Bulk pricing for solar installations?

[nomar116]

Sensij if you PM me I can also use you as my referral.

[nomar116]

Sensij it looks like you are more than happy with your solar install. Any comments after completion on Geostellar?

[mukg]

Thanks for the link, sensij. I will follow up and let you know how it turns out.

[sensij]

Hi sensij,

I did not see any further updates, did you finally go with these guys? What has been your experience, Could you please PM me the information of the firm?

Yes, I started a new thread to discuss my specific install. From what I've heard from other contacting this company, the pricing that they had been offering last year no longer seems to be available. However, it doesn't hurt to get a quote and see where they land.

[ANR]

The installers came out for the site verification yesterday. I expected to be disappointed, but was pleasantly surprised. These weren't just techs making measurements, like I had experienced with a local installer, but a father/son team with actual knowledge and experience. C-10 licensed, and from observations they shared on my buddy's electrical work (with is complicated), and mine (which is straightforward), I would have confidence hiring them to do any electrical work that was needed. They used a solareye to collect solar potential information that will help us find a good compromise between production and appearance. They also answered my questions about how they would keep the conduit runs from being an eyesore. They were clearly comfortable with PV technology, and did the quick calculation to confirm that the designer's AC breaker size was acceptable for my panel and for the array size being installed. As we were driving together from my friend's house to mine, they were identifying problems with the other PV installations we passed on the way, which is a fun game I've played with google earth a couple times.

There is a clear line in the relationship between them and the firm that is the subject of this thread, they will not be doing the design and will build what gets sent to them. However, from the other jobs they described, they conveyed a sense of ownership in their work, and that is important to me. The site plan they were given to verify on my friend's house wasn't the most current, and he had to notice that and print off the new one so that they could verify the right dimensions. The took it on themselves to just measure the whole roof, since there was some confusion and that way they knew they would get all the information.

I was impressed with their professionalism in the little things as well. They asked permission from me before locating the ladder to go on the roof, and without being told, observed that we take our shoes off in the house and did the same.

None of this guarantees that the installation will go smoothly, and will be coordinated well with the roofing work. They don't have much experience in San Diego, and usually work in SCE districts, so the potential for a local code snag is higher. The combined savings with these two installs will be around $5k (20%) compared to our best cash alternative, and this price includes 2.99% / 12 yr financing as well. The experience has been slow to develop and not what I would consider "Cadillac", and not having an established local installer will understandably not be for everyone. However, for my needs and expectations, I feel good about continuing down this path.

Hi sensij,

I did not see any further updates, did you finally go with these guys? What has been your experience, Could you please PM me the information of the firm?

[sensij]

The installers came out for the site verification yesterday. I expected to be disappointed, but was pleasantly surprised. These weren't just techs making measurements, like I had experienced with a local installer, but a father/son team with actual knowledge and experience. C-10 licensed, and from observations they shared on my buddy's electrical work (with is complicated), and mine (which is straightforward), I would have confidence hiring them to do any electrical work that was needed. They used a solareye to collect solar potential information that will help us find a good compromise between production and appearance. They also answered my questions about how they would keep the conduit runs from being an eyesore. They were clearly comfortable with PV technology, and did the quick calculation to confirm that the designer's AC breaker size was acceptable for my panel and for the array size being installed. As we were driving together from my friend's house to mine, they were identifying problems with the other PV installations we passed on the way, which is a fun game I've played with google earth a couple times.

There is a clear line in the relationship between them and the firm that is the subject of this thread, they will not be doing the design and will build what gets sent to them. However, from the other jobs they described, they conveyed a sense of ownership in their work, and that is important to me. The site plan they were given to verify on my friend's house wasn't the most current, and he had to notice that and print off the new one so that they could verify the right dimensions. The took it on themselves to just measure the whole roof, since there was some confusion and that way they knew they would get all the information.

I was impressed with their professionalism in the little things as well. They asked permission from me before locating the ladder to go on the roof, and without being told, observed that we take our shoes off in the house and did the same.

None of this guarantees that the installation will go smoothly, and will be coordinated well with the roofing work. They don't have much experience in San Diego, and usually work in SCE districts, so the potential for a local code snag is higher. The combined savings with these two installs will be around $5k (20%) compared to our best cash alternative, and this price includes 2.99% / 12 yr financing as well. The experience has been slow to develop and not what I would consider "Cadillac", and not having an established local installer will understandably not be for everyone. However, for my needs and expectations, I feel good about continuing down this path.

[thejq]

So how much do you think you're actually saving by going this route? Are you comfortable with some guy from LA who you don't know getting up on your roof? What if there's a problem down the road? In the best case, you save some money. What's the worst case? Not trying to be negative -- I think it's a good exercise you're doing and provides lots of information for the readers. But I'm sure you're smart enough to weight the cons and pros before signing the dotted line.

[sensij]

I'd not be surprised if they solicit bids for potential jobs and take the lowest one $$ wise consistent w/ their overall goals.

