Part numbers for all the widgets mentioned in the following steps can be found in the bill of materials.
Step 1: Verify the Condition of Your Roof!
Don't do what I did and wait until the day before to closely inspect the condition of the roof. I had to delay the solar panel installation by a day to re-roof the shed. Fortunately, the shed roof required only 8 bundles of shingles, and I had a friend with a roofing nailer (Thanks, Eric!).
Step 2: Envoy Ethernet Gateway
If you purchased the Envoy Ethernet Gateway, now is the time to plug it in. Plug it into a receptacle near the breaker panel and attach it to your home network. Use the included powerline Ethernet adapters if a network drop is not nearby.
When powered up, the LCD should display its IP Address. Remember it. You will need it later.
Step 3: Racking System
Following the steps in the Ironridge XRL Installation Manual, bolt the rack to the roof. Some installers use a piece of metal flashing between each L-Foot and the shingles, while some installers do not. Instead of using a piece of flashing, I applied a generous amount of Roofing Sealant under and around each L-Foot.Each L-Foot must be screwed into an underlying roof truss with a 3" lag screw. Note that finding the locations of each roof truss can be the tricky part. I was fortunate that my shed has a ridge vent and the previous re-roofing step required that I temporarily remove it. While the vent was removed, I was able to see and then mark the location of each truss.
Step 4: Microinverters and Engage Cabling
Following the steps in the Enphase M215 Installation Manual, attach the Engage Cable to the rack. Use enough cable management clips to keep the cable from touching the roof. Now bolt each microinverter to the rack and then plug it into the Engage cable. Mount an outdoor rated junction box to the rack and route the Engage cable into it. Lastly, tie everything together with a #6 solid copper ground wire.Lastly, write down the serial number of each micro-inverter and its physical location in the array. You will need this later.
Step 5: AC Disconnect Switch
Mount the AC Disconnect Switch. In my case, Ameren had to pre-approve the location. Barring any unusual circumstances the location is most likely going to be right next to your electric meter. Mount any required singnage at this time as well.In my case, the disconnect switch will disconnect power to both the shed and the solar panels mounted on top of the shed.
I wired the disconnect switch during this step. However, you may have to wait until the next step to wire your own disconnect if your design differs from mine.
Step 6: AC Wiring
Install the circuit breaker in the panel and pull a heavy guage wire from the panel to the junction box previsouly mounted to the solar rack. I used 10/3 Romex with ground. You may need to pass this wire through the AC Disconnect if your design differs from mine.Make sure your wiring follows NEC and local codes. Use watertight conduit if the cable passes to the exterior.
Now make your terminations inside the junction box. The wiring should be straightforward. Wire nut the ground wires together, then the white wires, then the red wires, and then the black wires.
Step 7: Mount the Solar Panels
At this point everything, except for the panels themselves, should be pre-wired and both the circuit breaker and AC disconnect should be in the OFF position.You are going to need a helper in for this step. These panels a slippery little devils!
Lay the first solar panel on the rack. Vertically center the panel to the rack rails next to the junction box. As you lay the solar panel down, connect the wires from the panel to the micro-inverter. The plugs are keyed such that you cannot plug them in wrong.
Verify the panel is precisely parallel to the rack. It is important to get this right the first time. If the panels are not parallel by even a fraction of an inch, it will become highly noticeable by the time you mount the third or fourth panel. I had to learn this the hard way, and in hindsight I wonder if there isn't some method or tool that can help align these things more precisely.
Once the panel is aligned to the rack and wired to the micro-inverter, clamp it down using the Ironridge clamps. Now repeat this process until all your panels are mounted.
Step 8: Verify it Works
Your system should now be fully assembled and ready to go.
Flip the circuit breaker and the AC Disconnect to the ON position. Now go get your laptop, tablet, or other network device and point a web browser to the IP address of the Enovy. Take a minute to become familiar with the interface and configure a non-default administrator password.
Once familiar, find the option to begin a scan for new inverters. It is under the Administration menu. This process took about an hour to find just four. Speed is not a feature of these devices. Once the Envoy has found the devices, it should start recording power generated on the LCD screen of the Envoy. Now go to the Enphase Enlighten website, create a free account, and then build your virtual array. You will need the micro-inverter serial numbers recorded earlier. You can view my solar array by clicking here.
Step 9: Final Paperwork
Schedule a final inspection by your local authority. Once it passes inspection, complete Ameren's Certificate of Completion and submit that along with your inspection documentation.
You should be contacted by Ameren to schedule an installation time for your bidirectional meter.
