Anyone with experience with WholeSaleSolar?

[tyab]

I started with a kit from Wholesale solar - self installed - and was able to negotiate the price down by getting quotes from some of their competitors. I ended up getting them to eat the shipping and mostly matching price on the IronRidge stuff - that is where they were going full retail. I live in CA so sales tax could not be avoided. Naturally they still made some $ but based on my other quotes it was acceptable to me. Overall I could have pieced everything out and could have saved a bit and from some suppliers the sales tax but everything arrived packaged properly and the one minor issue I had was quickly resolved (incorrect mid-clamps received). For the electrical design, they custom roll it to what you want and I had no issue getting the .DWG file and from there I continued myself with additional changes. Not everyone is proficient with AutoCAD so that may or may not be important to you.

My setup was a complete custom setup and there is no way any kit could cover my needs but that was a good starting point - panels, inverters, rails, cables and misc stuff from mostly Iron Ridge. Add to that massive amounts of wire, piping, EMT, conduit, stainless hardware, stainless tubing, misc electrical stuff, sub-panels and on and on. Again my ground mount setup is completely outside of the typical roof install package.

My overall experience from them was positive but I went in informed and was comfortable negotiating a better deal.

[bcroe]

Wholesale solar in Shasta has been good to me, with great prices.

I know of no vendor selling "kits" that has a complete, suitable kit. Every install (except on model B tract homes) is going to be different, each code inspector wants something different. No kit can support that. If this causes you difficulty, perhaps your install in not suitable for a kit, and you need a properly engineered solution.
Take for example, a Kit airplane or Kit car. Those often have many pieces not included, that the builder
has to supply. Many model airplane kits don't include the needed glue or paint

Right, experience here is a kit is just a calculated list of parts, with no drawings, at a not advantageous
price. Does not include ground mount stuff, forget any simple way to change tilt. For the same $
I have built a far stronger array out of standard 6061 stock I drilled, instead of clamps in slots that can
slip off if stress causes any movement. Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

Maine's governor and his supporters in the legislature have been actively gnawing away at solar incentives for a few years.There are 16 counties in the state and only 3 of them are really prosperous with strip along with a skinny strip along the southern half of the Maine coast. Once you get inland its very poor and rural with a few cities inland along the major rivers (left over from the states forest industry). About a quarter of the state has no public roads and is still in township status.The rural areas of the state used to be agricultural breadbasket for Boston in the 1800s and has been losing population ever since. Rural farmland is relatively cheap and there is recent influx of Amish and Mennonites into the rural areas. The weather can be hard on the rural electric grid and due to low population density its expensive to keep the power on and reliable. The net result is power bills are expensive and whatever politicians are in control are always trying to shift the costs around. Maine did have good net metering standards but recent government actions (following the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) playbook) have made grid tied solar far less attractive. Of late not a lot of home solar being installed except in the more prosperous southern counties where folks have more money to burn. ALEC is the Koch Brothers anti solar organization that along with many other things pumps money and guidance into anti solar legislation).

More power to Organic Farmer if he has figured out a way to make a buck in a rural area. If he is willing to make the lifestyle changes to run on off grid power that is a choice but expect few normal consumers will be willing to do so. Many folks who want a rural lifestyle in New England have been attracted to rural areas of Maine (usually just inland from the coast) since the sixties, some figure out a way to buck the trend but many end up heading back to civilization.

Next door in NH the state still has a rich poor split between counties but the split is 7 prosperous counties and 2 less so and one poor rural one. Solar has a lot of support but ALEC and the states newest governor has been trying to chip away at net metering. The governor recently vetoed an extension of net metering so unless things change new grid tied systems are going to shift out of state. The state has a small solar incentive up front funded by regional greenhouse gas money but through legislative actions the funding for the incentive gets frozen on occasion. The net metering incentive is good, there is no 12 month clock, credit carries over as long as there is electric service to the property. There is a yearly offer if an owner wants to sell power at a wholesale rate but they dont have to take it. There are attempts to put in distribution charges on newer net metered accounts and the state does charge a small tax on all power being sent from the grid including net metered generation. The NH SREC market is not very lucrative, the states utilities control the PUC and artificially keep the pricing quite low.

That adds some needed perspective. Thank you.

[Mike90250]

Wholesale solar in Shasta has been good to me, with great prices.

