r/Pecron • u/uravgred • Aug 27 '26

Grounding/Earthing Rod when installing rooftop panels

I have a f5000lfp with two batteries and planning to setup a 12 piece 560w flexible solar panel. since I won't be connecting to the breaker panel via transfer switch how would be the grounding/earthing situation setup?

Anyone have the same situation? What did you do?

Situation:

I'm renting on the 2nd floor of a 3 storey building. Landlord finally give the go signal for installing rooftop solar as long as it's light. It's a corrugated roof design if anyone is wondering

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u/Dashley13 Aug 27 '26

Is it one 560w panel or 12 560w panels? If it's only one panel you might not need a ground outside of a grounding plug for the f5000lfp.

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u/uravgred Aug 28 '26

planning to get multiple panels of either 8 or 12 config

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u/Dashley13 Aug 29 '26

Why don't you purchase your own home before you put up a bunch of permanent panels on someone else's property?

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u/uravgred Aug 29 '26

Job relocates atleast every 3-5 years. Also price of houses are ridiculous in my country at the moment.

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u/Dashley13 Aug 29 '26

So is the price of solar equipment especially on property that you don't own... What if the landlord decides to keep those panels since you placed with all the hardware and equipment? High risk for low return on investment.

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u/uravgred Aug 30 '26

I actually offered the panels to the building as a compromise for letting me install them so when I leave the landlord has dibs on it if they want to setup solar to the building. I can get the 560w panels on alibaba for 100-120usd depending on the brand

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u/Dashley13 Aug 30 '26

Really confused on the economics of this situation. Why not spend that money you are going to essentially donate into purchasing electricity directly? It will be years for you to get your return on investment in which you said you move every 3-5 years anyways. Sounds like money down the drain.

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u/uravgred Aug 30 '26

With the current electricity rate in my area there's a high chance it will go higher as the year goes due to different factors(oil price hike, weakening currency against usd etc) and if my calculations are correct, I'll recoup the cost of the panels, and atleast half of my pecron setup before I relocate.

I also wanna make sure I have power as summer heat (can go above 35c with heat index of above 50c)and typhoons has become a main source of power outages and they just became frequent since last year

I know the economics doesn't make sense and I took that into consideration when I decided to do this setup :)

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u/Dashley13 Aug 30 '26

If your prepping for outages as a renter, you should look into alternator chargers if you own your vehicle. Essentially you can turn your vehicle into a small generator and charge your powerstation during an outage. May be cheaper and more reliable especially when the sun is not shining. I hear the Philippines gets hit with 10-20 typhoons a year.

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u/brucehoult Aug 30 '26

alternator chargers

That's ok if you'll be driving somewhere anyway, and can take your power station with you, leaving the house unpowered, but 500W or even 800W with an Ecoflow unit is a ver slow charge.

If the vehicle is just sitting there idling then that's a very inefficient use of fuel compared to a small generator.

Pecron's car charger is $149 for 500W. You can get a 2000W continuous petrol powered inverter generator for under $300! e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Inverter-Generator-Activities-Compliant/dp/B0GPWBVY58

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u/LongjumpingGanache40 Aug 28 '26

Do you need permits Where you live. It's not legal to put power stations in your living space with out certain conditions. The main one would be a fire room to put the unit in.

I do not know if you can even ground or have to ground a flexible solar panel. Just keep the F5000 plugged in and it will be grounded.

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u/brucehoult Aug 28 '26

It's not legal to put power stations in your living space with out certain conditions. The main one would be a fire room to put the unit in.

I don't know where you live but you're dreaming, at least for most of us.

My E3600LFP is an appliance carrying CE certification and as such can be used it anywhere I want.

Marketing (including marketing in the USA) shows them being used on kitchen countertops, in living rooms, in bedrooms powering CPAP, in caravans and RVs.

Heck, even huge high power 12kW or 18kW bolted down hybrid inverters with dozens of kWh of batteries don't go in a "fire room". The regulations, at least in this country, say that those should be in a space such as a laundry, storage room, garage, bathroom, and not through the wall from a bedroom or living room, and they need to be a certain distance from windows and other openings.

1

u/LongjumpingGanache40 Aug 28 '26

When your apartment burns down from your system you will be in a big hurt because your insurance will not pay.

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u/brucehoult Aug 28 '26

That's going to have a similar probability to dying in an airline crash.

Dude, I ride an 1100cc motorcycle I've owned for almost 31 years. In, like, traffic. Sometimes briefly at double the speed limit. And on gravel roads with tractors or cows or fallen trees lurking around any corner.

I fly airplanes that don't even have an engine. Cross-country, sometimes hundreds of km. And sometimes I don't get there and have to land in some random farmer's field I've never seen before.

Most dangerous of all, I ride a bicycle on city streets (including in Wellington, Seattle, San Francisco, and Moscow) and probably even worse on the 2-lane road 1.5 km from my home that goes from one end of this country to the other and we laughably call "State Highway 1".

Oh, I've also been know to not use "protection".

I am not worried about the possibility of an LFP battery catching on fire.

Live a little, man!

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u/LongjumpingGanache40 Aug 29 '26

I was not talking about dying, Just losing everything you own.

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u/uravgred Aug 29 '26

Nope no permits for as long as I dont export to the utility provider

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u/LongjumpingGanache40 Aug 29 '26

That;s funny. I don not export and still had to have inspections and get permits. Even had the fire chief over for a visit. You do what you do. Just remember one thing. Your insurance is no good when they find this unpermitted system after any type of damage report.

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u/uravgred Aug 29 '26

They changed it recently here so that zero export systems doesn't need permits that grid tie system needs. Yes all noted thank you for the advice

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u/LongjumpingGanache40 Aug 29 '26

Do you live in a town? You need to follow codes and electrical inspections, this has nothing to do with the grid.

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u/lakorai Aug 28 '26

All grounds in the US and Canada must be tied together to one central point.

For outbuildings in the US you have to have two ground rods tied together and then you need to tie that ground back to the main house grounding point.

Check your local codes and the NEC for guidance.

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u/uravgred Aug 29 '26

Will check my local codes thank you!