Cost per Watt in SF Bay Area?; system cost difference with SolarEdge vs. SMA?

[JCP]

I am in the South Bay. Can you pm me the name of your installer? I have less than 10 posts, so cannot pm you directly. Thanks.

Installer name sent. Good luck.

[dat]

Installer name sent. Good luck.

Can you PM me your installer name as well? I live in San Jose, CA. Thank you

[chunglau]

Newby here from the Silicon Desert formerly known as Silicon Valley. Uber serious drought conditions. Maybe I should also start looking for a desalination forum.
With a batch of quotes in hand, I have been scouring the pages here, as well as CSI, to try to ascertain $/watt standards/ranges for the SF/Silicon Valley area for a 3.5-3.7kw system. Sparring with vendors for a week or so, here’s what I have collected:

1) 13 SolarWorld 275w + SMA. 3.575kw@$3.80/w = $13,585
2) 13 Mitsubishi 265w + SMA. 3.445kw@$3.75/w = $12,922
3) 14 Mitsubishi 265w + SolarEdge 5000. 3.71kw@$3.83/w = $14,200
4) 13 Suniva 270w+SMA. 3.51W@$3.85/w = $13,515

Can you pm me the installer's name for option 1? You are getting better price than me, although my quote has the Enphase inverter, but does not include permit fees. Sorry, I can't pm you directly because I do not have enough posts. Thanks.

[will3700]

Can you pm me the installer's name for option 1? You are getting better price than me, although my quote has the Enphase inverter, but does not include permit fees. Sorry, I can't pm you directly because I do not have enough posts. Thanks.

I can't PM either. YES, I went with a company highly rated on Yelp out of Pleasanton. That should help you find them. I liked that they came out and walked the roof before proposing a solution. But, we'll have to see how it goes. Install will happen sometime late in November. I ended up with 14 Mits 265kw panels, and a SolarEdge 3800. I decided I want panel-level monitoring, and free monitoring (heard Enphase charges at some point? Don't know if that's true or not). I wanted to go with a larger inverter, for possible future expansion. But my old electrical panel isn't up to it. And the cost to beef up the amperage is exhorbitant. PG&E guesstimated $8k+ including trenching. Decided to pass on that. Price came in just under $3.75/watt. Don't know if I could have done better. But I ran out of time and patience to negotiate further.

[chunglau]

I can't PM either. YES, I went with a company highly rated on Yelp out of Pleasanton. That should help you find them. I liked that they came out and walked the roof before proposing a solution. But, we'll have to see how it goes. Install will happen sometime late in November. I ended up with 14 Mits 265kw panels, and a SolarEdge 3800. I decided I want panel-level monitoring, and free monitoring (heard Enphase charges at some point? Don't know if that's true or not). I wanted to go with a larger inverter, for possible future expansion. But my old electrical panel isn't up to it. And the cost to beef up the amperage is exhorbitant. PG&E guesstimated $8k+ including trenching. Decided to pass on that. Price came in just under $3.75/watt. Don't know if I could have done better. But I ran out of time and patience to negotiate further.

Thanks. That installer from Pleasanton gave a pretty expensive quote, for basically the same system as yours. Found better prices from two other well-rated companies.

[JCP]

Thanks. That installer from Pleasanton gave a pretty expensive quote, for basically the same system as yours. Found better prices from two other well-rated companies.

I most likely talked to the same company. I did not like their high pressure sales tactic. I especially did not like how they started with a really high bid, only to drop it by $0.50-0.60 after learning that they lost the deal and bad mouthing other company. Not very pleasant...

[chunglau]

I most likely talked to the same company. I did not like their high pressure sales tactic. I especially did not like how they started with a really high bid, only to drop it by $0.50-0.60 after learning that they lost the deal and bad mouthing other company. Not very pleasant...

I agree. That company gave me a high quote. Then when he learned that I knew people who got better prices, he said he could lower the price by 15 cents per watt, if I could sign the contract that day.

[Bikerscum]

I can't PM either. YES, I went with a company highly rated on Yelp out of Pleasanton. That should help you find them. I liked that they came out and walked the roof before proposing a solution. But, we'll have to see how it goes. Install will happen sometime late in November. I ended up with 14 Mits 265kw panels, and a SolarEdge 3800. I decided I want panel-level monitoring, and free monitoring (heard Enphase charges at some point? Don't know if that's true or not). I wanted to go with a larger inverter, for possible future expansion. But my old electrical panel isn't up to it. And the cost to beef up the amperage is exhorbitant. PG&E guesstimated $8k+ including trenching. Decided to pass on that. Price came in just under $3.75/watt. Don't know if I could have done better. But I ran out of time and patience to negotiate further.