I know of no vendor selling "kits" that has a complete, suitable kit. Every install (except on model B tract homes) is going to be different, each code inspector wants something different. No kit can support that. If this causes you difficulty, perhaps your install in not suitable for a kit, and you need a properly engineered solution.
Take for example, a Kit airplane or Kit car. Those often have many pieces not included, that the builder has to supply. Many model airplane kits don't include the needed glue or paint

[organic farmer]

Maine's governor and his supporters in the legislature have been actively gnawing away at solar incentives for a few years.There are 16 counties in the state and only 3 of them are really prosperous with strip along with a skinny strip along the southern half of the Maine coast. Once you get inland its very poor and rural with a few cities inland along the major rivers (left over from the states forest industry). About a quarter of the state has no public roads and is still in township status.The rural areas of the state used to be agricultural breadbasket for Boston in the 1800s and has been losing population ever since. Rural farmland is relatively cheap and there is recent influx of Amish and Mennonites into the rural areas. The weather can be hard on the rural electric grid and due to low population density its expensive to keep the power on and reliable. The net result is power bills are expensive and whatever politicians are in control are always trying to shift the costs around. Maine did have good net metering standards but recent government actions (following the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) playbook) have made grid tied solar far less attractive. Of late not a lot of home solar being installed except in the more prosperous southern counties where folks have more money to burn. ALEC is the Koch Brothers anti solar organization that along with many other things pumps money and guidance into anti solar legislation).

More power to Organic Farmer if he has figured out a way to make a buck in a rural area. If he is willing to make the lifestyle changes to run on off grid power that is a choice but expect few normal consumers will be willing to do so. Many folks who want a rural lifestyle in New England have been attracted to rural areas of Maine (usually just inland from the coast) since the sixties, some figure out a way to buck the trend but many end up heading back to civilization.

Next door in NH the state still has a rich poor split between counties but the split is 7 prosperous counties and 2 less so and one poor rural one. Solar has a lot of support but ALEC and the states newest governor has been trying to chip away at net metering. The governor recently vetoed an extension of net metering so unless things change new grid tied systems are going to shift out of state. The state has a small solar incentive up front funded by regional greenhouse gas money but through legislative actions the funding for the incentive gets frozen on occasion. The net metering incentive is good, there is no 12 month clock, credit carries over as long as there is electric service to the property. There is a yearly offer if an owner wants to sell power at a wholesale rate but they dont have to take it. There are attempts to put in distribution charges on newer net metered accounts and the state does charge a small tax on all power being sent from the grid including net metered generation. The NH SREC market is not very lucrative, the states utilities control the PUC and artificially keep the pricing quite low.

The majority of Maine's 986 towns are un-organized [52% of Maine is un-organized townships]. They generally lack pavement and power grid.

In my township 75% of solar power installations are off-grid.

The primary reason for solar power in Maine is because the power grid is so unreliable, and many towns simply do not have power grid in those towns.

When I moved to Maine, many farm properties I viewed were in excess of 20 miles from the nearest power grid.

[SunEagle]

Right, you put a Kwh of power onto the grid and you get a brownie point for it. If a week later you need a Kwh from the grid you can get it.

Each brownie point is good for 1-year, at the end of that year any brownie points not used, expire.

I guess the moral of the story is to either "use more" or "generate less" if being "even" at the end of the year is important to you.

[peakbagger]

Maine's governor and his supporters in the legislature have been actively gnawing away at solar incentives for a few years.There are 16 counties in the state and only 3 of them are really prosperous with strip along with a skinny strip along the southern half of the Maine coast. Once you get inland its very poor and rural with a few cities inland along the major rivers (left over from the states forest industry). About a quarter of the state has no public roads and is still in township status.The rural areas of the state used to be agricultural breadbasket for Boston in the 1800s and has been losing population ever since. Rural farmland is relatively cheap and there is recent influx of Amish and Mennonites into the rural areas. The weather can be hard on the rural electric grid and due to low population density its expensive to keep the power on and reliable. The net result is power bills are expensive and whatever politicians are in control are always trying to shift the costs around. Maine did have good net metering standards but recent government actions (following the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) playbook) have made grid tied solar far less attractive. Of late not a lot of home solar being installed except in the more prosperous southern counties where folks have more money to burn. ALEC is the Koch Brothers anti solar organization that along with many other things pumps money and guidance into anti solar legislation).

More power to Organic Farmer if he has figured out a way to make a buck in a rural area. If he is willing to make the lifestyle changes to run on off grid power that is a choice but expect few normal consumers will be willing to do so. Many folks who want a rural lifestyle in New England have been attracted to rural areas of Maine (usually just inland from the coast) since the sixties, some figure out a way to buck the trend but many end up heading back to civilization.

