I got a chance to do just a little tiny bit of solar experimenting.
I got a couple of used Enphase m215 micro-inverters that a friend dug up in an electronics junkyard.
I tried hooking one up to test it. I WAS able to get the inverter to power on, but NOT produce power. The LED on the unit blinks to indicate that it is connected to grid power, but NOT communicating with the Envoy Communications Gateway. Of course it isn't! I don't have one of those yet!
I tried to find some information on whether or not the Envoy is REQUIRED to set up these micro-inverters. As best I can tell, IT DEPENDS. It's also completely possible that these inverters were set up for some voltage range a little different than what I have at my house, and need to be re-programmed before they can be used.
The other thing I realized (after the fact) is that all three of these inverters aren't the same. Two of them have H4 connectors on them, and one has MC4 Connectors. The solar panels have MC4 connectors. These two different styles of connectors ARE compatible, but they use different DISCONNECT TOOLS.
Solar equipment nowadays is required to have locking connectors on it. With micro-inverters, the DC voltage is only as high as the individual solar panel - about 30VDC nominal. However, a series-string of panels COULD be several hundred volts DC. So, a locking connector makes sense for safety.
But this also means that I can't just unhook the inverter from the solar panel! I already had a removal tool for MC4, but NOT for H4!
I took two photos to show the difference between these two connectors. Notice at the red arrows that the MC4 connector is open, but the H4 connector has tabs across the same area. Also, although they look the same, the connectors are two different widths at that point.
Because I am planning on using Enphase micro-inverters anyways, I figure I'll just order the Envoy communications gateway. That way, I can experiment more with these used units, and I'll be ready when I buy my real inverters.
I also have an H4 Removal tool coming as well.
The last few days, I've been under the weather AND working some really weird hours (3AM on a Sunday!) However, my Dad and my Brother stopped over while I was out to get started on plywooding the interior of the garage.
They were using a drywall lift for pushing the wood up to the ceiling and hold it in place while it was screwed to the ceiling. We got a little less than half the garage interior done. Part of the reason for stopping is to leave things open enough for the blow-in insulation to go in still.
Once the plywood interior is done, we can do the garage doors. I've already ordered those. Those are 2" thick urethane foam-filled double-wall steel doors.
So, next up - Blow-In Insulation. After that, more plywood, then garage doors.