That's the company I went with also.

The install did eventually get done (still waiting on the monitoring) but it took a lot of prodding on my end.


Things should slow down a lot at the timeframe you're looking at, they probably won't be so busy.


Good luck.

[will3700]

Thanks. That installer from Pleasanton gave a pretty expensive quote, for basically the same system as yours. Found better prices from two other well-rated companies.

Well done! Let's hear the details. What panels, kwh, inverter, price and price per watt did you go with?

I got quotes from 5 south and east bay installers, all highly rated. All had cost/kwh above $3.75 for a 3.7kw system. One was over $4/kwh. I didn't check the electrical contractors that also do solar. I have a feeling they might charge less than the pure (or primarily) solar installers.

[chunglau]

Well done! Let's hear the details. What panels, kwh, inverter, price and price per watt did you go with?

I got quotes from 5 south and east bay installers, all highly rated. All had cost/kwh above $3.75 for a 3.7kw system. One was over $4/kwh. I didn't check the electrical contractors that also do solar. I have a feeling they might charge less than the pure (or primarily) solar installers.

I have received quotes from two companies that are well-rated that are lower than the other three quotes. The prices ares $3.65 to $3.85/W for a roughly 4KW DC system. Panels are 14xLG280 with Enphase, or 16xSunPower SPR245 with Sunpower-4000m inverters. These are not the latest model panels, but should be good enough.

[urthling]

I have received quotes from two companies that are well-rated that are lower than the other three quotes. The prices ares $3.65 to $3.85/W for a roughly 4KW DC system. Panels are 14xLG280 with Enphase, or 16xSunPower SPR245 with Sunpower-4000m inverters. These are not the latest model panels, but should be good enough.

@chunglau @JCP Beginning the research process. Would you mind sending me a PM with your (proposed) installers? Thank you!

[urthling]

@chunglau @JCP Thanks, got your PMs! Unfortunately, that company doesn't service my area, but the reviews sounded nice. I'm sure I'll find something comparable with the other folks.

[will3700]

That's the company I went with also.

The install did eventually get done (still waiting on the monitoring) but it took a lot of prodding on my end.


Things should slow down a lot at the timeframe you're looking at, they probably won't be so busy.


Good luck.

Hi Bikerscum,

The installers are coming tomorrow to do the install. Watch...it will rain! Other than the delays in getting the monitoring up and running - any other things to watch out for? Any damage to gutters, or any else I should pay attention to? Thanks.

(p.s. - this would be best sent as a PM, BUT......still can't PM you. Oh, the rules of SPT......)

[Bikerscum]

Hi Bikerscum,

The installers are coming tomorrow to do the install. Watch...it will rain! Other than the delays in getting the monitoring up and running - any other things to watch out for? Any damage to gutters, or any else I should pay attention to? Thanks.

(p.s. - this would be best sent as a PM, BUT......still can't PM you. Oh, the rules of SPT......)

The installers themselves were very competent and efficient. They took minimal breaks & seemed to take pride in their work. There was no damage, mess, etc.

I actually ended up setting up the monitoring myself, handled the interaction with Solaredge, etc. It's not that hard and I wanted it done. The only issue I had with the actual installation was that what was supposed to be one day turned into two, working 'til dark the second day.

Curious if you mentioned me when you contacted them?

Keep us informed as you go.

[will3700]

The installers themselves were very competent and efficient. They took minimal breaks & seemed to take pride in their work. There was no damage, mess, etc.

I actually ended up setting up the monitoring myself, handled the interaction with Solaredge, etc. It's not that hard and I wanted it done. The only issue I had with the actual installation was that what was supposed to be one day turned into two, working 'til dark the second day.

Curious if you mentioned me when you contacted them?

Keep us informed as you go.

No, I didn't mention you. What would I say: "Do you know Bikerscum?" Joking. No - I haven't mentioned anything to them about this forum. I'm paying them a bunch of money - so I expect them to get me up and running on SolarEdge - or at least provide me with clear instructions on how to get going with monitoring. But I assume I will have to wait awhile before pg&e give the greenlight and "flips the switch"? And yes...I will report on how it goes.