00:00So this week I managed to fit a solar carport in my backyard and it is massive and this one
00:06is made by Chico and this one's designed to fit two cars underneath it and up on top we have
00:1124 panels and with bifacial gain it can output a little over 12,000 watts.
00:17Now when you see the marketing material for this thing you think it's a cute little carport but when you
00:22build it it is absolutely massive.
00:25Also it's surprisingly cheap and the larger the carport the cheaper it gets.
00:30If you get a single carport it's pretty expensive compared to other racking options and this right here is a
00:35two car carport but if you buy a three or four car carport the prices are cheaper than other options
00:41on the market which is crazy because it's freaking huge like look at this thing.
00:46Now building this thing was pretty tricky and you're gonna have to have a team of people to do it
00:50and for mine I use some footings that are three foot tall and they go two feet into the ground.
00:55Make sure you consult a real engineer and get a permit and do it properly.
01:00Some people slap these on their driveway with four inch slabs and I would never do that but some people
01:05are and I wanted to lift it up pretty high off the ground.
01:09That would improve the bifacial gain it would lift it up out of the way especially next to this large
01:13garage door and it would reduce shading from my metal building.
01:17So I asked my contractor and he recommends going down two feet with rebar and then three feet the rebar
01:23comes all the way up to here and the studs were set into the concrete.
01:27So this thing is super strong but it took a few days to build this and it cost a few
01:32thousand dollars unfortunately.
01:34But once these were done we could start building.
01:36Now mounting the main structure was super simple and with three guys we could do it in two hours.
01:41First you put the vertical beams.
01:44Next we mounted all of these horizontal beams with the scissor lift.
01:49Next we mounted the horizontal beams and these are called the C channels because they're shaped like a C going
01:55this way.
01:55Next I had to build these on the ground and add these brackets and these are called the M rail
02:00because it's shaped like an M.
02:02And then we mounted the panels one by one and that was not easy.
02:07Now for this step you absolutely want to rent a scissor lift because you have to bring each panel up
02:12one by one and then you use these brackets to secure everything down.
02:17Now to make your life a million times easier take an M rail and then mount the solar panels on
02:22the ground for the first one.
02:24As long as the first one is set up properly all the other panels go on pretty easily.
02:29Now yesterday when we installed the panels we did the low side row first.
02:33And once that was all lined up we moved to the second, third, and then the fourth.
02:37Now with this model with this many solar panels if you're using it with most hybrid inverters you want it
02:42around 400 or 500 volts.
02:45And with 24 panels we can make two strings of 12 panels.
02:49And even in cold temperatures that won't exceed 500 volts.
02:52And the max input voltage limit on my hybrid inverter is 600 volts.
02:57So this is perfect to connect to two MPPTs.
03:00Now the M channel that connects to the solar panel brackets that's where all the rain collects and then it
03:06comes down to the end over here.
03:08But vertically where the panels come together from the high to the low side there's a crack.
03:13And you can see the light coming through between my panels.
03:16And the company supplies some rubber stripping so this is supposed to seal between those.
03:20But they told me it's a lot easier just to apply silicon after.
03:23Now when it comes to wiring the system you're pretty much on your own.
03:27So for me because my system's over here next to this corner I'm going to add conduit to this and
03:33then I'm going to run the conductors over there.
03:35Now what's really cool about this system is there's not much wasted space.
03:39If you have an integral rack on the ground you cannot use that ground.
03:43But with this you can put cars underneath here or whatever you wish.
03:47Next it's easier to maintain so if one of the solar modules breaks you can swap it out in minutes.
03:53Next it's very hard for pigeons to nest underneath it.
03:56I had a pigeon problem on my grid tie array and it was awful.
04:00But with this one you can't have pigeons underneath here because you just have the solar panel and nothing.
04:05Which also increases the bifacial gain.
04:07You don't get bifacial gain when you mount these on top of a roof.
04:10Next if you already have a solar system this is very easy to add.
04:14And a lot of people have a driveway so you just throw this up and wire it to your system.