Yes, I'm sure that is what they believe they are doing. Whether or not their vendor selection process is truly consistent with their goals is hard to say... the actual performance of those vendors will have a lot to do with it, as will the word-of-mouth reputation that follows.

[J.P.M.]

OK, 4 weeks later, the site visit for design verification has been scheduled for this weekend. They haven't shared with me the name of the installer, but my friend was pushier and got some more information. We think it is a relatively new firm coming down from L.A. We'll see how it goes... there are a lot of good installers in San Diego, and it is surprising that they wouldn't choose to use one of them (or maybe not so surprising, all things considered).

I'd not be surprised if they solicit bids for potential jobs and take the lowest one $$ wise consistent w/ their overall goals.

[Amy@altE]

love SPS

I love the SunnyBoy SPS (Secure Power Supply) feature. It gives you a little bit of power when the grid is down, not enough to power the house, but enough to charge your cell phone. laptop, rechargable flashlight. The feature came about as a result of Japan's tsunami, when everyone with solar couldn't charge up their phones for communication, even though the sun was shining on their solar array. You may not lose power enough in CA for it to be a big deal, but here in New England, we lose power for days or sometimes weeks at a time with crazy ice storms, so I love the feature.

[sensij]

OK, 4 weeks later, the site visit for design verification has been scheduled for this weekend. They haven't shared with me the name of the installer, but my friend was pushier and got some more information. We think it is a relatively new firm coming down from L.A. We'll see how it goes... there are a lot of good installers in San Diego, and it is surprising that they wouldn't choose to use one of them (or maybe not so surprising, all things considered).

[sensij]

The installation would be my biggest concern. I did some research on this company, and it seems that they are backed by NRG and Solar City among others. It would be an installer within their network, hopefully.

What was the inverter that they wanted to give you initially?

The Price seems very fair.

Their recommendation for my roof was the SMA SB3000TL-US-22, with the SPS. I am not personally sold on the usefulness of the SPS, and for other reasons that could very well be more marketing than fact, I preferred SolarEdge.

[DaninDana]

So far, so good. This isn't really a hand-holding operation, but they got back to me pretty quickly with a preliminary system design, using SolarEdge (at my request) and Canadian Solar CS6P-260P's. A site visit from the installer is the next step, and presumably a contract will follow shortly afterwards. I may have slowed things down slightly by mentioning this offer to a friend close by who was also interested in solar. He and his wife have also decided to go with them, and so the site visits and installation work for the two systems are being coordinated for the sake of efficiency. My friend also requested SolarEdge, and I think chose LG panels (LGXXXNIC-G3) for a small premium. He was quoted $3.25 / W for a 5 or 6 kW system.

Based on my experience so far, I think this approach is more appealing for someone who is willing to do their own research. If I had gone down this road early in my shopping experience, I would be uncomfortable with the communication so far. However, as long as the installer seems competent, I will continue to see how it goes.

The installation would be my biggest concern. I did some research on this company, and it seems that they are backed by NRG and Solar City among others. It would be an installer within their network, hopefully.

What was the inverter that they wanted to give you initially?

The Price seems very fair.

[sensij]

So far, so good. This isn't really a hand-holding operation, but they got back to me pretty quickly with a preliminary system design, using SolarEdge (at my request) and Canadian Solar CS6P-260P's. A site visit from the installer is the next step, and presumably a contract will follow shortly afterwards. I may have slowed things down slightly by mentioning this offer to a friend close by who was also interested in solar. He and his wife have also decided to go with them, and so the site visits and installation work for the two systems are being coordinated for the sake of efficiency. My friend also requested SolarEdge, and I think chose LG panels (LGXXXNIC-G3) for a small premium. He was quoted $3.25 / W for a 5 or 6 kW system.

Based on my experience so far, I think this approach is more appealing for someone who is willing to do their own research. If I had gone down this road early in my shopping experience, I would be uncomfortable with the communication so far. However, as long as the installer seems competent, I will continue to see how it goes.

[DaninDana]

You are right I had a longer conversation with them today, and got some more visibility into their approach. Basically, they are taking the equipment out of the installers hands. The equipment will come from the normal wholesale supply chain, so the risk of 2nd rate equipment should be no higher than it would be with a local installer. They've offered a SolarEdge inverter with either LG, Canadian Solar, or Suniva panels, any of which would be fine with me.

The installer is not involved in design or procurement, and therefore they only get paid whatever they want to charge for the labor. As far as I can tell, a local solar installation company that is making good money on design and equipment markup will not be too interested in working under this arrangement. A company that has trained installation crews that are not fully utilized might be. Tony and his untrained brothers might be too, so it comes down to what kind of filters they have in place to get good installers without blowing the budget. Another company with this business model was still able to attract and hire a well known and respected electrician, but they charged more too.

At this point, I'm unreasonably curious, and I'm going to give it a go. J.P.M.'s good luck wish ought to be enough to carry me through. If you are reading this and also intend to take advantage of this "group rate" pricing, email or PM me and we might be able to help each other save an extra couple hundred dollars.

Please keep posting on your experience. I might be interested in this too. PM me.

Dan