solar cells just convert the photons coming from the sun into electricity. Electricity is not a source of energy itself, but only useful for moving energy. What I like about natural gas is that you can burn it to make electricity, but you can also let if flow through pipes and burn it directly at a furnace or water heater without needing any electricity. The energy loss having the natural gas flow through pipes is much less than the low moving electricity over power lines. One thing nice about solar cells as I can generate my electricity locally and no power lines are necessary. I also have storage battery so I do not depend on the grid. The problem with solar is you need the proper conditions for it to make sense. At my location the ideal incline is 29% South facing and that is nearly exactly my South roof. I also have no trees or shade on my house. I also live in a location that has a moderate temperature as solar cells don't work well at hot temperatures and give you zero output with snow. Cloudy days and rain are also not good. If you depend on solar for heat, you would have trouble in the winter. Electricity where I live is nearly 40 cents a kw/hr which is likely the highest in the country. Solar is not for very one or every location. For me it made sense as my 15 year old system paid for itself the first 7 years.
Good example of what a lot of us will need to do over the next 5-10 years. Thanks for sharing! I wish I had a better method for removing the MC4 connectors but looks like you had the best removal tool that I have found. I probably would have cut the MC4 connector out if it gave me too much trouble and crimped on a new end.
Thanks. Nice to hear that from the super star of DYI Solar videos! Your videos helped me tremendously. Thank you for your service! If you were in CA I certainly would have hired you to help. The solar guys here are all too busy and the bid was $4k to remove and replace, but wouldn't give me a date. One company told me: Maybe next year. The total cost of the entire system 15 years ago was only $8k which included really nice hardware, panels, installation and permits so 4k is too much to me. The roofers were great, but don't want to touch electrical. BWT. Some of the wires in the landscape mount had very little slack.
Your video is very informative, Thank you for sharing it.
You will love the next video. I was able to get some great shots of your crew because they were doing all the work and I could concentrate on filming. I am editing it now. I would be done, but I am busy putting the solar panels back now. I am about 75% done putting the channels back.
Don't you need to remove the channels?
You are absolutely correct. I thought I could talk the roofer into roofing around it, but no such luck. Fortunately, it was very easy to remove the channels as they are very light weight Aluminum. I removed the channels in a few hours working alone this time. They just unbolt with a 5/8 inch socket in an impact wrench. Very straight forward and no new video is needed. I also removed the 32 flashings and mounts because I wanted to do it carefully so I could re-use them. Again, very easy. Just one 3 inch lag bolt with a 1/2 inch head attaches an aluminum base that a 4 inch aluminum post screws into that receives the bolt from the channel. Very easy to figure out. Turns out new mounts are $30 each and they are not even as nice as these 15 year old ones. They figured out how to make them cheaper, but not to sell the cheaper:) There are 32 of them so it will save about $1000 in material to reuse. I will make another video on the re-install. The connectors will be much easier to plug together than to separate, but I am sure there will be other challenges!
No more natural gas. Electric is all we need.
Let me think about that! I fully appreciate solar cells as they are quiet and produce clean energy. They actually don't produce energy directly, but harvest it from a huge nuclear fusion power plant that is 93 million miles away which also known as the sun:). Yes, the solar cells just convert the photons coming from the sun into electricity. Electricity is not a source of energy itself, but only useful for moving energy. What I like about natural gas is that you can burn it to make electricity, but you can also let if flow through pipes and burn it directly at a furnace or water heater without needing any electricity. The energy loss having the natural gas flow through pipes is much less than the low moving electricity over power lines. One thing nice about solar cells as I can generate my electricity locally and no power lines are necessary. I also have storage battery so I do not depend on the grid. The problem with solar is you need the proper conditions for it to make sense. At my location the ideal incline is 29% South facing and that is nearly exactly my South roof. I also have no trees or shade on my house. I also live in a location that has a moderate temperature as solar cells don't work well at hot temperatures and give you zero output with snow. Cloudy days and rain are also not good. If you depend on solar for heat, you would have trouble in the winter. Electricity where I live is nearly 40 cents a kw/hr which is likely the highest in the country. Solar is not for very one or every location. For me it made sense as my 15 year old system paid for itself the first 7 years.