Help me choose a bid

[sunforhart]

For me aesthetics means a lot so I am thinking to go with Sun Power. At least that is what I have in mind, but would like some expert advice from all of you, before signing anything.

I live in New England area with national Grid. I have decided to go with a 15 yr feed in tariff which gives me $0.34/W and I currently pay about $0.17/W

I have gotten the following quotes: All the prices are before the 30% federal tax break.

2 Sun power are as follows:

Bid A:

Sun power X21 335W for a total of 32 panels (10.72 kW) black on black 11,519 kW.year. AC Size: 8.576
10yr Workman ship warranty
Annual performance testing
Sun power warranty with micro inverters.
They are Sun Power dealers
Price $43,500 ($4.05/watt)


Bid B:
Same panels
Except the warranty is 20yrs. For some reason they quoted: 12,006 kWh per year as compared to the bid A.
Performance warranty is also included meaning if it doesn't meet what they quoted they will pay the difference. (I assume they will quote the lowest and take the risk)
They are an elite dealership for Sun power ( i think it means they sell a lot)
$47,256 (i.e $4.40/watt)


Bid C: RGS did a lot in my area including my friend
Silfab 300M 36 panels (10.8kW) SLA 300M first yr production: 12,984 kwhs
Warranty is 25yrs with Enphase inverter M250
$33,644 (i.e 3.11/watt)



Bid D:
LG Neon 300W black 10.7Kw with 36 panels first yr is 12,166kWh
25yr linear performance warranty
12 yr product warranty
Enphase micrinverters IQ 6+ (not sure what 6+ means) 25yr warranty
15yr workmanship warranty
$37,800 ($3.5/w)


Bid E:
LG 320 34 Panels in total with 10.88kW in size
Inverter: Solar Edge optimizer with 25yrs warranty
Price: 34,272 which comes out to $3.15/watt
10 yr workmanship warranty


Bid F:
LG 320 Black 34 panels. total size is 10.88kW
Solar edge 25yr warranty included on all components.
10yr workmanship warranty
36,600 which is $3.66.watt





Due to the look thinking of going with bid A knowing that i will pay a little extra. Because the look will bother me a lot everyday if isn't all black.

I head some of the LG's are good in black not sure what you all think about that.

Thank you

[J.P.M.]

For starters, know that most every equal (electrical) size system that uses quality components, Sunpower's and everyone else's in the same orientation, location and duty will produce about equal annual output.

Sunpower is good stuff, but overpriced and overkill. Like buying a Mercedes town car for use as a grocery hauler. PV is an appliance and a commodity, not a lifestyle.

Warranties are mostly marketing gimmicks. Panels don't fail much, with infant mortality being the most common but still rare cause. All of your material choices above will be cover such failures.

I bet after about 2 or 3 weeks or so, if you're like most, you won't even notice the array.

Spend as much time or more evaluating vendors as you do evaluating equipment. Even very good equipment will perform poorly and be trouble prone if a crappy install is done.

All black panels will tend to run a bit warmer and thus a bit less efficient than their non all black equivalents.


As for appearance, pay your money, take your choice.

Before you pull the trigger, you may find it wise to consider doing 2 things:

1.) Download a slightly outdated but free, and then read: "Solar Power Your Home for Dummies", or spring for a newer, revised version at bookstores or Amazon, ~~$20.

2.) Download and run PVWatts from NREL. It's solar modeling software from NREL. Read the help/info screens a couple of times, use a 10 % system loss factor and do some runs. Compare different system sizes' to your annual usage and keep in mind that it's usually not cost effective to offset an entire electric bill.

The estimates you have from vendors for annual output aren't that disparate, but reread the 1st sentence of this post again. Vendors tend to underestimate annual output for a lot of reasons, mostly to sell more product, but not all the reasons are entirely bad. However, how much to oversize, if at all, ought to be your call based on your annual load and knowledge you gain from learning how solar works.

Welcome to the neighborhood and the forum of few(er) illusions.

[sunforhart]

what would you say is the next best to sun power in regards to asthetics?

i have narrowed it down to the 2 installers which i have vetted.

[ButchDeal]

what would you say is the next best to sun power in regards to asthetics?

i have narrowed it down to the 2 installers which i have vetted.

All black on black modules will look pretty much the same from any distance. like a black sheet.

NOTE that there are three colors associated with modules. The cell color, the back sheet color and the frame color.
Cells come in primarily two colors associated with poly-crystalline and mono-crystalline, mono being black
The back sheets as well come in primarily two colors, white and black. White having slightly better performance.
The frames come in clear (aluminum with clear cote) and black.

Black on Black (BoB) and Black on White (BoW) is referring to the cell and back sheet.

Many vendors have several models of modules with often last years BoW and this years BoB models at the same wattage. And often the frames can be purchased with either clear or black finish.

You didn't specify which bids have BoB or not just the brand and wattage of the modules.
since many of them are LG here is a site to look at:

http://www.lg.com/us/business/solar-panel/products

[J.P.M.]

what would you say is the next best to sun power in regards to asthetics?

i have narrowed it down to the 2 installers which i have vetted.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are a lot of folks in my HOA that think a black monolith sitting on their neighbors roofs are an abominable affront to their sensibilities. After about 2 weeks or so most of them stop noticing.

[ButchDeal]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are a lot of folks in my HOA that think a black monolith sitting on their neighbors roofs are an abominable affront to their sensibilities. After about 2 weeks or so most of them stop noticing.

I agree they blend in very well regardless of color.

I personally wanted the blue modules as they blend in very well with my light blue/gray energy star shingles.

[sunforhart]

All black on black modules will look pretty much the same from any distance. like a black sheet.

NOTE that there are three colors associated with modules. The cell color, the back sheet color and the frame color.
Cells come in primarily two colors associated with poly-crystalline and mono-crystalline, mono being black
The back sheets as well come in primarily two colors, white and black. White having slightly better performance.
The frames come in clear (aluminum with clear cote) and black.

Black on Black (BoB) and Black on White (BoW) is referring to the cell and back sheet.

Many vendors have several models of modules with often last years BoW and this years BoB models at the same wattage. And often the frames can be purchased with either clear or black finish.

You didn't specify which bids have BoB or not just the brand and wattage of the modules.
since many of them are LG here is a site to look at:
http://www.lg.com/us/business/solar-panel/products

The panels are LG305N1K-G4

I was thinking of going with this one. All the LG Bids are willing to give this one.
I don't mind paying a little extra for good installers.

[J.P.M.]

The panels are LG305N1K-G4

I was thinking of going with this one. All the LG Bids are willing to give this one.
I don't mind paying a little extra for good installers.

Give due diligence on vendor selection and remember that everything is negotiable. Just get it all in writing and sit on the roof during install. Trust but verify.

[bonbon]

For me aesthetics means a lot so I am thinking to go with Sun Power. At least that is what I have in mind, but would like some expert advice from all of you, before signing anything.

I live in New England area with national Grid. I have decided to go with a 15 yr feed in tariff which gives me $0.34/W and I currently pay about $0.17/W

Maybe you should get a quote for the LG 335s High efficiency panels too. ([URL="http://www.lg.com/us/business/solar-panel/all-products/lg-LG335N1C-A5"]High Efficiency LG NeON