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Who's gone Solar

Welp, looks like my gas meter is too close to my electrical panel. There must be a three foot clearance between the two. Apparently not when my house was built. The cheaper option is to ask PG&E for the ok to move the meter. For us it would either need to be moved out to the front of our house, or we will need to move the air conditioning unit to may way for the new gas meter location. So we won't be able to get this done in time for the NEM2 cut off. It also jacks up the price of the whole operation. Anyone else experience this? What a bummer.
 
Bubba_s said:
Welp, looks like my gas meter is too close to my electrical panel. There must be a three foot clearance between the two. Apparently not when my house was built. The cheaper option is to ask PG&E for the ok to move the meter. For us it would either need to be moved out to the front of our house, or we will need to move the air conditioning unit to may way for the new gas meter location. So we won't be able to get this done in time for the NEM2 cut off. It also jacks up the price of the whole operation. Anyone else experience this? What a bummer.
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It's certainly not something that they're making up, unfortunately. I only say that because the inspector dude that was at my house did two laps before asking me where our gas meter was. Fortunately for us, it is on the opposite side of the house (than the elec. panel).

Only the permit has to be submitted by mid April, so I don't see why they couldn't get it in before NEM2 cutoff?
 
Bubba_s said:
Welp, looks like my gas meter is too close to my electrical panel. There must be a three foot clearance between the two. Apparently not when my house was built. The cheaper option is to ask PG&E for the ok to move the meter. For us it would either need to be moved out to the front of our house, or we will need to move the air conditioning unit to may way for the new gas meter location. So we won't be able to get this done in time for the NEM2 cut off. It also jacks up the price of the whole operation. Anyone else experience this? What a bummer.
Click to expand...

I had the exact same thing happen. All the houses in our neighborhood were built in 1969 and everyone's gas meter is next to the electrical panel.
Fortunately in our case, the previous owner had installed a hot tub with it's own electrical panel located near the back yard.

When the solar guy saw that he brightened up. Of course he has to add something there to make it work but it will only (only?) cost another $750 vs much more if that extra panel wasn't there.

But yeah, that's a problem for sure.
 
Well, fuck. Mine's definitely closer than three foot.

Dude's gonna be at my house for the inspection between noon and two today so I guess he'll give me the official bad news then.
 
TwistedGRAY said:
It's certainly not something that they're making up, unfortunately. I only say that because the inspector dude that was at my house did two laps before asking me where our gas meter was. Fortunately for us, it is on the opposite side of the house (than the elec. panel).

Only the permit has to be submitted by mid April, so I don't see why they couldn't get it in before NEM2 cutoff?
Click to expand...

I assume we'll need to get the permit for the gas meter moving before we can get the permits for solar but I'm not sure. We'll see if we can get this done in time but for now we're replacing the roof and continuing to figure out the solar. We've not been called back by several companies which is lame. If we miss the NEM2 cutoff that will likely mean getting batteries, something I wanted to be able to wait for originally.
 
Here is another option that can make sense for a lot of people. No permits, inspections, no utility involvement no hassle or deadlines. Not a difficult DIY either.

https://legionsolar.com
 
Bubba_s said:
I assume we'll need to get the permit for the gas meter moving before we can get the permits for solar but I'm not sure. We'll see if we can get this done in time but for now we're replacing the roof and continuing to figure out the solar. We've not been called back by several companies which is lame. If we miss the NEM2 cutoff that will likely mean getting batteries, something I wanted to be able to wait for originally.
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I am not a contractor and couldn't build something level to save my life...

BUT I would think that this should not prohibit them for submitting a permit for the solar install at the same time they submit a permit to move the gas meter. Considering that the solar install would NOT change at all, I don't see why they can't...the gas meter is the only thing moving. Then again, if you cannot apply for the permit even because you're replacing the roof then I suspect that my suspicions are wrong.

Either way, best of luck, and yeah...same boat...do not have the capital to fund batteries at this time, and I'm not taking batteries on a loan (or solar for that matter).
 
mean dad said:
Well, fuck. Mine's definitely closer than three foot.

Dude's gonna be at my house for the inspection between noon and two today so I guess he'll give me the official bad news then.
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The solar guy mentioned it could be around 4k to move it. Maybe less? Moving the electrical panel is A LOT more according to him. Our issue is moving it out front (outside of our gate to the rear) would look weird and change the whole pipe run. Otherwise we'd have to move the giant AC unit, including cement pad. SO it will cost a lot more either way. Hopefully your situation will be easier to deal with! Please report back after your guy takes a look!

TwistedGRAY said:
I am not a contractor and couldn't build something level to save my life...

BUT I would think that this should not prohibit them for submitting a permit for the solar install at the same time they submit a permit to move the gas meter. Considering that the solar install would NOT change at all, I don't see why they can't...the gas meter is the only thing moving. Then again, if you cannot apply for the permit even because you're replacing the roof then I suspect that my suspicions are wrong.

Either way, best of luck, and yeah...same boat...do not have the capital to fund batteries at this time, and I'm not taking batteries on a loan (or solar for that matter).
Click to expand...

