Solar Panel System Disposal

[Lexnice]

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?

[Lexnice]

Thank you for all of your info, Amy.

[ButchDeal]

Guest, NO they don't. in PA under 5kw you do not need a revenue grade meter. other states can sell in the PA market. I sell my SRECs in PA and do NOT have a revenue grade meter. Also I don't every have to report. They use estimates from PVWatts models.

Guest@altE, the built in RGM in SolarEdge inverters is nice but few distributors stock them so it causes delays to use. I wish more distributors would stock and we would use them regularly

[Amy@altE]

Some RGM are by a 3rd party and can be more expensive than the integrated ones.

[rsilvers]

Yes. Same thing. Everyone who gets SRECs has one.

[mpkelley20]

My system has the auto SREC reporting. I have separate meter that was installed. Is that the same thing? Other installers I got quotes from wanted $1000 more for that meter.

[Amy@altE]

For those who don't know, RGM = Revenue Grade Meter that allows you to automatically sends the power generation details to the SREC aggregators or other performance based incentives, so you don't have to manually report it each month. It can add about $350 to 400 to the price of the inverter.

[rsilvers]

Note that SolarEdge has a RGM option built in to the inverter. Installers may not know about it.

[brewbeer]

Lexnice,

Solar Store quoted an 8.505 kW system, 27 LG 315 panels, SolarEdge 7600 Inverter, optimizers: $4.06/watt
PV Squared quoted a 7.85 kW system, 24 SunPower 327 panels, 7.7 kW AC inverter, power optimizers: $4.68/watt
Northeast Solar quoted a 7.245 kW system, 23 LG 315 panels, Enphase 280 Microinverters: $4.17/watt
Beyond Green did not submit a quote.

All three included permits, interconnect, separate revenue meter, internet monitoring, roof racking, structural engineer, and new main breaker panel.

The warranty was not a significant factor in my decision. The biggest factor for me was getting the same company who was installing the panels to also replace my roof and do some related attic and roof deck work, which provided assurance that there would be no finger pointing between contractors if the roof leaked following the work. Having the largest array size was also a significant consideration.

I went with Solar Store. Aside from a string wiring error which was corrected immediately upon discovery, which was not Solar Store's fault (the installation contractor did not follow Solar Store's wiring diagram), I thought the work was excellent. The wiring was run entirely through the attic (no roof conduit). They even wanted to run the conduit from the attic through the interior of the house through a pair of stacked closets, but I asked them to run that section along the outside (side) of the house because the closets are so jam packed full of stuff I didn't want to deal with emptying them out.

I also ended up stripping and replacing the shingles, about 30% of the roof decking (rot), and added a cricket on a chimney (which had contributed to rot) and installed a new gable vent due to the elimination of a roof vent in the way of the new array.

[Amy@altE]

Excellent summary of your experience. We certainly see different areas and different authorities have completely differing requirements for home installations, even within the same state. Authority Having Jurisdiction is always right, even when they are wrong. Your system is larger than average, I can see where it might be intimidating for some tradesmen who have never done solar before to jump in as their first install. It looks like you ended up with a great system, a great installer, and great payback time. I call this a huge solar success story.

[rsilvers]

I wanted flashing that would have a metal water shield. Here are two examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-kTRIGzgCc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0LKQdlNylA

But you still need to use sealant if there is a chance of ice dams.

It is cheaper for the installer to not have to buy these and use more basic L-feet.

[mpkelley20]

Nor do you know what kind of system was bought for $3.40 per watt. What if they are silver 240 watt polycrystalline panels with a string inverter and using L-feet without flashing and with 12 foot spreads between footings?



SolarCity quoted me $6.40 per watt two years ago for SunPower.

