Questions to ask installer

[shet]

Hello all,

My first post here. I am in process of getting quotes for installing apprx 9kW system here in Northern Jersey (NJ). From the various posts here on this forum, I came up with the following questions to ask the installer. If there are other questions you feel are good to ask, please do share with me.


* What racking brand would be used?
* Are lag bolts of Stainless Steel ? How many per panel roughly? Two?
* Is racking black in color?
* How much will the panel be off roof? 4" ?
* What kind of flashing?
* What if roof leaks at lag bolt entry point?

* Would you relocate vents ?
* Will conduit be inside attic ?

* Is the panel all black?
* Does panel need to be cleaned? Frequency?
* Panel & inverter parts & labor warranty (manufacturer) ?

* How to disconnect PV in case of emergency?
* Any insurance against reduced yield say when too many cloudy days in a particular year ?

[J.P.M.]

All decent questions but those are the type of things I'd be telling the installer I want, not asking.

[rsilvers]

All decent questions but those are the type of things I'd be telling the installer I want, not asking.

Not at first. An experienced dealer will know a lot more than someone getting their own first install. I would hear what each dealer says with an open mind. After talking to a few, he can then decide what proposal he likes, pick a final dealer, and then tell him what he wants.


"* Are lag bolts of Stainless Steel ? How many per panel roughly? Two?"

That's not how it works. First ask if they are going to use rail or railess racking. I would only want rails. Once rails is settled, then the thing to ask is "what is the span between footings." Some installers will do 4 foot spans. Some will do 8 foot spans. The correct answer is to do whatever the manufacturer recommends for your area (snow and wind load). Iron Ridge has a calculator on their website to determine what is best. I would just ask that the installer does "what the manufacturer recommends for my area."

* What kind of flashing?

I would ask for "flash-foots" that have flashing built in, rather than the lower cost basic L-foot with sealing.

* Is the panel all black?

There are three things about black panels. One is the frame - black or silver. I wanted black. Then there is the spacing around the cells. Black or silver. I wanted black. Then there is the wires. Silver was ok for me. SunPower makes an all black for a ton more money.

* Does panel need to be cleaned? Frequency?

No reason to ask a dealer this. You will get all different answers.

* How to disconnect PV in case of emergency?

There will be a manual cutoff outside the house. No harm in asking, but I think everyone will do it the same way due to code compliance.

* Any insurance against reduced yield say when too many cloudy days in a particular year ?

There is no such thing.

Ask what kind of inverters. If they are not micro-inverters, then ask if the inverter can be indoors (assuming your panel is indoors).

[shet]

Thanks guys to all your inputs. Also thanks to you rsilvers for listing (in one of your older posts) things you realized after the install was done. That was really helpful.

Regarding the insurance for below yield generation for cloudy days or any other reason , SunPower installer gave me that for lease option (I don't want lease though). It was at the rate of 17 cents per kWh (raising to 18c in 2035) if generation below 95% of expected output till 2035. Also if you see Winaico website, they have 2 yr free insurance (extendable for some pymt) which also includes if Global irradiation is less in some years (though that insurance is applicable only for Europe). And who knows maybe Winaico insurance is also for lease option.

[rsilvers]

My install is not done yet, but I did realize those things after quotes.

The weather is what it is, but you made me think of a good point. What you want is for the designer to not over-inflate the predicted generation. My insurance for that was to use PVWatts to try to estimate it myself, and set my own expectations.

[J.P.M.]

My install is not done yet, but I did realize those things after quotes.

The weather is what it is, but you made me think of a good point. What you want is for the designer to not over-inflate the predicted generation. My insurance for that was to use PVWatts to try to estimate it myself, and set my own expectations.

+1. Vendor performance guarantees are so low and so rigged you'll have close to a zero probability of ever having a successful warranty claim if it comes to that. The trigger production levels are usually so low you'll trip over them. Read the warranty and make sure you understand every term used before you spend any money on it. If you do that, you'll see why a lot of folks knowledgeable in such matters think most every production guarantee is B.S.