We're still not giving up but we're having to adjust all of our plans to fit in these costly circumstances.
 
Inspection went well. Apparently the 3-foot clearance is from the gas meter to the solar electrical panel, not PG&E's existing main panel.
We identified two locations suitable for their panel (other side of the gate leading to my backyard, or inside the garage) so we're a go at this point. :banana


I'm going to pick up shingles and a nail gun sometime this week so I can redo the back half of my roof before the panels are installed...anyone want to make some extra cash helping out?
 
Starpower said:
Here is another option that can make sense for a lot of people. No permits, inspections, no utility involvement no hassle or deadlines. Not a difficult DIY either.

https://legionsolar.com
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This is very intriguing to me. It appears that the solar power plugs directly into a 120 outlet? Can you comment on that? The starter set is stupid cheap and may be worth getting just to try it out. Thank you for sharing!!

mean dad said:
Inspection went well. Apparently the 3-foot clearance is from the gas meter to the solar electrical panel, not PG&E's existing main panel.
We identified two locations suitable for their panel (other side of the gate leading to my backyard, or inside the garage) so we're a go at this point. :banana


I'm going to pick up shingles and a nail gun sometime this week so I can redo the back half of my roof before the panels are installed...anyone want to make some extra cash helping out?
Click to expand...

I'll have to look into this. It sounds like you're going to have to pay to have a separate panel just for solar. I didn't know this was an option but it will add cost, did your guy say how much for a new, solar only panel? This could work for us if it an option.
 
am I mistaken or is the "starter set" from that legion place 2 panels that is 300W?

150W panels? That seems awfully low.
 
Bubba_s said:
...It sounds like you're going to have to pay to have a separate panel just for solar. I didn't know this was an option but it will add cost, did your guy say how much for a new, solar only panel? This could work for us if it an option.
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I may be misusing terminology.
Dude didn't even flinch on the location of my gas meter vs the exterior electrical panel. His concern was strictly about where their input box/electric panel/solar beam collector/whatever would be physically located, and what route to run the conduit from there to the main incoming electrical panel.
Then he jumped on the roof for some measurements and we fine-tuned exactly where the panels would be mounted. I'm still deciding if I'm going to run conduit along the exterior eaves or go through the attic.
 
mean dad said:
I may be misusing terminology.
Dude didn't even flinch on the location of my gas meter vs the exterior electrical panel. His concern was strictly about where their input box/electric panel/solar beam collector/whatever would be physically located, and what route to run the conduit from there to the main incoming electrical panel.
Then he jumped on the roof for some measurements and we fine-tuned exactly where the panels would be mounted. I'm still deciding if I'm going to run conduit along the exterior eaves or go through the attic.
Click to expand...

Huh!

My guy actually mentioned this as a good thing with my house. The gas meter is next to the main electrical panel, but he pointed out they were more than 3 feet apart (more like 5) and that was a good thing. I didn't really ask any questions about it since it wasn't an issue, but it seems like a requirement. :dunno
 
Bubba_s said:
This is very intriguing to me. It appears that the solar power plugs directly into a 120 outlet? Can you comment on that? The starter set is stupid cheap and may be worth getting just to try it out. Thank you for sharing!!

Yes, you can plug into an outlet. However, as you expand over about 1800W you'll need to go to a breaker in a panel somewhere convenient.



I'll have to look into this. It sounds like you're going to have to pay to have a separate panel just for solar. I didn't know this was an option but it will add cost, did your guy say how much for a new, solar only panel? This could work for us if it an option.
Click to expand...

.
 
That legion solar thing is a very basic setup. Like, put it in your van. If you want storage to offset your house you're looking at over 100Ah of storage and 3kW output capability for critical loads. A lot more if you want to run AC or have a lot of 240v. You don't have to deal with interconnecting to PGE, but you still have to comply with CA building codes, it's unlikely you can put any of that on your house permit-free.
 
Legion kit looks potentially awesome depending on the specs and use. Would be lame if you're stuck with their panels. I'd be pumped to have a small setup that could offset a couple thousand watts and also keep the fridge going during an outage. Looks a bit renegade. Right up my alley..
 
byke said:
Legion kit looks potentially awesome depending on the specs and use. Would be lame if you're stuck with their panels. I'd be pumped to have a small setup that could offset a couple thousand watts and also keep the fridge going during an outage. Looks a bit renegade. Right up my alley..
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Www.signaturesolar.com

You can make a renegade off-grid setup for yourself. It looks like I'll be doing that in my shed and running it to my permitted transfer switch at this point...
 
Off grid is easy. Legit grid-tie is easy. Renegade grid-tie zero export via ct monitoring running in parallel, not running as passthrough...not quite as easy.
 
byke said:
Off grid is easy. Legit grid-tie is easy. Renegade grid-tie zero export via ct monitoring running in parallel, not running as passthrough...not quite as easy.
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There are lots of grid interactive/ zero export inverters, on that site even. Guess I'm not clear on what you're trying to "renegade".
 
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