Next door in NH the state still has a rich poor split between counties but the split is 7 prosperous counties and 2 less so and one poor rural one. Solar has a lot of support but ALEC and the states newest governor has been trying to chip away at net metering. The governor recently vetoed an extension of net metering so unless things change new grid tied systems are going to shift out of state. The state has a small solar incentive up front funded by regional greenhouse gas money but through legislative actions the funding for the incentive gets frozen on occasion. The net metering incentive is good, there is no 12 month clock, credit carries over as long as there is electric service to the property. There is a yearly offer if an owner wants to sell power at a wholesale rate but they dont have to take it. There are attempts to put in distribution charges on newer net metered accounts and the state does charge a small tax on all power being sent from the grid including net metered generation. The NH SREC market is not very lucrative, the states utilities control the PUC and artificially keep the pricing quite low.

[ButchDeal]

I dont know, maybe I am 'weong'.

But it sure sounds like others can get paid money.

I have commonly read about people doing an annual balancing up. Or whatever the phrase is.

Some areas give you credit for NEG (net excess generaton) at wholesale rate. That is not payed for all generation, it is credit for Excess Generation which few peoole have, and most power companies do not pay for. For some it just goes away.

[organic farmer]

My definition of a "credit" on my electric bill for sending kWH to the POCO is the same as being "paid" for what I am generating.

Also most Net Metering contracts "zero out" at the end of the 12 months it started on. The big problem is that some POCO's pay the customer the same $/kWh it charges them but other POCO's pay less then what they charge. Each state has an organization (PSC) that is supposed to regulate what the POCO can charge or pay back. It is widely different across all of the POCO's.

Right, you put a Kwh of power onto the grid and you get a brownie point for it. If a week later you need a Kwh from the grid you can get it.

Each brownie point is good for 1-year, at the end of that year any brownie points not used, expire.

[SunEagle]

I dont know, maybe I am 'weong'.

But it sure sounds like others can get paid money.

I have commonly read about people doing an annual balancing up. Or whatever the phrase is.

My definition of a "credit" on my electric bill for sending kWH to the POCO is the same as being "paid" for what I am generating.

Also most Net Metering contracts "zero out" at the end of the 12 months it started on. The big problem is that some POCO's pay the customer the same $/kWh it charges them but other POCO's pay less then what they charge. Each state has an organization (PSC) that is supposed to regulate what the POCO can charge or pay back. It is widely different across all of the POCO's.

[organic farmer]

And you would be weong ( again). You get credits in most states.

I dont know, maybe I am 'weong'.

But it sure sounds like others can get paid money.

I have commonly read about people doing an annual balancing up. Or whatever the phrase is.

[J.P.M.]

And you would be weong ( again). You get credits in most states.

I wonder if there is someone reading all this who is informed and has reliable and unbiased information they would be willing to share about the situation in ME with respect to how such states of affairs and policies there may or may not affect system configuration vs. pricing.

Organic Farmer has one perspective and for no other reason than his background, I don't doubt his veracity one bit, or for one hot second, but sometimes his outlook seems a bit parochial and that can lead to wrongheaded conclusions, and also may result in pointing his opinions in the wrong direction at times.

O.G: Respectfully, things may not be entirely as they seem to you. There may well be requirements that ME or the POCO's require for grid tie systems that the state or local authority, or the POCO's do not care about or is not within their prevue. I'd suggest that it's possible that making a system safe(r) may well be where such costs, as such costs may exist, may have something to do with the situation. But then, I'm not in Maine and I'm surely ignorant of all the in/outs of energy policy as it unfolds there.

My experience in CA, FWIW, is such that while it's possible to buy your own components and hire others to do the design, permitting and installationy, it's not an easy task, mostly due to the idea that an installer doesn't get the markup on the materials they'll be installing, or any control for foulups that the solar ignorant owner made in the ordering process, and so are reluctant to take on such a potential mess. Bottom line: Look at it from the perspective of a vendor/installer. In the end, installers can make more money with less hassle and less liability for someone else's errors by doing all the tasks in house, and so that's what they do. It's just business.

[ButchDeal]

It is also my understanding that in many other states, when you do put your power onto the grid, the utility company will eventually pay you for that power. Here you just get a 'credit' for the power, that expires in 12-months.

And you would be wrong ( again). You get credits in most states.

[organic farmer]

It is also my understanding that in many other states, when you do put your power onto the grid, the utility company will eventually pay you for that power. Here you just get a 'credit' for the power, that expires in 12-months.

[organic farmer]

It seems inconceivable that an off grid battery system would be cheaper then a grid tie system.

I would say that the grid tie pv installers in Maine were trying to rob their customers. Hopefully that is not the same action in every state.

Yes, when comparing the same size systems this is how it works out.

Same size for same size, the only difference being that one is net-metering without batteries, whereas the other is not net-metering but includes batteries.

It has been discussed previously on this forum, yet some posters delight in arguing about it.


I also attend many of the public workshops and events where industry 'professionals' present their arguments in favor of getting state tax revenue to subsidize their industry.