Massachusetts solar quote

[DieselWeasel]

Hi I'm new to the forum i found it after getting s quote on a system and I figured I'd post and see what people thought of the quote.
I live in the suburbs of Boston and I contacted a local company Boston Solar and inquired about purchasing panels. And they came back with this system. They show me producing about 13 srec's a year. Still on the fence if I'm going to pull the trigger or not. Any thoughts are appreciated.

[SunEagle]

While the final cost for that system is around $3/watt and sounds about right, I would not expect to always receive their estimate of > $300/mth for srec's. The money you get from selling them may drastically be less which will put you into spending more per month then you use to before you installed solar.

[mpkelley20]

I have lots to say about solar in MA. I will try and keep this brief. Will be happy to discuss in more detail through PM if you would like.


Pricing in MA is absolutey insane. I don;t know why this state is so expensive for solar but it really seems like a scam when compared to other states. With that said, the price (pre-credits) you were quoted is actually not bad for Sunpower panels (I was quoted 4.80 and up last September). Yours seems to come in around $4.53 per watt. My question is this....why Sunpower? Are you limited in roof space to meet the power demand?

I originally considered Sunpower but this forum talked me out of that and into other brands as my roof allowed for the size system I wanted. I ended up getting so many prices from various companies on Solar World and LG panels. The prices were all over the place from about $4 per watt to $4.75 per watt. Same systems, same componments, just different pricing and a lot of BS "promises" and "guarantees".


I was lucky enought to be referred to the Mass Clean Energy website that posted a spreadhseet of every person who had put in for the MCE reabtes (ended in 2014 I believe). I was able to sort by price, panel maker, size system, and installer. It is there where I found my installer. He showed up a ton and his prices were more like non-MA pricing (similar to what you see in CA and what others are posting in this forum). I was leery but had him give me a quote. It was low. Like way lower than what I was getting from others. I followed people's advice here on following up with questions about various things like racking brand, how they reinsulate around work areas, etc... and this guy checked out 100%.

I ended up paying $3.40 per watt for Solar World 285 panels and Solaredge inverter with optimizers. My system is 10.26KWp in size. So much cheaper than what you would pay for the Sunpower. It has been live since mid Novemeber (the worst time of the year here in MA) yet I've generated over 2MWh so far. I saved $300 in electric over that period and have generated 2 SRECs so far. This month, I have been generating over 40kwh a day (we are lucky we are getting so much sun) so I am definitley seeing huge benefits as the days get longer. So far, solar has been worth it (and I feel better about being more green!)

So my suggestion is to call a lot more compnaies and get quotes. Ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask why someone is so expensive compared totohers and don't buy into the "guarantees". Make sure the installer has been around for a while and someone who you beleive will be around at least for the next few years. Buying solar in MA is like buying a new car before the internet was around. It's much harder to find good comparison data. Thankfully, this forum has a lot of it.

[mpkelley20]

Let me add, the upcoming auto sale of the SRECs are being sold for $270 per credit. Mine won't be available until next quarter as everything runs on a one quarter lag. From historical pricing, $300 is a reasonable assumption but things change all the time. My installer used $300 as the base price for my estimate. I know last summer people were getting over $450 a credit. That would be nice.....

corrected price my installer gave me....it was $300.

[DieselWeasel]

Thanks for the reply I will pm you.

[Alchete]

Your price is $4.53/Watt installed, by my calculations. That's only a good price if those are high-quality, expensive panels, like Sunpower.

Also, I see that your system panels exceed 10kW -- though your inverter is capped at 10kW. Make sure you'd be in compliance with your power company's net metering policy.

[rsmiele]

mpkelly20, could you send me the MEC spreadsheet? I am just starting to look for my home in Massachusetts and it sounds like it would be useful. I cannot find it on the MEC web site. my email is the same as my id but add gmail domain. I cannot figure out the PM feature. Thanks.

[mpkelley20]

Yeah...seems like PM's were removed at some point. I have a copy of it I can email you. I went to the CME site and it has been updated so I haven't been able to locate it on the new redesign. Their program ended on 12/31/14 so they may have taken it down once the last of the rebate requests came in sometime in 2015. I will send it shortly.

