We finished putting the PV panel mounting rails up last week and now have 12 panels mounted. The 30 panels will be configured in 3 strings of 10 panels in each row. The panels are in series (strings) so the voltages add. Typical voltage for these panels is 28 to 35 volts so in series each string will have between 280 and 350 volts going into the Sol-Ark inverter. The crew are myself in the red shirt and our daughter Laura. My wife Lynn is the photographer and will be in future photos.
The above photos show the conduit on the roof containing the solar panel wires. The conduit starts with a connector box at the upper string of 10 panels and continues down over the eve and into the shop to the inverter. There are 6 pairs of 10 AWG wires one pair for each string/row of panels. In each panel row the panel on the right + lead is connected to the panel on its left – lead. The end panel – and + leads are brought down through the conduit to the inverter for each string. The lower row of pictures above shows me at the inverter pulling the 6 PV panel wires plus a ground wire through the 1″ PVC conduit into the inverter. We color coded the wires with colored electrical tape for each PV panel row and marked each end as + or – to insure that we make the correct connections to the inverter.