# Forum Home Renovation Solar Electrical Systems  relocate Solar Panels temporary

## vimfoong

Hi 
I have 6 solar panesl installed 2 years ago.  I am in the process of demolishing my house and build a new double storey house.  My initial ideal is to remove it temporary and reinstall it later on my new house. I did enquire with the company who deal with the panel but is too expensive ($50 f0r 1 panel on removing and did not mention how much for reinstallation).  Any suggestion what to do will be much appreciated.  Thank you. :Cry:

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## Smurf

If you are so inclined then there is nothing I'm aware of which preents a DIY removal of the physical parts provided that you get a licensed electrician to electrically disconnect the system first. 
The electrician will need to disconnect the mains power to the inverter at the switchboard and will also electrically disconnect the solar panels on the roof. Beyond that, you could DIY the physical removal of the system yourself if you like and this should save some $. It's all fairly obvious how it comes apart if you've got reasonable DIY skills and common tools. 
For re-installation it's definitely a job for a professional. No avoiding that and the law says so. No exceptions there. 
Warning - Simply disconnecting the mains power to the house and/or turning switches off is *NOT* sufficient to remove all power from the system. The DC voltage from the panels is more than sufficient to kill someone if not disconnected properly first. DIY removal of the physical parts is only an option *AFTER* a professional has electrically disconnected the inverter and panels first.

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## oldtrack123

> If you are so inclined then there is nothing I'm aware of which preents a DIY removal of the physical parts provided that you get a licensed electrician to electrically disconnect the system first. 
> The electrician will need to disconnect the mains power to the inverter at the switchboard and will also electrically disconnect the solar panels on the roof. Beyond that, you could DIY the physical removal of the system yourself if you like and this should save some $. It's all fairly obvious how it comes apart if you've got reasonable DIY skills and common tools. 
> For re-installation it's definitely a job for a professional. No avoiding that and the law says so. No exceptions there. 
> Warning - Simply disconnecting the mains power to the house and/or turning switches off is *NOT* sufficient to remove all power from the system. The DC voltage from the panels is more than sufficient to kill someone if not disconnected properly first. DIY removal of the physical parts is only an option *AFTER* a professional has electrically disconnected the inverter and panels first.

   
HI
PLEASE FOLLOW THE ABOVE ADVICE 
Do not attempt to disconnect your self 
YOU or some else could be killed   
PeterQ

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## phild01

Two things here that I see...advice to disconnect from mains...and the other less considered - systematically disconnection of each panel to reduce possible high voltage.  Panels in series delivering more than a lethal dose of around 50vdc or more and no rcd type protection.  Never done it before but just considering how these things are connected.  Correct me if I am mislead.

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## Bros

A lot more than 50V dc more like 10 times that. The panels are in series that is how the cable size is reduced and depending on how many in a string the inverters can accept up to 600v DC. Safest way is to remove them of a night time as they plug into each other.
I admit I am no great expert on solar

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## phild01

> A lot more than 50V dc more like 10 times that. The panels are in series that is how the cable size is reduced and depending on how many in a string the inverters can accept up to 600v DC. Safest way is to remove them of a night time as they plug into each other.
> I admit I am no great expert on solar

  Not sure if I was misunderstood but I was indicating that even a low dc voltage being lethal  and more so than ac.  I realise the voltages are going to be a lot higher from series connected panels.  Maybe wait for a full moon

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## Smurf

6 panels in series will have an open circuit voltage in the order of 260V depending on temperature. And DC is an entirely different beast in terms of safety to AC - apart from the shock risk, you sure don't want to start an arc with DC unless you really do plan on welding something, blinding yourself or setting it on fire. 
But if a professional disconnects the panels then you won't have anything electrically connected in series. You'll just have the individual panels with an open circuit voltage around 44V (assuming they're nominal 24V panels) and even then there's no actual exposed connection point - you'd have to try pretty hard to make electrical contact between yourself and the MC4 connectors. 
Simply handling panels doesn't pose an electrical safety risk provided that they are disconnected first. 
Disconnection will be simple if the panels are all side by side and accessible from the top. Electrician just reaches under and undoes the MC4 connectors. But if you have two+ rows then you may as well get them to do the whole removal job since they'll need to remove panels to disconnect them.

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## Bloss

AHH OLD POST - I'll get back in my box . . . 
If the OP is getting a NSW FiT and wants to keep getting it then needs to get a licensed electrician who is also CEC accredited to do the work - decommissioning and decommissioning. 
This involves disconnecting correctly from the panel arrays through the inverters to the meter and reconnecting - there is NO ROOM for any DIY here. 
In any case get some context: this is a revenue producing asset that will run for another 18-28 years and other give you a FiT payment until that scheme expires in 2016-17 or offset your power bills at the retail rate - at least give you a certain and fixed price for the power it generates! 
If it costs $1000 or so to remove & re-install so what! Just adds a little to the payback time is all - and you need it done so that all the work is insurance covered and that your system stays working -and make sure that it gets stored properly and safely - a CEC sparky should be able to provide some cartons for the panels too so they can be stored - they are glass remember and more importantly have quite fragile silicon cells inside that are subject to micro cracking and other damage of the frames are dropped or twisted or have something dropped on them. 
Just pay the money and do it right - compared to the choices in your new house such as bath fittings, paints, kitchen etc which are all sunk costs (i.e.: do not make you any money, but heavily depreciate!), in fact the whole building, the PV system is an investment - treat it as such!

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## oldtrack123

> Not sure if I was misunderstood but I was indicating that even a low dc voltage being lethal  and more so than ac.  I realise the voltages are going to be a lot higher from series connected panels.  Maybe wait for a full moon

  HI Phil
Sorry, but the above is not correct  
Voltage for voltage DC is far safer than AC from an electrical shock point of view  
This is very evident in the Standards where Extra low voltage is considered to be up to 120V ripple free DC or 50V AC & no licence is required  to work on such  
Individual solar panels will be no more than around 45V ripple free DC ,but as pointed out the total array voltage could be in the 500V range 
Of course the arcing potential is a totaly different matter. 
PeterQ

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## phild01

Yes, you are resurrecting what you said long ago.  I really don't wish to bring it all up again except to say pure DC can be as lethal as AC. Personally I wouldn't be fiddling with the DC output of a solar array.
Essentially, I stand corrected. Hopefully we can we just leave it at that.

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## Whitey180

> AHH OLD POST - I'll get back in my box . . . 
> If the OP is getting a NSW FiT and wants to keep getting it then needs to get a licensed electrician who is also CEC accredited to do the work - decommissioning and decommissioning.

  Actually all that is required is a normal electrician competent in doing solar work. I used to have my solar licence but couldn't see the worth in paying $1000 a year and having to jump through hoops and paperwork to hold the license.  Cut a long story short, the nice lady at the cec who was asking me for money eluded to the fact that you only need a licence to claim recs and lodge for rebates. Not to commission and decommission. I asked this because I wanted to still do maintenance on solar. Which I still legally can do even without having a solar licence. In Nsw anyways.    
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

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