Just Signed...9.6 kW System in Eastvale (Corona) CA

[Gstachura]

Well, after a month of research, reviews, quotes, negotiating and lots of time spent on this forum, I just signed my contract.

Jamar Power Systems http://www.solarreviews.com/installe...stems-reviews/
System size - 9.6 kW
Panels - 32, LG 300N1C-B3 Black, 300 watt
Inverter - 1, SolarEdge SE7600 w/ 32 SolarEdge P300 Optimizers
Racking - Unirac or Iron Ridge
Cash price before tax credit - $29,775
Price per watt - $3.10
Estimated annual production - 13,175 kWh per year

If all goes well and the weather cooperates, I should be up and running before the end of the year. Thanks to everyone here that provided info that helped guide me along the way.

[sdnd]

I was consulting with Vince just now and your email notification popped up while he was talking to me. So funny.

Need to see if he can get me to this price point. I'm assuming this is a cash price?

[Gstachura]

I was consulting with Vince just now and your email notification popped up while he was talking to me. So funny.

Need to see if he can get me to this price point. I'm assuming this is a cash price?

That is funny, sounds like a referral to me and yes, that's the cash price.

[solar_newbie]

Well, after a month of research, reviews, quotes, negotiating and lots of time spent on this forum, I just signed my contract.

Jamar Power Systems http://www.solarreviews.com/installe...stems-reviews/
System size - 9.6 kW
Panels - 32, LG 300N1C-B3 Black, 300 watt
Inverter - 1, SolarEdge SE7600 w/ 32 SolarEdge P300 Optimizers
Racking - Unirac or Iron Ridge
Cash price before tax credit - $29,775
Price per watt - $3.10
Estimated annual production - 13,175 kWh per year

If all goes well and the weather cooperates, I should be up and running before the end of the year. Thanks to everyone here that provided info that helped guide me along the way.

Congrats. Now it is confirmed that south calif can get good price

[J.P.M.]

If all goes well, looks like the new shoot for price is $3.10/Watt for now, depending. Might be good for potential SO.CA customers to mention that to vendors the talk to.

[sensij]

If all goes well, looks like the new shoot for price is $3.10/Watt for now, depending. Might be good for potential SO.CA customers to mention that to vendors the talk to.

From what I've seen, this vendor, more than some, has pricing that slides with the size of a system. A large array (9.6 kW) like this one may be available for $3.10 / W, while a smaller one (3.1 kW) might be more like $3.90 / W. That is probably the way it should be, but just something to keep in mind for those who are shopping for a more typically sized array.

[hale2]

From what I've seen, this vendor, more than some, has pricing that slides with the size of a system. A large array (9.6 kW) like this one may be available for $3.10 / W, while a smaller one (3.1 kW) might be more like $3.90 / W. That is probably the way it should be, but just something to keep in mind for those who are shopping for a more typically sized array.

I agree. This vendor just quoted me $3.80/w for a 4.4kw system. Although I was told the price was higher because the panels have to be placed in 3 arrays. Not sure how much that would add to the cost.

[J.P.M.]

I'd suspect some of the price variance with this and other vendors is due to a lot of job factors, some present or not as the situation dictates. But I also wouldn't be too surprised if negotiating skills, or lack of them, and vendor work load have a bit to do with it.

[woodtiger]

Before negotiating, the initial quotes I am getting for the same panels at $4.18/KW, in Socal.

[solar_newbie]

I agree. This vendor just quoted me $3.80/w for a 4.4kw system. Although I was told the price was higher because the panels have to be placed in 3 arrays. Not sure how much that would add to the cost.

Assume the cost for installer is $2/watt.

Installers could get more than 10,000 from this deal.
If you have 4.4kw with $3.3/w, installers can get only 5,700 from the deal.

The amount of work are similar -- Maybe 1 extra day job for putting 9.6KW vs 4.4kw. All other work are the same.

Installer must have the smallest amount of money he can go down for their profits/soft cost/labors ... per job. If it is 5,700, you would say the 3.5kw job will have the price tag of $3.6/watt.

[Gstachura]

From what I found, the larger the company, with TV and radio ads, the higher their prices. Additionally, the smaller the system, the higher price per watt. Unfortunately, it's just the nature of the beast.

[solardreamer]

Well, after a month of research, reviews, quotes, negotiating and lots of time spent on this forum, I just signed my contract.

Jamar Power Systems http://www.solarreviews.com/installe...stems-reviews/
System size - 9.6 kW
Panels - 32, LG 300N1C-B3 Black, 300 watt
Inverter - 1, SolarEdge SE7600 w/ 32 SolarEdge P300 Optimizers
Racking - Unirac or Iron Ridge
Cash price before tax credit - $29,775
Price per watt - $3.10
Estimated annual production - 13,175 kWh per year

If all goes well and the weather cooperates, I should be up and running before the end of the year. Thanks to everyone here that provided info that helped guide me along the way.

Congrats. Do you have shading or orientation issues? The production estimate seems low given the size of your system and location in socal.

[hale2]

Maybe I need to think twice about signing with Jamar and continue to shop around.

[Gstachura]

Congrats. Do you have shading or orientation issues? The production estimate seems low given the size of your system and location in socal.

Minor shading from a palm tree and chimney but that's about it. I ran everything through PVwatts myself with different values based on forum input and came up with 14,875 which I think is closer than what Jamar is estimating. My theory is that they underestimate so when the system overproduces, it looks better in the long run and they exceed the production guarantee which is pretty much worthless.

[compchat]

Before negotiating, the initial quotes I am getting for the same panels at $4.18/KW, in Socal.

Are you guys quoting dollars/KW DC for the panels or for the WHOLE job?

I was quoted about $4.00/KW for the whole job (11KW).

My accountant says this is too high. Live in south orange county. I think it's about 42 285 watt panels with two Sunny Boy inverters (7 and 4) with 2 drop down 1500 watt wall sockets.

Thanks