Solar Panel System Disposal

[Lexnice]

Does anyone have an idea how much to believe/put stock in high reviews of a company with a high avg. review score with over 26 reviews on SolarReviews?

[Lexnice]

Did you get an estimate for a system, or bought a system, from All Energy Solar? They have an office in Chicopee, MA. and many other places.They are highly rated on SolarReviews.

[Amy@altE]

Not to get too salesy, but I know we are dealing with chicken/egg scenario here. We aren't getting a lot of people asking for them yet, so we don't have them in stock, which makes people not ask for it. I do know we can get them in 2-3 days, so it's not a big delay. I did pass this info on to the powers that be here, it's good data.

[Lexnice]

Has anyone had an estimate for a system, or bought a system, from All Energy Solar? They have an office in Chicopee, MA. and many other places.

[farokhboston]

"What size is your system? What was SolarFlair's cost per watt for your system? Which Solar panels did you go with? Did you go with micro inverters that mount to the underside of each panel? Did you have any extras that you added that added to the cost?"

I have 29 panels, for a total of 8.15 Kw. Cost before all incentives etc, was around $3.40/Watt, with Micro-Inverters, which I needed due to the shading I have.

I'd have to look up the quotes I got, but I know that I did "upgrade" to larger panels and micro-inveters over what the "base" offering was.

[Lexnice]

Thank you for the info.
What size is your system? What was SolarFlair's cost per watt for your system? Which Solar panels did you go with? Did you go with micro inverters that mount to the underside of each panel? Did you have any extras that you added that added to the cost?
My roofing supports are trusses 24" on center. I was told that I may need more support.

[rsilvers]

I told them before the quote that they didn't have to calculate that because it is what it is, and it wouldn't change if I did it or not.

Not sure if they did a full PVDesigner layout, or just looked at each region of the roof on the fisheye one at a time. They spent 5 man-hours measuring the roof.

They did leave out some panels where they saw a lot of shade at certain times of the year, and my response was to remove the object causing the shade and ask them to put the modules back. They left out a panel where there was a plumbing vent. I asked them to move the vent and put the panel there. They said no problem.

One thing is for sure - they were clearly not trying to sell me as many modules as possible, and were trying to only use them in smart areas. I know this because their preliminary design had 57 modules. I asked for 73. They countered with 69. I signed off on that, on the condition that they consider adding a few more during the process. The inverters can handle up to 84.

[farokhboston]

Ask your installer what the "Total Efficiency" of your system is, due to the shading etc. Mine is at 80%....due to primarily late afternoon shading from trees (more like a mini forest) on one side of my house.

[rsilvers]

I never saw the SolarEye data, but the designer left out panels in areas that he determined had too much shade. I had him put some of them in anyway. I also am removing something that would cause shade.

[farokhboston]

RSilvers,

AZ pricing in MA is not possible. Labor costs here, for one, are much higher.

What happened to the $3.08/watt quote from Bay State Solar? And what did the "Solar Eye" show about any potential shading?

[Lexnice]

I am getting quotes from several Solar Companies around the state. I live in Western Mass. I am learning a great deal about solar systems through this forum, so thank you to everyone.
Already Solar City uses a rail system, AAH doesn't .
I need to know the right questions to ask these companies. What is the best fastening system and flashing method, for these companies to install my 23-25 solar panels on the roof of my ranch style home, so that the roof will never leak, solar panels will never loosen up, rip off of my roof, or fall off my roof? Best way to seal or flash the roofing shingles under the mounts?

[rsilvers]

Railless seems hard to get perfect alignment of modules.
My system will use two SE10000A-US000NNR2 inverters. That is the part number for the 10000 watt AC unit with the RGM built in.

[ButchDeal]

We use all the solaredge single face inverters.
mostly the SE7600 but a fair bit of SE3800 and SE3000
in the northEast (were SRECs are) mostly 7600, 5000, 3800, & 11400 (in that order)
So asking the distributor to carry all those is a bit much right now but likely by the end of this summer we will be a bigger force.

[ButchDeal]

One company does not use a rail system lagged into the roof trusses to mount the roof mounted solar panels. They swear by "E Mount AIR brackets", but have only been using them about a year. Is anyone familiar with these? Are they the best way to roof mount solar panels? Can they be used with Iron Ridge Flash Foot or SnapNRack Flashed L Foot that Rsilvers suggested?

No. it is a railless system and ironridge is a rail system.
They are great for lazy installers as they don't have to carry around rails.
We will not let our installers use them. They weaken rather than strengthen the structure.

[Amy@altE]

If you know which models you tend to use, your distributor can often make a point of having some in stock. It helps them plan their inventory to have a good working relationship with their installer customers. As they are fairly new with the RGM, some distributors (OK, one in particular that I know of) are working out which models to stock, especially now that high season is coming upon us.