Solar Installation Photos For The Good Solar Guide

These pictures accompany Step 7, Page 188-189 of my book: The Good Solar Guide

They are good and bad examples of installations.

Inverter Installation

Inverters and isolators should be protected from lengthy exposure to direct sunlight.

Bad (this inverter is on the north wall):

Any outside, wall-mounted isolators should not have any electrical conduit entries from the top.

Bad (there are top entries on isolators that are on an outside wall):

Good (no top entries to the isolators):

The cables going into the inverter should be neat and secured so they can’t be pulled or caught.

Good: see previous picture - short, tight cable loops.

Bad (long and unsecured cable):

All open conduits should be sealed with a gland, not silicone.

Bad (conduit bunged up with silicone):

Good (end of conduit sealed with proper cable gland):

Panel Installation

The panels should be neatly lined up and level.

Bad (edges of panels are not lined up):

Good (looks fantastic):

Any excess rails should be trimmed.

Bad: (Installer has placed the feet badly and now cannot trim the rail neatly):

Good (trimmed 20-30mm from end of panel):

Ideally, no panels should be overhanging or less than 200mm from the edge of the roof (check the racking instructions if you need to go close to the edge).

Bad (panels right up to the crest of the roof):

Good (plenty of space between the edge of the panels and the edge of the roof):

Any cables between panel arrays should not be via an ugly, sun-exposed electrical conduit. They should ideally be through the roof cavity.

Bad (cable from array to array in conduit on top of roof):

Good (any inter-array cabling is hidden):

The solar panel clamps should be in ‘clamping zones’ - as defined by the panels' installation manual.

Good (see previous - clamps are within about 300mm of top and bottom of panels).

Bad (top clamp is in the middle of the panel - risking flexing and cracking of the panel in the wind):

If your quote and design assumed no shading, your panels should be unshaded throughout the day.

Bad (this photo taken at midday - huge losses) :

All rooftop isolators should be shielded from the sun.

Bad (no isolator cover):

Good (isolator cover):

Any tilt-racking legs should usually be at right angles to the panels for maximum strength.

Good (legs are approximately at right angles to the panel):

Bad (legs are vertical):

Photos from:

• Crap Solar Facebook Group
• Quality Solar Facebook Group
• Finn's personal collection