There are several retailers on the web, all a lot cheaper than buying locally. I bought mostly from Online Solar. Googling to your hearts content will suggest other vendors. Online Solar turned out to be a sales organization, actual order fulfillment was done by Sunwize (a big wholesaler). The equipment was shipped on two pallets; shipping on the boat from California was about $400. Online Solar was the cheapest for the big stuff but not very good at details, I bought some of the small stuff elsewhere as shown below. There are lots of links to sales pages below, some may have become stale; sorry.

I could have bought a kit, but the configuration wasn’t exactly (!) what I wanted. So I bought the following components:

Panels

Ten Sanyo HIP 200. These panels have two attached interconnect (MC) cables (1 male, 1 female) so no need for extra interconnect cables between panels. I notice that panel prices seem to fluctuate by almost 10%, I was lucky with my timing.

Inverter

One Xantrex GT 3.0

Mounting hardware

Four pairs of rails, and four boxes of 10 ‘H’ style (web page for H style clamps is missing, following link is broken, part number is 320046) clamps . I bought mounting rails that were longer and more clamps than I actually initially needed with the idea that in the not too distant future I may add more panels.

Cables

I also needed 4 MC Output cables (1 male and 1 female for each string) these have an MC connector at one end and a Strain Relief and no connector at the other end. MC is an abbreviation for ‘Multi Contact’, and are special cables for PV interconnection. These are used to connect each PV string output to the combiner box. Be certain to buy cables long enough for the panel and combiner box layout.

Because of the physical layout of my panels I also needed 2 MC cables to extend the MC cables attached to 2 of the solar panels (at the bottom connecting each column).

Also a Combiner Box connects the PV panel MC output cables to the DC cable running to the inverter. The box contains fuse holders and fuses.

AC Disconnect

I also needed a fused AC Disconnect Switch Box (DG221NRB) (fused because I had no extra slots in the breaker box). This is available at HPM, Home Depot, etc.

Wire, etc.

The electrical contractor provided wire and conduit to connect between the Combiner Box, the Inverter, the AC Disconnect Switch, and the main breaker.

A ‘How To’ for Grid-Tie PV on the Big Island of Hawaii

[Home / Overview] [Background] [PV System Design] [Equipment Purchase] [Installation] [Sunlight Estimate] [Generating Power] [Legal] [Contacts]

Equipment Purchase