New user here. Looks like I'm ready to finally pull the trigger on solar this year. SCE territory, South-East facing roof at 130-degree azimuth, lots of room, no shading. My installer whom I generally trust is initially quoting me $3.95/watt DC on a 20-panel turn-key system using LG300N1C panels and Enphase M250 inverters. Is this a more or less reasonable price for a straightforward install on a roof with asphalt shingles? Should I look into using a string inverter and lower-efficiency panels to reduce up-front costs? I have an EV and not excluding a possibility of adding a second one, so being able to increase the size of the array in the future is somewhat a concern.
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6kW system in Agoura Hills
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Any way you can put it on a south, south west or even a west facing roof? That south east roof will "kill" your production, especially considering you have an EV and probably on some EV-TOU plan that pays the most in the afternoon. Not sure about pricing in Agoura Hills but sounds a little higher than San Diego.16xLG300N1C+SE6000[url]http://tiny.cc/ojmxyx[/url] -
I have some small SW facing roof over the garage, probably good for 10 panels at most with some shading late in the day. I realize that the SE facing roof is not ideal, especially with the recent TOU on-peak window changes from SCE. However PVWatts tells me that even if I could fit all 6kW on that SW section my annual production would only grow by 327kWh, so in an ideal case scenario when all that extra energy is produced at the highest on-peak rate of 46c/kWh with no consumption it would save me 150 bucks a year, in reality I can only put a limited number of panels there which will also complicate the installation and likely increase the up-front cost I don't feel like it is really worth it not to mention this is a street-facing slope so while I personally couldn't care less about the aesthetics the looks of the street-facing panels may turn off some buyers should I decide to sell my home.Comment
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I have some small SW facing roof over the garage, probably good for 10 panels at most with some shading late in the day. I realize that the SE facing roof is not ideal, especially with the recent TOU on-peak window changes from SCE. However PVWatts tells me that even if I could fit all 6kW on that SW section my annual production would only grow by 327kWh, so in an ideal case scenario when all that extra energy is produced at the highest on-peak rate of 46c/kWh with no consumption it would save me 150 bucks a year, in reality I can only put a limited number of panels there which will also complicate the installation and likely increase the up-front cost I don't feel like it is really worth it not to mention this is a street-facing slope so while I personally couldn't care less about the aesthetics the looks of the street-facing panels may turn off some buyers should I decide to sell my home.16xLG300N1C+SE6000[url]http://tiny.cc/ojmxyx[/url]Comment
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Ok, you're right my estimate was too naive, however scaling down the numbers in your example to the estimated 9500 kWh of total annual production from a 6kW array per PVWatts for the SW facing roof installation and further by 1/2 because I can only fit 3kW there we arrive at roughly $300 a year difference with no usage that includes my original $150, which is about what I will be spending on trimming of my neighbor trees to reduce shading on the SW segment if I'm lucky he agrees to it. Still not worth doing it in my book.Comment
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Ok, you're right my estimate was too naive, however scaling down the numbers in your example to the estimated 9500 kWh of total annual production from a 6kW array per PVWatts for the SW facing roof installation and further by 1/2 because I can only fit 3kW there we arrive at roughly $300 a year difference with no usage that includes my original $150, which is about what I will be spending on trimming of my neighbor trees to reduce shading on the SW segment if I'm lucky he agrees to it. Still not worth doing it in my book.16xLG300N1C+SE6000[url]http://tiny.cc/ojmxyx[/url]Comment
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0% loss? Sounds a bit optimistic for the imperfect world we live in I scaled the losses down to 6% and selected premium, which brought me up to 10500 kWh, unfortunately it doesn't change the fact I have limited SW roof area that is affected by shading.Comment
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9500 kWh from a 6 kW array is a much better estimate than 14000 kWH, or 10000 kWh from a 4.8 kW array. Panel orientation will have an impact with respect to value in a TOU plan, but the SCE TOU-D-A plan still pays generously for production off-peak (8am - 2pm, and 8 pm-10pm, which doesn't matter), so even the SE panels will probably generate more value in TOU for EV drivers than they will in the straight tier plan.
Does that price include a main service panel upgrade? If so, it is slightly on the high side, but still pretty good. If it does not, you might want to shop it around a bit more.CS6P-260P/SE3000 - http://tiny.cc/ed5ozxComment
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No, due to reasons that deserve a separate topic the panel had to be taken care of previously. Just need to install the panels and drop solar feed on the panel, that's it. You think it is too high for the equipment spec'd or in just general I can spend less for an equivalent system with less expensive components?Comment
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PVWatt says I should get 8710 KWh with "premium" and "0%" loss. But my total so far is about 10% higher than that. So maybe I'm a little optimistic and weather has been nice, but 9500 KWh is probably doable ... I'm hoping But we digress ...16xLG300N1C+SE6000[url]http://tiny.cc/ojmxyx[/url]Comment
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No, due to reasons that deserve a separate topic the panel had to be taken care of previously. Just need to install the panels drop solar feed on the panel, that's it. You think it is too high for the equipment spec'd or in just general I can spend less for an equivalent system with less expensive components?
In December, user JD31 shared in this post some quotes.
LG280's were about 0.25 / W more than Hanwha panels, and LG280's should be probably at least 0.10 / W less than 300's. I think paying $3.50 - $3.75 / W is reasonable for the 300's if your SE roof doesn't have space for something less efficient, depending on the installer.CS6P-260P/SE3000 - http://tiny.cc/ed5ozxComment
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I think you could get an equivalent system for a bit less with some shopping...
In December, user JD31 shared in this post some quotes.
LG280's were about 0.25 / W more than Hanwha panels, and LG280's should be probably at least 0.10 / W less than 300's. I think paying $3.50 - $3.75 / W is reasonable for the 300's if your SE roof doesn't have space for something less efficient, depending on the installer.Comment
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Try this: lots of room, no shade --->> LG280 etc. w/ string inverter(s). Face as many south as possible. In San Diego etc. $3.50/$3.5/Watt for that combo ought to be doable and different enough to save your guy some face when he swallows on price, provided you think he's worth it and feel comfortable with him as your vendor. Low buck for its own sake is false economy. Fair and tough negotiating is good business. If he wants your business help him with an opportunity to lower his price by slight changes that result in a better system and savings for all.
On the other hand, get any other quotes ? It's just business.
9,500-10,500 kWh/yr. ought to be doable. Much more might be a stretch.
I'd not recommend using PVWatts the way Thejq suggests.Comment
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Try this: lots of room, no shade --->> LG280 etc. w/ string inverter(s). Face as many south as possible. In San Diego etc. $3.50/$3.5/Watt for that combo ought to be doable and different enough to save your guy some face when he swallows on price, provided you think he's worth it and feel comfortable with him as your vendor. Low buck for its own sake is false economy. Fair and tough negotiating is good business. If he wants your business help him with an opportunity to lower his price by slight changes that result in a better system and savings for all.
On the other hand, get any other quotes ? It's just business.
9,500-10,500 kWh/yr. ought to be doable. Much more might be a stretch.
I'd not recommend using PVWatts the way Thejq suggests.Comment
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One thing you might want to consider is tilt mount, so you get either south, or south west exposure from a SE facing roof. It has been talked about many times but I'm not sure about the cost.16xLG300N1C+SE6000[url]http://tiny.cc/ojmxyx[/url]Comment
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