Solar cost and profit

[solar_newbie]

Agree. I see most installers that offer $3.5 or below are small ones. They have only 1 or 2 install groups and owners are working to earn their pay as sale guy, super vision, electrical guy....

Big installers will never offer less than $3.5/w (unless some trick is included like delay the installation, use subcontractor, or use volunteer installer ...)

If you want cheap installation, you can go with non-profit organization that offer solar. They charge very cheap and usually have 4-5 month back order plus put 8 hours solar volunteer on your roof to dig it.

[SunEagle]

Other expenses:
Design
Permitting
Vehicles
Gas and maintenance
Workers Comp
General liability
Auto ins
Tools and ladders
Office rent
Utilities
Sales and marketing
Supervision
Legal and regulatory compliance
CPA and bookkeeper
Safety programs
Training programs

Solar contractors are not getting rich at $3.50Watt.

+1. You have provided a good list of the "soft" expenses required to run a business.