My system is Solarworld 285 watt mono panels with Solaredge se10000 inverter and optimizers. Honestly, I can't remember the racking brand right now but I know it is a rail free setup similar to the quick mount PV system. As for flashing, my installer used a butyl flash rather than asphalt or caulk. Spacing....I did not get into those specifics so I don't know. First time I have seen this brought up! My town is VERY strict when it comes to solar work and we had to have multiple inspectors out during the process. It was quite invasive with people climbing in my attic taking pictures and stuff! But, all went well on that front so I assume my installer was using what he was supposed to from the start.

The orientation of my setup is a bit different than most in my town. Most of my panels sit horizontally with the exception of one row on the bottom of both my house and garage which sit vertically. The output so far has been freakishly accurate to what PVwatts gave me.

I think you win on highest quoted price I've seen from Solar City! I thought my $5.50 was high!!

Somewhere in the forum are my threads on my setup pre and post setup. Took me a year and a half to make a decision!

[rsilvers]

I am in MA and I asked for quotes for an 11.4kW system.

Two places quoted me over $6 per watt two years ago for SunPower, and I didn't ask for re-quotes this time.

If I bought 300 watt panels and EnPhase 250s and racking from AltE (where Amy is from), it would have cost me about $1.75 per watt for all of the parts. If I then hired people and managed them to complete the work, it would have cost me about $2.60 per watt in the end. I wanted to do that, but I called many electricians and I over-estimated people's willingness to do stuff they have never done before. Basically no one wanted to touch it. I had a friend who I could hire and he was willing to do it all, but he is not licensed, and my local electrical inspector and building inspector refused to give me home-owner permits. No inspection, no interconnect. So Amy can blame the local government and electrical unions for killing my self-install.

The place that farokhboston used quoted me $3.60 for 285 watt SolarWorld panels and Enphase (more than farokhbostn paid for some reason - I think I am taxed based on my neighborhood), but I have limited roof area, and so didn't want that. They said they could do 320 watt SunPower for $4.30. I didn't want that price. I could have tried to get them to match the $3.40 that their other customers paid, but I didn't bother because needed higher efficiency panels to get as close to my power needs as possible, within reason, which I determined was best done with LG panels.

A highly-rated installer in the review section quoted me $3.90 for 315 watt LG. They seemed very competent. I wanted a better price.

A place in Plymouth that I called that seemed like mostly a one-guy operation quoted $4 a watt. No reason to pick them over the highly-rated place.

Another place that did a big install near me - I didn't want to waste their time if they would quote high, so I scheduled a phone appointment. They never called, so I scratched them off the list.

I asked for a quote on a larger (70 panel) system for the place I ended up going with - over 20kW. They quoted $3.45 per watt for LG315 or $3.48 per watt for LG320 with two SolarEdge SE10000s. That also includes indoor inverters and indoor conduit and six strings - so it is a complex install and not simply putting up a matrix of panels in one area. This also includes a line-side tap and an expedited (more expensive) application for net-metering. While I was hoping to get Arizona prices, I seemed like this was as low as I was going to get in MA for modules I actually wanted, so I said yes. The strong incentives in MA seem to be making installers keep their prices high. Basically they are structuring their prices to take part of the incentives from the buyer.

[Amy@altE]

$25,594 / 6240W = $4.10 per watt

SRECs are handled through a 3rd party clearing house. Your system is registered with them, and they pay you quarterly per 1MWh. You have to report the numbers to them each month, either automatically or manually, depending on your equipment. The installer generally takes care of the registration for their clients, as it can get a little complicated to set up. The only reason people consider not getting SRECs is because it enables the big power producers to produce dirty energy while meeting the state mandated clean energy requirements. They are buying credit for your clean power to offset their dirty power. So technically, your clean power is enabling dirty power, for a price. If you are OK with that, then that money is there for you as part of the state's clean energy incentive, take it. I would.

[Amy@altE]

True, it could have been SunPower, which I personally feel is only occasionally worth the extra price, so again, too high in most cases. Don't get too bogged down with that statement, it is just my opinion. The main point I was making was he can't know if it was a good price or not with only one quote. My momma told me, you better shop around.