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looking into solar and trying to figure all this out

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  • looking into solar and trying to figure all this out

    I met with a person for my first quote on a sunpower system. I wanted to start with the best and see where that went. Well I am now leaning toward another system and just more panels etc. The gentleman I met with really steered me toward purchasing a system indicating that with the PPA and leases, the companies are really making a lot more money and that makes sense I guess it is just a matter if you have the money or not or a way to finance the purchase more economically than a lease.

    A couple questions I have, I have heard of prices around 3.6-3.8 for brands like Suniva, benq, samsung etc.... but I am seeing solar kits on websites for a 8.4k system for around $1.8/watt. So I know they would get the products cheaper so they are more than doubling the product price which honestly sounds about right knowing businesses.

    What is an industry average for installed price of say a 8kw system for a fairly generic brand?

    I am just wondering if I would be able to buy a system and have it installed for cheaper.

  • #2
    Originally posted by centralCalsolar View Post
    I met with a person for my first quote on a sunpower system. I wanted to start with the best and see where that went. Well I am now leaning toward another system and just more panels etc. The gentleman I met with really steered me toward purchasing a system indicating that with the PPA and leases, the companies are really making a lot more money and that makes sense I guess it is just a matter if you have the money or not or a way to finance the purchase more economically than a lease.

    A couple questions I have, I have heard of prices around 3.6-3.8 for brands like Suniva, benq, samsung etc.... but I am seeing solar kits on websites for a 8.4k system for around $1.8/watt. So I know they would get the products cheaper so they are more than doubling the product price which honestly sounds about right knowing businesses.

    What is an industry average for installed price of say a 8kw system for a fairly generic brand?

    I am just wondering if I would be able to buy a system and have it installed for cheaper.

    It doesn't work like that my friend. You can find kits relatively cheap, but those are far from your only costs....and in California, the cost of solar is higher than in most places due to all the added BS, taxes and regulations that you have to deal with. In Arizona you can find installed systems for under $3 a watt....in California..the average is typically about $1 a watt higher. You can pencil out the numbers yourself, see what it would cost to do it piecemeal and realize that you're essentially not saving very much in the end.

    You can always buy panels and equipment, find someone random people on Craigslist to install it cheap...however if you have problems down the road, good luck in getting your warranty honored. One thing that installers do is fight with the manufacturer to actually back up their warranty's. The dirty secret is that if you have problems with your panels, in many cases the manufacturer will find excuse after excuse to not honor the warranty, claiming that while the panels are underproducing...they are within the guaranteed margin of production..and so on and so on...I've seen installers bite the bullet and basically absorb the replacement cost themselves rather than hit the customer up for more money.


    Things aren't always the way they seem, if you have an electric background and want to install them yourself, then its one thing, if you simply want to find Tommy "Two guys and a truck" to do it, you could be out a lot of money if things go awry.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by KRenn View Post
      It doesn't work like that my friend. You can find kits relatively cheap, but those are far from your only costs....and in California, the cost of solar is higher than in most places due to all the added BS, taxes and regulations that you have to deal with. In Arizona you can find installed systems for under $3 a watt....in California..the average is typically about $1 a watt higher. You can pencil out the numbers yourself, see what it would cost to do it piecemeal and realize that you're essentially not saving very much in the end.

      You can always buy panels and equipment, find someone random people on Craigslist to install it cheap...however if you have problems down the road, good luck in getting your warranty honored. One thing that installers do is fight with the manufacturer to actually back up their warranty's. The dirty secret is that if you have problems with your panels, in many cases the manufacturer will find excuse after excuse to not honor the warranty, claiming that while the panels are underproducing...they are within the guaranteed margin of production..and so on and so on...I've seen installers bite the bullet and basically absorb the replacement cost themselves rather than hit the customer up for more money.


      Things aren't always the way they seem, if you have an electric background and want to install them yourself, then its one thing, if you simply want to find Tommy "Two guys and a truck" to do it, you could be out a lot of money if things go awry.

      That sounds about right, everything is more expensive in Cal and not for any good reason really.

      Anyways, I can't see myself going for sunpower if I had the room to go netzero with another brand. I recently looked into another installer that uses Canadian Solar and looked up their 305w panels which seems to have a good price point and rated pretty high on what reviews I found.

      Any experience with that brand anyone?

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by centralCalsolar View Post
        That sounds about right, everything is more expensive in Cal and not for any good reason really.

        Anyways, I can't see myself going for sunpower if I had the room to go netzero with another brand. I recently looked into another installer that uses Canadian Solar and looked up their 305w panels which seems to have a good price point and rated pretty high on what reviews I found.

        Any experience with that brand anyone?

        Generic Chinese modules......on the rocks financially after 6 straight quarters of big losses.

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