Hi All,
Newbie to the forum. I am planning to add solar power to my house and would like some advice regarding options with adding and inverter and/or EV charger to the garage/carport. The main switchboard is at the front of the house (townhouse) on the northern side, some 20m from the carport. Due to limited wallspace it is not possible to install a string inverter near the main switch, and no real alternatives on the side of the house. This is a townhouse so we only have access to one side, and half of that is the boundary wall with our neighbours so it cannot be used.
We currently have 2.5mm cabling between the house and the carport. This is currently underground below a garden bed, adjacent to a deck, and sitting above an underground watertank
For the solar system our options are to:
We are also considering installing an EVSE into the carport so even if we went down the micro inverter path I believe we'll still need to upgrade the cabling between the house and the carport.
This is a tradeoff between the additional costs for upgraded cabling, subpanel (if required) and a cheaper solar system with a string inverter vs a more expensive micro inverter solar system but a possibly lower cost upgrade of the power connection between the house and the carport. Is that correct to assume? Where do the largest costs lie in terms of upgrading the power connection? The distance from the rear of the house to the carport (through the garden, next to the deck, as I mentioned above) is about 5m.
Would happy to get some advice from others that have been down this sort of path before, or have better knowledge than I.
Thanks,
Jeff
Newbie to the forum. I am planning to add solar power to my house and would like some advice regarding options with adding and inverter and/or EV charger to the garage/carport. The main switchboard is at the front of the house (townhouse) on the northern side, some 20m from the carport. Due to limited wallspace it is not possible to install a string inverter near the main switch, and no real alternatives on the side of the house. This is a townhouse so we only have access to one side, and half of that is the boundary wall with our neighbours so it cannot be used.
We currently have 2.5mm cabling between the house and the carport. This is currently underground below a garden bed, adjacent to a deck, and sitting above an underground watertank
For the solar system our options are to:
- Install a string inverter in the carport
- Use micro inverters instead of a string inverter
We are also considering installing an EVSE into the carport so even if we went down the micro inverter path I believe we'll still need to upgrade the cabling between the house and the carport.
This is a tradeoff between the additional costs for upgraded cabling, subpanel (if required) and a cheaper solar system with a string inverter vs a more expensive micro inverter solar system but a possibly lower cost upgrade of the power connection between the house and the carport. Is that correct to assume? Where do the largest costs lie in terms of upgrading the power connection? The distance from the rear of the house to the carport (through the garden, next to the deck, as I mentioned above) is about 5m.
Would happy to get some advice from others that have been down this sort of path before, or have better knowledge than I.
Thanks,
Jeff
