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

[Bikerscum]

PG&E took about 10 days.

On the monitoring....

If you have them do it, make sure you get full, installer level access. If not it's pretty limited in what you can see/do. That's one of the reasons I did it myself. (not that they refused, it never got to that point)

It does not need to wait for PG&E that I know of.

Good luck.

[leffjouie]

chunglau, would you mind pm'ing your solar installers for the 3.65-3.85 quotes?

quotes i recieved:
sunrun 12x260 REC @ 4.12/watt
solarcity 11x250 CASolar @ 5.10/watt
sungevity 10x250 REC @ 4.93/watt
sunpower 12x345 @ 5.15/watt

bay area, fremont.

[Artie]

chunglau, would you mind pm'ing your solar installers for the 3.65-3.85 quotes?

quotes i recieved:
sunrun 12x260 REC @ 4.12/watt
solarcity 11x250 CASolar @ 5.10/watt
sungevity 10x250 REC @ 4.93/watt
sunpower 12x345 @ 5.15/watt

bay area, fremont.

Sunpower offer to me was at 4.9/wt

[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......)

Any update on the installation?

Or did the rain kick you into next week?

[macholini]

I also went with the company from Pleasanton and just had my install (still waiting for monitoring to be set up + final inspection). I am happy with the install so far but there were some delays and communication issues. I went with 2 SMA inverters, and somehow they ended up installing the older model of the larger inverter (SB7000TL-US-21 instead of SB7000TL-US-22). They replaced it after I pointed it out but it took another week.

There was also apparently some miscommunication about the Secure Power Supply (SPS) -- I thought it was a standard feature with these inverters and expected to have it as part of the install, while they said they normally charge extra for it since it involves some more parts + labor. This was strange for me since SPS is one of the highlights of these inverters and perhaps the most prominently advertised feature so if I wasn't going to get it for some reason, I would have expected them to mention this to me in advance, or ask me if I want it, etc. In retrospect, though, the contract didn't mention anything about SPS so they could have gone either way, but to their credit, they did agree to install SPS free of (extra) charge. They also replaced the inverter with the correct one so I will chalk up all these mis-understandings on them being extra busy right now. 'Tis the (solar) season after all...

In the end, all is well that ends well, and aside from some delays and communication issues, I am happy with the quality of the work itself. I also got a decent price on the system ($3.70/W for 9.9 kW system initially but then got to $3.5/W when I decided to instead do an 11.4 kW system, using 38 LG 300 panels). All in all, I do recommend these guys (assuming I don't get any more surprises and everything passes inspection) -- one just needs to check in with them on a regular basis and be on top of things.

[will3700]

Any update on the installation?

Or did the rain kick you into next week?

Got delayed by one day. The crew was here all day last Friday, working in the dark. Everything was installed. But, they need a different (smaller) breaker part than they had. So they have to come back to complete the connection to the electrical panel. Also, don't have monitoring set up yet. Per your notes, I expect that to follow. I know to push on it though. The one thing that bothers me a little bit. The SolarEdge box, which is bigger than I thought, is not perfectly straight on the wall. And while the panel brackets appear to be aligned straight with the roof line, the panels are not quite straight with the roof line - going from two small shingles from the gutter, to one shingle across the first row of panels. Functional difference? No. Although if I add more panels to the right, I could end up at or over the gutter. But again, the brackets are straight. So for some reason, the panels are sitting lower on the brackets on the right side vs. the left. When the PM comes back out, I'll go over this in detail with him. Still have probably a week before PG&E recognizes me as a power provider. Losing great sun days here like yesterday and today....ARGHHH!

I think I want to go wireless on the monitoring (Zigby?). That apparently costs $300 or something like that? That sounds high to me. Did you go with wireless? I don't want them drilling a hole and going through the attic to connect to the router, which is all the way on the other side of the house.

[Bikerscum]

Got delayed by one day. The crew was here all day last Friday, working in the dark. Everything was installed. But, they need a different (smaller) breaker part than they had. So they have to come back to complete the connection to the electrical panel. Also, don't have monitoring set up yet. Per your notes, I expect that to follow. I know to push on it though. The one thing that bothers me a little bit. The SolarEdge box, which is bigger than I thought, is not perfectly straight on the wall. And while the panel brackets appear to be aligned straight with the roof line, the panels are not quite straight with the roof line - going from two small shingles from the gutter, to one shingle across the first row of panels. Functional difference? No. Although if I add more panels to the right, I could end up at or over the gutter. But again, the brackets are straight. So for some reason, the panels are sitting lower on the brackets on the right side vs. the left. When the PM comes back out, I'll go over this in detail with him. Still have probably a week before PG&E recognizes me as a power provider. Losing great sun days here like yesterday and today....ARGHHH!

I think I want to go wireless on the monitoring (Zigby?). That apparently costs $300 or something like that? That sounds high to me. Did you go with wireless? I don't want them drilling a hole and going through the attic to connect to the router, which is all the way on the other side of the house.

The panels not being straight would drive me nuts in short order

Is your inverter inside or outside? If inside they can use wireless Ethernet for the connection. If outside, you'll need the Zigbee for wireless since it's internal & waterproof. And they can't get any, say their distributor is out. I'm still waiting for mine for weeks now. Supposed to be in in December. I have mine temporarily wired with cat 5 cable.

