Add Panels on Steel Tech Shed

ah, wouldnt worry.

K2 micro rails are the easiest install ever. The self tapping screws have a built in rubber washer that ensures water proofing. This is also the cheapest possible way to mount panels. So not only DIY friendly, but also giving the shortest possible pay back time.

A well timed thread. I was planning similar but didn't get as far as looking at rails, except I spotted this on watuneed.

I presume that these shed based systems will be on microinverters?

For sound proofing and some extra insulation against moisture, I put tecsound heavy insulation on the ceiling of my steeltech basic spec office shed and it's 7kg/m2. No issues with it since. ( https://www.soundinsulation.ie/product/tecsound-sy70-for-stud-walls/ )

I was thinking about this too... and the skeletal structure looks fairly strong so I doubt it'd cause issue with the 20kg of the panel attached to that?What about the panels causing a racket and noise with the rain, or possible leaks?

I like that - respect.

Good stuff. Make sure that there's no water ingress onto that wood. Last thing you want is over a few years for the wood to rot and then it becomes brittle and a good wind takes the lot away. Bolts are better (if that's an option)

Sounds like you got it covered. I was also paranoid with my own DIY installation for water egress. Like you my shed roof is very accessible and I don't mind popping up to check it, but at the same time want to get decades out of it.

I am as happens wondering if I should open more ventilation along with adding the panels. it seems the only current ventilation is at the eaves, some at the ridge would be better as its an oven in the summer. but probably best putting a vent in each gable end.

I hate to bring it up, but how are people dealing with earthing, or more precisely equipotential bonding, on sheds with micro-inverters? I'm not an electrician, but I'd be of the opinion that the shed needs to be bonded to the CPC/earth on the AC feed cable, but that there may be instances where the shed requires a local earth.

The risks of getting this wrong and having a cable fault and short to the shed or to the mounting hardware far outweigh the gains, hence I'm asking.

I ran 6 sq swa cable out to the microinverters, used that to earth the frame of the shed. Between the swa and the 6 sq earth it should be more than adequate. Having a low enough earth loop impedance is the critical factor here so your overcurrent device will trip in the required time in the event of a fault. Each panel is bonded, as is the metal sheeting under the timber frame. The mounting rails should also be connected.

Well, this is part of my question, specifically for microinverters.

I think that the metal of the shed is considered to be an extraneous-conductive-part and needs to be earthed (ie, parts of it connected with 10mm2 earthing cable), but that the metal support frame for the solar panels, where the microinverters are installed to and the AC cable clipped to, would need to be bonded back to the SWA and CPC.

I had a look at the specific microinverters I am using (enphase m215). They don't have a dedicated ground attachment, and their product sheet says they have integrated ground.. so do not need separate grounding. They've ground fault protection also. They do say that by code, the panels and rails should still be grounded, I think the same applies whether microinverters are used or not. So, I'll stick with the earth in the ac cable for the inverters , and add a separate ground for the shed frame.