[NYHeel]

Also, I don't think vendors provide performance guarantees anyway for the purchase options. Those are usually only for leases/PPAs.

Funny you bring up the Winaico 2 year insurance. I'm getting a 10.5 kW system installed in Northern Jersey as well (Bergen County) using Winaico 300 watt panels. From what I read on their site I think that's just for specific things that an insurance policy covers like accidental damage as opposed to standard warranty items. Your regular homeowner's policy probably already covers that, though it's nice to be able to avoid making a homeowners claim.

The black panel stuff is purely aesthetics, I think. I don't think the black panels produce any better.

And yes, I'll echo going to PVWatts and getting your own production estimate. My number is actually 7% higher than my installer estimated using the local weather option (as opposed to the nearest TMY2 location) and a 10% system loss amount.

[ButchDeal]

The black panel stuff is purely aesthetics, I think. I don't think the black panels produce any better.

Black on black modules have lower performance than black on white.

[shet]

From data sheets, I see that fully black panels produce 10-15 watts less than equivalent non-fully-black model within same manufacturer. Knowing that, I am still keen on all black panels. I am in Bergen county too.

[NYHeel]

Have you gotten any quotes yet? I'm just curious how I did with the installers I ended up going with. I'm paying about $3.27 per watt for a 10.5 kW system with 300 watt Winaico panels and the solaredge inverter (the SE10000A) and optimizers (P400). I do have 2 arrays though on my setup a southern facing one (195 azimuth) and an eastern facing one (105 azimuth). It's possible that may make my installation slightly more expensive.

[ButchDeal]

Have you gotten any quotes yet? I'm just curious how I did with the installers I ended up going with. I'm paying about $3.27 per watt for a 10.5 kW system with 300 watt Winaico panels and the solaredge inverter (the SE10000A) and optimizers (P400). I do have 2 arrays though on my setup a southern facing one (195 azimuth) and an eastern facing one (105 azimuth). It's possible that may make my installation slightly more expensive.

Which modules are you getting? the P400 is for 72 & 96 cell modules.
you should have the P300

http://www.solaredge.com/files/pdfs/...tasheet-na.pdf

[shet]

Have you gotten any quotes yet? I'm just curious how I did with the installers I ended up going with. I'm paying about $3.27 per watt for a 10.5 kW system with 300 watt Winaico panels and the solaredge inverter (the SE10000A) and optimizers (P400). I do have 2 arrays though on my setup a southern facing one (195 azimuth) and an eastern facing one (105 azimuth). It's possible that may make my installation slightly more expensive.

I think your installer is the same as the one who quote me on Winaico. Quote is for $3.19 to $3.28 (with solaredge inverter and optimizer similar to yours) depending on number of panels I go for. This is a rough quote because they have yet to do survey. They also gave me quotes for other manufactures too.

[NYHeel]

Yeah, I noticed that as well. I'm getting a 60 cell 300 watt module. It's the WSP-300M6. I assumed that the P400 can work on 60 cell modules and just showed the 72 and 96 cell modules since those are the ones more likely to be closer to 400 watts. But you know what they say about assuming. I'll ask my installer why they're planning on using the P400 instead of the P300.

Could they be using the P400 due to the 0-5% power tolerance that could potentially get clipped with the P300 optimizer? Just guessing.

[NYHeel]

I think your installer is the same as the one who quote me on Winaico. Quote is for $3.19 to $3.28 (with solaredge inverter and optimizer similar to yours) depending on number of panels I go for. This is a rough quote because they have yet to do survey. They also gave me quotes for other manufactures too.

Is it Green Power Energy? They have a lot of really positive reviews on solarreviews.com and on google reviews (most are the same reviews).

[shet]

Is it Green Power Energy?

Yes, it is.