Running an array big enough to sell power back to the utility is usually out of reach for a DIY budget, but the maker pulled off a 40kW ground-mounted build and just got the interconnect approved. The system is roughly three times the maker's household consumption, and with 1:1 net metering in place for now, the utility pays for whatever extra the panels push out. A first half day of output in October came to 107kWh, which is a promising start.
The hardware choices look deliberate. Eighty Waaree B grade 590W bifacial panels sit on a Sinclair sky rack ground mount, and four Solis S6 high voltage hybrid inverters hang on a garage wall. The maker drilled the footings with a 2ft auger on a skid steer, braced the vertical posts plumb with wooden 2x4s, and picked the racking up straight from the factory for around 11k. Panels came to $10,400 through a reseller that buys truckloads at auction, and the inverters ran about 7k delivered, saving a couple thousand versus buying elsewhere.
What stands out to me is the homework. The maker worked through a free copy of the 2023 NEC for trench depths, conduit fill and wire ampacity, dug into a local publication covering county and utility solar rules, and sized everything at 125% of load since solar counts as a continuous load. Behind the inverters, thin drywall got a layer of cement board added for isolation. All in, the project lands around 35-40k once wire, conduit, permits and fees are counted, with payback projected at 5-6 years.
Two things remain open. There is no battery yet, though one may be added soon, and tall trees on either side shave a couple of hours of production off mornings and evenings.