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Do It Yourself Solar Power? - Easy DIY Solar Panel Installation! - YouTube
Channel: JerryRigEverything
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so a lot of people think that solar
[1]
panels are actually pretty fragile but
[3]
that's not the case i am currently
[5]
walking on top of some
[7]
and i weigh about 200 pounds now
[9]
obviously this isn't something you want
[10]
to do on a regular basis they are made
[12]
of glass but still can't be a j-rig
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everything video without a durability
[17]
test
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
[32]
jerryrig headquarters is currently
[34]
powered by 100 renewable solar energy
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and in today's video i'm going to show
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you how i installed these so there are a
[41]
ton of places to buy solar panels but i
[43]
found that i could do it myself for
[45]
about half the price i've partnered up
[48]
with a company called solar wholesale
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that actually sells diy kits that
[52]
include everything you need in one
[54]
convenient package including the custom
[57]
installation plans that you need for
[58]
your permits from your city also keep in
[61]
mind that these solar panels will retain
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80 percent of their energy producing
[65]
ability for the next 30 years and then
[67]
continue producing electricity far
[69]
longer than that and even though i went
[71]
into this project knowing that i was
[73]
going to install solar myself i did
[75]
price out other options and it turns out
[77]
tesla was one of the more fairly priced
[79]
out there so if you don't want to
[80]
install seoul yourself tesla's a good
[82]
option and i'll leave a 250 discount for
[85]
them also down in the description all
[87]
right there is a lot of information to
[89]
go over and not a lot of time to do it
[91]
so let's get started
[94]
[Applause]
[95]
[Music]
[98]
the biggest perk of working with solar
[100]
wholesale is this plan set the plan set
[103]
is the instruction booklet designed
[104]
specifically for my house with all the
[107]
information i need to get the permits
[108]
and approvals from my city along with
[110]
the plan set they ship every single part
[112]
that i need to install my solar system
[114]
in one big kit which makes the whole
[116]
project much easier since the parts just
[118]
work together right out of the box plus
[120]
the solar panels are made right here in
[122]
the united states getting someone like
[124]
tesla to come install the solar for you
[126]
is still worth it of course it just
[127]
takes a few more years to break even but
[129]
either way you're still making a
[130]
positive impact on the environment and
[132]
lowering your electricity bill from the
[134]
moment the panels get connected remember
[136]
every house is going to have a slightly
[137]
different roof line and different energy
[139]
needs which is why it's nice to have
[141]
this plant set that was custom made to
[143]
my specific situation this is the wiring
[145]
diagram all this makes a lot more sense
[147]
when you have the parts right in front
[149]
of you
[153]
so last time i was climbing up my roof i
[156]
broke my wrist so there's that
[161]
so we've laid out where the perimeter of
[163]
the panels are going to be on the roof
[164]
with a lumber cran and a chalk line and
[166]
this will just help us visualize where
[168]
the panels are going to be and where
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we're going to lay the rack that the
[171]
panels rest on top of it'll all start
[173]
making sense in a minute
[175]
so in order to attach the racking system
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to the roof we need to find the trusses
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that are underneath the shingles and the
[180]
plywood an easiest way to do that is
[182]
with a hammer listen closely
[187]
you can hear the difference between the
[189]
loose area of roof and the solid area of
[192]
roof and that's where we want to drill
[193]
down and attach our lag bolts
[199]
we could tell by the resistance that the
[200]
drill bit had all the way down through
[202]
the wood that we hit you know a stud we
[204]
had something good to tie into so once
[206]
you've found your first trust all of the
[208]
rest will be in the same spots so if
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you're working by yourself you can just
[211]
attach the tape to the drill bit that's
[213]
still in the stud
[214]
and mark two feet on center
[217]
all the way down the roof
[219]
so before we can attach the rails that
[221]
hold the panels we have to put the
[222]
flashing down and i'll explain what the
[224]
flashing does in a second before i can
[226]
put the flashing down i do have to put
[227]
some of this clear sealant in a u-shape
[230]
around the hole that the
[232]
lag bolt goes through and then i'm also
[233]
going to put some clear sealant into the
[235]
hole because the whole point of this is
[237]
to keep water out of the roof then i can
[240]
lift up some of the shingles slide the
[242]
flashing underneath and then this is the
[244]
part that holds the rail we'll put the
[246]
lag bolt through the opening into the
