Help with grid tie system design

A good friend of mine is taking advantage of local government incentives to install a grid tie system to his house. He will be on net metering so doesn't require batteries or a charger right now. If I design and install his system for him he will give me some panels which I can use to power my off grid home. I don't have access to the government incentives because I'm not grid tied, so this will be my chance to get into more solar than my 2 40w RV panels and hopefully stop running the generator all the time.

He has 20 480w panels he got a good deal on. I need to choose an inverter and deside how to wire the system. These are the panels:

I would begin by talking with whoever will be buying the electricity.  They may have complete plans available.  Also, you may want to check with the local officials providing the grant.  The requirements may extend well beyond what is needed for the grid tie in.

He has submitted a partial plan to the power company. They allow you to design and install your own system as long as they approve the design. They want a wiring diagram and the specs for the panels and inverter.

If I wire the panels in 2 banks of 10 series for 480 volts I think I can use this inverter:

What do you think?

R Webber wrote:He has submitted a partial plan to the power company. They allow you to design and install your own system as long as they approve the design. They want a wiring diagram and the specs for the panels and inverter.

If I wire the panels in 2 banks of 10 series for 480 volts I think I can use this inverter:

What do you think?

That is a battery based off grid inverter not meant for net metering. The solar power store which distributes that inverter can help you design a system. I do my own designs but I do buy from them sometimes.

You may want to contact MWANDS … Missouri Wind And Solar.  I find them to be very helpful, even if it doesn’t involve a sale.

R Webber wrote:He has submitted a partial plan to the power company. They allow you to design and install your own system as long as they approve the design. They want a wiring diagram and the specs for the panels and inverter.

If I wire the panels in 2 banks of 10 series for 480 volts I think I can use this inverter:

What do you think?

Using their available equipment you would probably choose the solar edge for straight net metering or the Sol Ark for a net metering with batteries.

Don't most modern grid tie systems use micro inverters?

J Hillman wrote:Don't most modern grid tie systems use micro inverters?

Some use microinverters, some use maximizers at each panel, some use high voltage strings. It usually depends if it's ground mounted or roof mounted and local regulations.

The data sheet for the inverters that it only output 6000W and the name of the inverter is 6000XP, but the solar panel array is 9600W (20*480W).
The inverter MPPT operates at 120VDC to 385VDC so I would put 250VDC (5panels each at 50V) on each MPPT string.
Do you plan on getting two of those 6000W inverters for the ~10kW solar array


Seeing as how you like this brand I recommend getting this 10,000W model that they offer.
https://luxpowertek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/LXP-LB-US-8-10K-datasheet.pdf

Then you can do the 4strings each with 5panels
https://luxpowertek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/LXP-LB-US-8-10k-Usermanual-8.15.pdf