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Solar panel damage? Question for somebody with knowledge of panels...

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Hi, they are installing solar panels on my roof, hoping to go live in a week or two. But today was the first day any panels were on the roof. (still have 4 more to go). My question is, is this panel damaged? Most of the panels look clean, but a few have hand prints, and this one has some sort of discoloration. They are telling me they will clean the panels at the end of the install and this is no problem, but sad to say you really can't trust any contractor 100% in my experience. Please reply if you have experience and knowledge of solar panels. Guesses are welcome too, but really hoping for someone with first-hand knowledge to reply.
solarpanel3.jpg
 
Depending on location it's not unusual for panels to get dirty during install. Look at the marks from an acute angle and you'll see if it's surface dirt then give it a wipe with a wet sponge; you'll know if it's under the top surface.

Ideally you are also installing some sort of monitoring system (not critical but ideal to have) which will show if any given panel is not producing properly.
 
I would assume it's okay. The panels can easily take the weight of a person on them, so I don't think that's a concern.

Looking at yesterday's pictures, I'm not a fan of the mounts they are using, because you really need to know what you're doing so you don't get leaks down the road.

Why do I say this?

It looks like your installer is using a simple aluminum flashing with a penetration to the rafter that's sealed with a roofing tar-like substance called Chemlink (hopefully not silicon). If it's not installed correctly, its going to leak. The alternative that I prefer would be to use a flashing like QuickMount PV, which diverts water away from the penetration.

Again, I'm not saying this is a problem. Good installers know how to make the penetrations watertight and last 25+ years. but since you raised some concern with other aspects of the installation, I thought I would mention it.
 
Looking at your other thread, you have Enphase 215 microinverters? Hopefully you also speced the Envoy monitoring system (worth the extra $500, IMO). It will let you monitor the output of each panel individually. If there's a weak panel it will be obvious.

I had a 20 panel system installed last month. Looking at lifetime generated power the weakest panel is 45.9 kWh, and the strongest 47.4 kWh.
 
Thanks. I was nervous, but not anymore. My panels went online today, and I've made 15 kwh so far (very cloudy today, naturally). That was a fantastic video on how strong the panels are. I had no idea.

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Looking at your other thread, you have Enphase 215 microinverters? Hopefully you also speced the Envoy monitoring system (worth the extra $500, IMO). It will let you monitor the output of each panel individually. If there's a weak panel it will be obvious.

I had a 20 panel system installed last month. Looking at lifetime generated power the weakest panel is 45.9 kWh, and the strongest 47.4 kWh.

No, I didn't specify it but I got it anyway! I have been watching it anxiously! They told me I'll get an email after the system has been working for about 48 hours, and I'll be able to log in and also use the apps for it.
 
They told me I'll get an email after the system has been working for about 48 hours, and I'll be able to log in and also use the apps for it.

I guess they set it up for you and that's why you don't have access yet? I have the same system, but I set up the envoy myself so I had full access from the beginning. I like the envoy website. They let you enable a public access where anyone can see (some) data on your system. Very helpful when friends and coworkers want to know more. I've had half the subdivision cruise down the alley looking at mine (I'm the first one to get solar).

Here's my public link:

Markus 5kW

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My panels went online today, and I've made 15 kwh so far (very cloudy today, naturally).

My 5 kW system makes 28-29 kWh on a good day in Dallas. You can expect your 6.6 kW system to produce about 38 kWh. Should have no problems keeping the Tesla topped off.

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Awesome!

Please consider joining pvoutput.org and joining the Tesla Owners team.

I'm on pvoutput but I never made it pull any data from the envoy site. It just says "this system has not recorded any data". Any ideas what's wrong? I followed their instruction and got a key from envoy but no go?
 
I'm on pvoutput but I never made it pull any data from the envoy site. It just says "this system has not recorded any data". Any ideas what's wrong? I followed their instruction and got a key from envoy but no go?

How long ago did you try? There have been some major changes to the Enphase interface with PVOutput in the past two months. Could you look again and see if there's a new error?
 
How long ago did you try? There have been some major changes to the Enphase interface with PVOutput in the past two months. Could you look again and see if there's a new error?

Huh. I clicked around in my settings, didn't really change anything and suddenly it managed to do a pull. There's some magic involved there somehow.

Also managed to import a CSV file with my old data.

Markus 5kW 5.000kW
 
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