[248]
holes we've pre-drilled earlier and then
[250]
we'll ratchet it down into place
[254]
[Laughter]
[256]
so now the flashing is in place we can
[258]
visually see how it keeps water out of
[260]
the roof you know the water will run
[261]
down the roof and it won't go into the
[263]
holes we just drilled especially if you
[265]
missed a hole in how to drill an extra
[266]
one as well as each of these bolts right
[269]
here have a black washer around the top
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which also helps seal to keep the water
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out
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so the reason i decided to go with the
[277]
snap and rack system is because these
[279]
little l feet right here are adjustable
[281]
up and down so the rail can adjust
[283]
underneath the panels to keep the panels
[285]
level and the reason is called a snap
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and lock system is because the rails sit
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right on top of these little feet and
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they click into place
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just like you know a little lego the
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rail itself is black which makes a
[298]
little more aesthetic on top of the roof
[299]
and it can slide forward and backward
[302]
inside of the channel as we're
[303]
positioning it and there's a channel
[305]
inside of the rail that hides the wires
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for all the micro inverters
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so the rails are up and it's micro
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inverter time so the micro inverters
[318]
they're held in place with these little
[320]
metal pieces which can just dip into the
[322]
rail
[323]
and then clip up into place
[325]
the reason we decided to go with micro
[327]
inverters over other inverters is one
[329]
they're easy to install and two they're
[331]
much safer they convert the power from
[333]
dc to ac right at the panel and if one
[337]
panel does get covered by like let's say
[339]
snow or a shadow from a tree the rest of
[342]
the panels keep on working which isn't
[344]
always true of other types of inverters
[347]
so all of our solar panels are on the
[348]
roof and there has to be a way to get
[349]
the power from the roof into the house
[352]
we do that with something called a roof
[353]
junction box we have to drill a small
[356]
hole in the roof
[359]
and normally this would be enough if you
[360]
have attic space but in this particular
[362]
building we do not so we're going to
[363]
drill a bigger hole fish the wire
[365]
through the wall and pull it up through
[367]
the top the bigger hole is still fine
[369]
though because the roof junction box
[371]
once we seal it up with that clear
[372]
sealant we'll make sure no water runs
[374]
inside the shingles just fit down over
[376]
the flashing and no water will be able
[378]
to get into the attic space
[380]
so the cable that connects all of the
[382]
micro inverters together is called a
[384]
trunk cable this is what brings the
[385]
power from the micro inverters down to
[387]
the roof junction box so the trunk cable
[390]
is laid down inside of the rail we've
[392]
put some electrical tape over the
[393]
connection and then we just zip tie the
[395]
whole thing to keep it secure
[398]
so remember every house is going to be a
[400]
little bit different but this is the
[401]
exterior roof junction box and we have
[404]
the yellow wire running through inside
[406]
the attic space all of these wires were
[409]
provided in my kit but we need to switch
[411]
from the yellow insulated wire which is
[413]
indoor wire to exterior wire when we're
[415]
running it through the conduit this gray
[418]
stuff down along the side of the house
[419]
this junction box is where we're going
[421]
to start feeding the exterior wire down
[423]
through there and then into the breaker
[425]
panel so since these trunk cables are
[427]
generic they're probably not cut to
[429]
length just yet and so we're just going
[431]
to chop it where we need it and remove
[433]
the extra plugs then we can take these
[435]
two trunk cables inside of this junction
[437]
box and connect it to the insulated
[439]
yellow wires down to our exterior
[441]
junction box on the wall so we're just
[444]
about to start laying panels and because
[445]
of how many panels are on this roof i
[447]
have to have two arrays which means that
[450]
there's two trunk cables coming into
[451]
this junction box you might be wondering
[454]
what we've done down here on this
[455]
section of roof and it's because we can
[458]
fit more panels if we run them
[459]
horizontally so we've laid the rails out
[461]
in a different way and that just shows
[463]
that no matter what your roof looks like
[465]
we can always orient the panels to most
[467]
utilize the space so this copper wire
[470]
right here
[471]
is called a system ground and it's tied
[473]
into each one of these rails with little
[475]
spikes and clips so if any electrical
[477]
anomalies like faulting or lightning
[480]
happens it'll just transfer the
[481]
electricity right into the ground
[483]
heading down to the junction box so
[485]
let's talk about setting the solar
