Solar Pergola Update

This is equal parts rant as well as update. And things are getting a bit sus with my solar installer.

The last post I made that mentioned work being performed by my solar installer was back in early December, a little over four months ago. At that time enough work was completed to where the system could be brought online (which it was and continues to be) but there are still a few things that they need to finish in order to truly call the system complete:

• Map the solar panel and microinverter locations in the Enphase app
• Finish cutting down the dead tree on the west side of my house
• Fix a malfunctioning inverter (I suspect it’s just a loose cable)
• Fix Enphase CT monitoring sensors so production/consumption figures are reported correctly

I’ve been making phone calls for nearly a month now trying to get people here to finish these things, and yeah I’m a bit beyond annoyed having to chase everyone down. I paid for a job under contract, the terms of the contract never changed, and there are no delays due to waiting on parts or materials. While I could finish cutting the tree down myself, the solar installer not only offered to do it for free (common practice from what I’ve seen) but they also plan to grind the stump down, and that last isn’t something I can do unless I rent a stump grinder. Fixing the CT sensors is also likely to be a super easy fix, whether that be reversing their polarity or clamping them onto another wire, but if there’s the possibility that my doing this could void any warranties, I want the installer to fix it.

As it stands the system is still functioning and none of what’s left on the to-do list will improve power production. Having said that, with it being spring now and pollen getting everywhere, I’m seeing build-up on the pergola panels and it’s not going anywhere since those are mounted flat. I’ll have to see if a garden hose nozzle is enough to loosen the build-up and force it off the sides of panels. If that fails … I might have to get creative.

But now to an unpleasant surprise: the roof leaks in numerous places. That’s just simply not cool. It’s not limited to a particular area either, so I’m guessing the rails that sit under the panels aren’t sealed very well to the roofing below. If it’s something more, it’s on my solar installer. But if we need to re-do the solar mount, I’ll see about doing a tilted array so the panels stay clean longer. As for the roof, I’ll have to see what they say. I have a feeling I’ll be in for a real fight though. sigh

I did pick up the stain for the pergola though since the plan was to have me supply that. I’ll go deeper into this in another post but in short I’ve got 12 gallons of it. The stain is also a water seal, so hopefully the warmer temperatures will come and hold steady long enough for the stain to cure so it can do its job and protect my fir-based investment.

Pray with me that this headache doesn’t turn into a migraine…