[Paulvu84]

Thanks for the spreadsheet. It was really helpful. I just got a quote for a 5.45/ watt and now realize that's pretty high

[J.P.M.]

Thanks for the spreadsheet. It was really helpful. I just got a quote for a 5.45/ watt and now realize that's pretty high

One reason it's high, besides being in MA, is it's Sunpower. Good stuff but overpriced for the purpose by ~ 20% or more. You'll get the same annual output from other equally reliable and fit for purpose equipment and not waste what looks like $6-7K. X.70 ~ $4,500. Your money, your choice.

[Paulvu84]

One reason it's high, besides being in MA, is it's Sunpower. Good stuff but overpriced for the purpose by ~ 20% or more. You'll get the same annual output from other equally reliable and fit for purpose equipment and not waste what looks like $6-7K. X.70 ~ $4,500. Your money, your choice.

My quote wasn't even with Sunpower panels. They were for Hyundai Solar HiS-S280RG Monopanels. I called another company on the spreadsheet and they quoted $3.75/watt for Canadian Solar CS6P-250P panels. This price sounds so much reasonable.

mpkelley20, if you are reading this, can you please message me what installer you end up using? Thanks!

[farokhboston]

I have lots to say about solar in MA. I will try and keep this brief. Will be happy to discuss in more detail through PM if you would like.


Pricing in MA is absolutey insane. I don;t know why this state is so expensive for solar but it really seems like a scam when compared to other states. With that said, the price (pre-credits) you were quoted is actually not bad for Sunpower panels (I was quoted 4.80 and up last September). Yours seems to come in around $4.53 per watt. My question is this....why Sunpower? Are you limited in roof space to meet the power demand?

I originally considered Sunpower but this forum talked me out of that and into other brands as my roof allowed for the size system I wanted. I ended up getting so many prices from various companies on Solar World and LG panels. The prices were all over the place from about $4 per watt to $4.75 per watt. Same systems, same componments, just different pricing and a lot of BS "promises" and "guarantees".

I ended up paying $3.40 per watt for Solar World 285 panels and Solaredge inverter with optimizers. My system is 10.26KWp in size. So much cheaper than what you would pay for the Sunpower. It has been live since mid Novemeber (the worst time of the year here in MA) yet I've generated over 2MWh so far. I saved $300 in electric over that period and have generated 2 SRECs so far. This month, I have been generating over 40kwh a day (we are lucky we are getting so much sun) so I am definitley seeing huge benefits as the days get longer. So far, solar has been worth it (and I feel better about being more green!)

Ditto to this....

I just had my 8.2Kw PV system commissioned earlier this week, and while Sunpower has the best panels (in terms of wattage per panel), you pay about a 35% *premium* for them, per watt. NO THANKS.

My pre-tax credit final cost for 285w panels and micro-inverters (w/lifetime panel level monitoring) was about what yours was, $3.40/watt. My POST-tax credit final cost is about $2.25/watt.

I've still got to get my SRECTrade login etc, so would appreciate any feedback on the process. Thanks.

[Paulvu84]

Ditto to this....

I just had my 8.2Kw PV system commissioned earlier this week, and while Sunpower has the best panels (in terms of wattage per panel), you pay about a 35% *premium* for them, per watt. NO THANKS.

My pre-tax credit final cost for 285w panels and micro-inverters (w/lifetime panel level monitoring) was about what yours was, $3.40/watt. My POST-tax credit final cost is about $2.25/watt.

I've still got to get my SRECTrade login etc, so would appreciate any feedback on the process. Thanks.

Can u please pm which installer you chose? Thanks

[farokhboston]

Can u please pm which installer you chose? Thanks

Not sure if/how to PM. i went with a local installer, SolarFlair of Ashland. Ask for Dan, and tell him the guy from Chelmsford sent you to him.

[solar pete]

Howdy I put in the link to Solar Flair, we dont have PM's anymore due to referral farmers, so its cool to mention your installer in your posts

[rsilvers]

How come the quote says that the average utility cost is 0.37?