[486]
panels and wire management for a second
[488]
right now we have three panels in place
[491]
and a fourth one right here ready to
[492]
snap in each solar panel has two wires
[495]
on the back that plug into the micro
[496]
inverter the micro inverter can hold
[498]
four panels at a time then it runs down
[501]
the trunk cable all the way to the roof
[503]
junction box down there at the end the
[505]
dc wires are at one end of the panel so
[507]
we're running the wire end down the
[509]
center line so they can easily plug into
[511]
the micro inverters that we have placed
[513]
on the rail remember that none of these
[515]
wires can be touching the roof so there
[517]
are little eyelets at the bottom that we
[518]
can zip tie the wires to we can also
[521]
twist them together a little bit to make
[523]
sure that nothing is touching the
[524]
shingles before we plug them in so this
[526]
little guy right here is called the mid
[528]
clamp this is what clips into the rail
[529]
and holds a panel on either side
[535]
there's a myth going around that solar
[537]
panels aren't very green because of how
[539]
much energy it takes to produce them in
[540]
the first place and that's also not
[542]
necessarily true depending on where the
[544]
solar panels are manufactured it takes
[546]
anywhere from six months to three years
[548]
for a solar panel to offset the carbon
[551]
it took to make it in the first place
[552]
which isn't very much time considering
[554]
how long its life span is another perk
[556]
of the panels that came in my solar
[558]
wholesale kit is that they are black on
[560]
black no silver frames and something to
[563]
think about when you're picking out
[564]
panels i got the black ones so they
[566]
blend into the roof a bit more another
[568]
perk of having the micro inverters is
[569]
that the system is totally modular we
[571]
can add panels or take away panels as
[573]
much as we want and we don't have to
[575]
worry about the junction box or like
[576]
limiting our system to a certain size
[578]
when we set it up the first time it can
[580]
always be expanded the nice thing about
[582]
the snap and rack system is that every
[584]
fastener on this project is either a
[585]
phillips head screw or a half inch
[587]
sprocket which makes the installation go
[589]
pretty quick because you're not looking
[590]
for all kinds of tools so now we have
[592]
our solar panels installed we've left
[594]
our rails a bit long to give ourselves a
[595]
bit of leeway and now we can just cut
[597]
them off
[601]
so these in-clamps basically slide into
[603]
the channel and then when we tighten
[605]
this bolt right here at the end it snugs
[607]
it up tight and holds the panel in place
[612]
then these plastic end caps snap on to
[614]
keep everything looking aesthetic from
[616]
the ground
[618]
[Music]
[619]
[Applause]
[621]
[Music]
[623]
all right so let me tell you what's
[624]
going on electrically here for a second
[626]
we actually haven't connected the wires
[628]
yet this is the panel that's powering
[629]
the house we're in right now and we've
[631]
drilled a hole through the panel to the
[633]
outside and then these two boxes out
[635]
here that we just installed are going to
[637]
take the power from the solar panels on
[639]
the roof bring them into this box
[641]
combine all the panels and then head
[643]
over here to the solar disconnect which
[645]
can actually disconnect all of the power
[647]
from the solar panels heading into the
[649]
house it's a safety thing
[651]
when working with the wires in the
[652]
electrical part of the solar system
[654]
remember to one follow local cold nb
[656]
follow your plan set it'll explain
[658]
everything you need to know so we have
[659]
the larger array up here the smaller
[661]
array down here at the bottom and
[663]
they're all connected in this joiner box
[665]
here in the center all the wires from
[667]
the roof and this side panel over here
[669]
feed into this and you can see these
[671]
ground wires these copper wires that
[673]
were attached to the rails all those are
[676]
heading down to the breaker box which
[678]
i'll show you in a second now we can
[680]
tuck all these wires inside the box and
[682]
close it up so down here in the breaker
[685]
box this is what's accepting the two
[687]
strings that i have
[688]
each of the strings has their own 20 amp
[690]
breaker black and red go in the bottom
[692]
and the ground goes over here on the
[694]
side
[694]
so remember there's two kinds of solar
[696]
system there's grid tied and off grid we
[698]
installed a grid tied system here which
[700]
means that the solar panels need to
[702]
sense the grid before they start
[704]
supplying power to my house if those
[707]
micro inverters up top don't sense power
[709]
from the grid they're going to stay off
[710]
so i can touch these wires all i want
[712]
because we're not attached to the grid
[714]
yet if you want an off-grid system
[715]
there's a few other components you need
[716]
to install and maybe i'll make a video
[718]
about that later but this is all about
[720]
grid tied if you do want to use your
[722]
solar panels when the city power goes
[723]
out you would need a battery or a
[725]
generator it's pretty cool that all of
[727]
those solar panels just come down into
[729]
these six wires makes it pretty simple
[732]
and now we're gonna connect that breaker
[733]
panel to the solar disconnect with this