Did they get the bar codes from the optimizers and make a map? I used the IPhone app & did the layout for them, & generated the layout XML file. They didn't seem to know what to do with it. I ended up setting up the monitoring myself.

[sensij]

I think I want to go wireless on the monitoring (Zigby?). That apparently costs $300 or something like that? That sounds high to me. Did you go with wireless? I don't want them drilling a hole and going through the attic to connect to the router, which is all the way on the other side of the house.

The Zigbee price you were quoted looks reasonable. If you were to buy and install it yourself, the typical sales price is at least $250. SolarEdge does not sell a Wifi (802.11 based) kit in the USA, I had exchanged some emails with them about this a few weeks ago just to make sure. You could probably rig up your own Wifi using an outdoor wireless bridge and adding an outlet to power it, but I'm not sure it would really save you very much.

[Artie]

The panels not being straight would drive me nuts in short order

Is your inverter inside or outside? If inside they can use wireless Ethernet for the connection. If outside, you'll need the Zigbee for wireless since it's internal & waterproof. And they can't get any, say their distributor is out. I'm still waiting for mine for weeks now. Supposed to be in in December. I have mine temporarily wired with cat 5 cable.

Did they get the bar codes from the optimizers and make a map? I used the IPhone app & did the layout for them, & generated the layout XML file. They didn't seem to know what to do with it. I ended up setting up the monitoring myself.

The guys that put my system up did include the Zigbee monitoring in the price (the inverter is outside). They did set up the system on the Solaredge monitoring portal, but it took a few attempts to arrange it to my liking. They provided monitoring accordingly to the power optimizers serial numbers to match the layout. However they did not give me the actual panels serial numbers (which may be required for the future warranty). When I asked for them, they actually dispatched a couple of guys who climbed my roof and took these serials down, so now I have them all. Overall time from signing the contract to receiving the PG&E approval was 3.5 weeks. There were few minor glitches on the way but they were taken care off appropriately. So that I am happy for now with their work. The cost of the system was initially $4.06/wt it went down to $3.87/wt with a referral discount (since I was referred by one of their existing customers).

It is a 5.175 kwt system
15 PV Panels Used SunPower SPR-X21-345
15 Optimizers Used SolarEdge OP400-MV
1 Inverter Used SolarEdge SE6000A-US

[Bikerscum]

They provided monitoring accordingly to the power optimizers serial numbers to match the layout. However they did not give me the actual panels serial numbers (which may be required for the future warranty). When I asked for them, they actually dispatched a couple of guys who climbed my roof and took these serials down, so now I have them all.

In the layout screen of the monitoring page, all they had to do is hover the mouse button over each panel & it shows the serial number

Did they set you up with full access to the monitoring pages or just the 2 public pages?

[Artie]

In the layout screen of the monitoring page, all they had to do is hover the mouse button over each panel & it shows the serial number

Did they set you up with full access to the monitoring pages or just the 2 public pages?

Actually, it shows the serial numbers of the power optimizers and not the panels. I checked it with the Solaredge support too. You also can set up the view so that the serial number is constantly displayed. Initially, they set me up for the limited view. But then I requested a full view with the charts alerts etc and they provided me with that. I am not sure what do you mean by the "public pages", but I have to sign up with the username and password onto the monitoring portal.

[Bikerscum]

Ah, you're right... I confused panels with optimizers.

The public page is something you can share with others without them being able to change anything or see private info. The web address is under the ADMIN tab.

[urthling]

The guys that put my system up ... The cost of the system was initially $4.06/wt it went down to $3.87/wt with a referral discount (since I was referred by one of their existing customers).

You've mentioned this cost for SunPower a few times in the past. Would you mind letting on to who your installer was? Much appreciated...

[Artie]

You've mentioned this cost for SunPower a few times in the past. Would you mind letting on to who your installer was? Much appreciated...

I sent you a pm.

[will3700]

The panels not being straight would drive me nuts in short order

Is your inverter inside or outside? If inside they can use wireless Ethernet for the connection. If outside, you'll need the Zigbee for wireless since it's internal & waterproof. And they can't get any, say their distributor is out. I'm still waiting for mine for weeks now. Supposed to be in in December. I have mine temporarily wired with cat 5 cable.

Did they get the bar codes from the optimizers and make a map? I used the IPhone app & did the layout for them, & generated the layout XML file. They didn't seem to know what to do with it. I ended up setting up the monitoring myself.

I'm not pushing hard on the inverter...yet. Focused on straightening out the panels. They were very responsive to my complaint. The NorCal Ops manager came out today and went up on the roof, and confirmed that the panels are "running" (not straight). He apologized, said it's an easy fix, and that they will take care of it within the next few days depending on weather. Same with the inverter, which just needs to be turned a couple degrees (outside wall location, next to electrical panel). He guessed the panels weren't straight due to being put on the racks when it was dark. Don't know, but as long as they fix it, it will all be good. NEM is apparently backed up with a year-end rush, so I'll probably have to wait another week+ to start getting credit.

So they're saying the right things. I'll follow up when they have (presumably) delivered the goods. I'm going to push for a free Zigbee. Given the additional time on my part, and heartburn from looking at off-kilter panels on the roof.... hopefully they will agree.

Thanks to all the great info people are posting here! Very helpful all the way around - pricing, installers (via pm's), optimizers, monitoring, Zigbee's etc. Hopefully bay area solar shoppers for 2015 will find this thread.