04:19Next because it's just a carport it's pretty easy to permit.
04:23But a lot of people are not permitting it.
04:25I heard that they're putting it into slabs without footings.
04:28I would never do that in a million years.
04:30But a lot of people are.
04:32Now if you live in the desert like I do a lot of people spend lots of money for shades.
04:36But you'll notice that the cost of this thing compared to those is pretty comparable.
04:41So you might as well just throw some solar panels and get this one.
04:45Also it's huge.
04:46You could easily put a jacuzzi underneath it.
04:48You don't have to use it as a carport.
04:51Next it looks cool.
04:52Look at this thing.
04:53It is so big and it looks amazing.
04:56I have zero plans taking this thing down.
04:59Next let's talk about the cons.
05:01So first off the self-tapping screws are awful.
05:03Don't even attempt to use them.
05:05Buy your own.
05:06Next the marketing needs work.
05:08If you look at the pictures online you're like okay that's kind of neat.
05:12But in person it is incredible.
05:14It is completely different than the pictures.
05:16They also sell a heavier duty one that can go up to 185 mile per hour wind rating.
05:22But for most people this is plenty strong.
05:24I don't think anyone watching this needs more than this unless you're in a hurricane prone area.
05:29But it's hard to tell the difference.
05:31So be sure to read and check the prices because this one is a lot cheaper.
05:35The other one is called the Maximo and it costs quite a bit more.
05:38It's almost double the cost of this.
05:40Also these things used to be like $20,000 for this many solar panels a couple years ago.
05:46Now it's only a little over $5,000 which is crazy.
05:49Next when you build this thing you need a scissor lift and you need multiple people.
05:54This is not easy to build on your own.
05:57You need help.
05:58And never would I attempt this with a ladder.
06:00You need an actual scissor lift and you can rent them for the day for very cheap.
06:04Next this whole kit comes in a large metal frame box and it is awfully big.
06:10It's super heavy and super hard to move.
06:13I used a pallet jack and a table lift and I rolled it into my backyard.
06:18Now the box that it comes with is made out of square tubing and it's very large and very heavy.
06:23So what I did is I chopped it up into sections and I gave it to my neighbors.
06:28You can build tables out of it.
06:29You can make a firewood holder.
06:31All sorts of stuff.
06:33You can get pretty creative but you have to do something with that thing and it's huge.
06:36Next you need to contact the company before you start building it because you have to measure everything so the
06:42solar panels align properly.
06:44If not you're going to have a nightmare of an installation.
06:47So make sure you call them up and ask.
06:49Next the manual you're going to want to print that thing out and study it for a few hours.
06:54You want to know every step of this install.
06:56It's simple but you need to do it right.
06:59And I think the hardest part besides the concrete is installing the panels.
07:02If everything's lined up properly it's very easy but it's still difficult getting those things up that high with a
07:08scissor lift.
07:09It's even harder if you're going to use a ladder.
07:12So please rent a scissor lift.
07:13It will be worth every single penny I promise.
07:16And that's pretty much it for this video.
07:18I'm going to make more videos on this but I wanted to give a general overview and pros and cons.
07:22Just to give you an idea of what it's like to have this thing.
07:25For me I freaking love it.
07:28Look how cool it is.
07:29It is so big and it looks amazing.
07:32You could put a hammock underneath there.
07:34You could put a jacuzzi.
07:35You could put a truck.
07:36You could put anything.
07:37So yeah I'm pretty excited.
07:39And the output of this thing is going to be incredible with that bifacial gain.
07:43And there's no shading.
07:44It's going to take all of the sun without any shading from any of the buildings around it.
07:49Most people won't have to lift it up as much as I did but I like the benefits of doing
07:53that.
07:53It makes it more usable.
07:55And it makes it look more cool but you have to use the appropriate size footings.
07:59You have to get signed off with an engineer if you want to do that.
08:02And once it's built properly you can leave it there for decades.
08:05So do it right the first time.
08:07I hope you guys like this video and there's more to come.
08:09I'll see you later.
08:10Bye.
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