[735]
thicker gauge wire
[737]
and it should just uh go through the
[739]
hole and we can wire it up
[741]
now we're gonna take the same thickness
[743]
of wire and push it through to the
[745]
breaker panel on the other side of the
[747]
wall so this is still not connected
[749]
inside of the house so no power is
[751]
running to it from the panels up top or
[753]
from the grid basically this safety shut
[755]
off is called a knife blade switch so
[757]
right now it's connected and watch these
[759]
metal bars right here when i turn it off
[761]
the metal bars knife away and break the
[764]
connection and remember since this is a
[766]
grid tied system once those micro
[768]
inverters up top stop sensing the power
[770]
they turn off and there's no power
[771]
running anywhere in the solar system so
[773]
up to this point we haven't been working
[775]
with any live wires this is the part
[777]
where we start working in a place where
[779]
there could be power now we have shut
[782]
off power to this particular panel but
[784]
if you're feeling a little uneasy about
[785]
working next to live power you know the
[787]
grid you can always hire someone to do
[789]
this particular portion for you if you
[791]
remember these three wires are coming in
[793]
from that safety shut off outside and we
[795]
have an empty slot in the breaker panel
[797]
where we're just going to connect these
[798]
wires one into the ground and then the
[801]
other two into the breaker which
[802]
connects the solar on my house to the
[805]
grid and now my solar wires are
[807]
connected to the breaker box
[810]
and the system is on
[812]
so we powered everything on it's
[813]
connected and working but i still need
[815]
to get my final inspection and have my
[817]
meter changed out so it'll read power
[819]
going both directions that whole process
[821]
will take me about a week or two but for
[823]
you guys that time has already passed my
[826]
meter is installed and we are pumping
[828]
out green energy the energy that i don't
[831]
use during the day flows out to the grid
[834]
this meter keeps track of it and then i
[835]
get that energy back at night as a 90
[838]
credit the energy company takes 10 off
[841]
the top because they can and they're
[843]
acting as my battery which is convenient
[845]
for me with an on-grid system
[847]
i'll show you what the app looks like in
[848]
a second the one that shows how much
[850]
solar i'm actually making in real time
[852]
but yeah the inspector came by checked
[854]
all the wiring made sure none of the
[855]
cables were touching the roof and said
[857]
we could flip the switch i think it's
[858]
been a pretty fun project since my
[860]
panels are in the sun all day long not
[862]
shaded by any trees or not on the wrong
[864]
side of the house these will pay
[866]
themselves off in about nine years
[868]
that's without any government incentives
[870]
now if we do factor in the state and
[872]
federal incentives they'll pay
[874]
themselves off in about six years so
[876]
these panels will keep making
[877]
electricity all throughout my lifetime
[879]
and keep producing power even long after
[881]
i'm gone which is pretty awesome
[883]
remember these are just ballpark numbers
[885]
that i've estimated i do have an app
[886]
that keeps track of everything for me so
[888]
i'll probably make a follow-up video in
[889]
about a year to see if my estimates are
[891]
correct so if we take a look at the app
[893]
that is currently on my phone it's
[894]
telling us in real time how much energy
[896]
we are generating so
[898]
7671 watts and then over the lifespan of
[902]
my solar panels they've generated 843
[905]
kilowatt hours and what's cool is we can
[907]
go into today's energy right here and
[910]
see exactly the solar projection that
[912]
it's made you can see here in the
[914]
morning the sun came out and we started
[916]
making more electricity throughout the
[917]
day if we go back a day we can see that
[920]
this day was pretty cloudless up until
[922]
about noon and then clouds kind of like
[925]
came over and started blocking the solar
[927]
panels a little bit but we still made 48
[929]
kilowatt hours of energy and the last
[931]
thing i want to show you is if we go
[933]
right here we can see the production per
[935]
module so as the day progresses you can
[937]
see which modules might be blocked by
[939]
shade from a tree or shade from your
[941]
roof and you can see that they're all
[943]
working the financial incentive to doing
[946]
solar panels is worth it all by itself
[948]
but the whole less air pollution and
[950]
saving the planet thing is pretty cool
[951]
too and that's it i will leave both
[954]
links down in the video description for
[955]
you the solar wholesale as well as the
[957]
tesla link both with their discount
[959]
codes and you can see which one works
[961]
best for you personally i kind of like
[963]
the do-it-yourself side of things but i
[964]
totally understand if you want someone
[966]
else to install it for you i'll always
[968]
be hanging out down in the comments to
[969]
answer some questions if you have any
[971]
and i'll probably make a follow-up video
[972]
in about a year or so to kind of update
[974]
you and see how it's uh see how it's
[976]
been producing for me so make sure
[978]
you're subscribed thanks a ton for
[979]
watching and i'll see you around
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