Price paid per watt

[hr8]

In Bay Area, CA
5.4 KW system at $3.15/W installed before rebates/incentives.
LG 300W Mono Black Panels
SE Optimizers & 5KW inverter
Turnkey Installer with warranty (Referred by family)

[stoecs]

Can I ask who did your system? Also located in NJ and looking into doing a 10Kw system. Have gotten a few quotes so far in the 3.05-350 per watt range. Thanks!

[entgegnen]

My install is this up coming week. I'll be up there fiddling around like a nosey homeowner as they do it .... if I like what I see when it is all said and done, I will pass along their info.

Hey jgd108. RePower by Solar Universe (909) area code.

[jgd108]

thanks entgenen. i accepted your follow too but nowhere to write PMs. I saw on other posts moderators saying they have removed PMs and that it's fine to give quotes and installer details, as long as there's no hyperlinking to their websites.

[entgegnen]

I just turned on my private messaging... although I must admit I do not fully see how I initiate a PM... but feel free to PM if you still want info.

[monroe]

$3.04/Watt before credits. NJ
7.56 kW DC, LG 315W, Solar Edge 7600A, P320 optimizer, Black Unirac, Zigbee wireless, and aesthetic package
20 year warranty on Inverter, 25 years panel and optimizer, 10 year rails
10 year installation warranty including part and labor, including issues caused directly by the installation, degradation of more that 10% from original rated O/P
5 year system inspection and checks

[DaveDE2]

@solardreamer
It's difficult but the three high schoolers were thrilled to do the job, and they did it very well.

- High school student labor (for the heavy lifting) was 40 hrs total (for all three), cost me $600.
- I'd guess my own actual labor was maybe 1 hr per day on average, or about 210 hrs overall (very conservative, probably actually half of that).

...but I spent a lot of time on pveducation.org (a Great site, if you haven't been there yet Go there!) and I am not counting that, as well as not counting time spent this forum.

So maybe it doesn't take as much effort as the 7 month number suggests but if you do it yourself you need to keep a good attitude throughout and see it all the way through to the finish!

[bcroe]

13kW diy system on shop building:

$18,392
$1.41/w before any incentives.

51ea Phono Solar 255w panels at $0.59/w (ACO solar)

Iron ridge racking at $0.23/w (Ressupply)

SMA Sunny Boy 6.0 inverters (2ea) at $0.29/w (The Power Store)

Misc @ $0.30/w: Structural analysis, Soladeck, SMA Rapid shutdown (2ea), permit fees, NEC 2014 manual, POCO new meter and connect fee, wire and connectors, AC disconnect, line side tap materials, PV labels, conduit, inverter cooling fans, tools, three high school students helped for panel installation labor @ $15/hr, etc.

System commissioned a few weeks ago. So far generating about 80kWhrs/day when it's not cloudy.

It looks great! 7 months and getting it right sure beats 1 month and screwing it up. We all take a hit when its cloudy. Bruce Roe

[solardreamer]

Nice looking system. Do you have a rough idea of how many person-days (including the high school students) were put in over the 7 months?

[DaveDE2]

Thanks entegnen.
It turned out nice but it took 7 months from when I first got the idea of doing it and countless hours of understanding how to do the system - listening to people on this forum; finding deals on equipment; reading the NEC; sizing the system; panel and wire calculations, deciding whether I needed a re-roof, SAM simulations, a dozen trips to Home Depot, conduit bending, dealing with the AHJ, etc, etc. In the end, the most difficult part was installing the racking and getting the panels on the roof.

If I ever have to do it again, I will because it will be a relative snap next time and there really isn't much to it hardware-wise but doing it yourself the first time doesn't really save any money if you value your time unless you are doing it as a hobby, such as in my case. It's a labor of love. At first I thought installers really didn't deserve the added cost but I do now.

As far as hosing the panels off, I'm already past worrying about eeking every last joule out of the system. It is what it is as they say and I'll take what ever seasonal conditions bring. Good luck with your system!

[jgd108]

sensij yes i did a Google search to find entgegnen feedback but didn't find any hence I was hoping he could write to me privately
site:Solarreviews.com entgegnen (no results)

[sensij]

Solarreviews.com is the sponsor of the forum and a great place to do research on installers. You can mention your installer here, and link to their solarreviews.com page if they have one.

[jgd108]

Thanks entgenen
Yes I've used EnergySage right off the bat but noticed they we're for the most part making any roof plans like others do.
I think it's fine to give the name, if not moderators should show us how to PM each other.
Thanks a lot! Seems you've done lots of research so I would be glad for your help.

[entgegnen]

DaveDE2 - that is a slick looking install from where I am sitting. I am super impressed. If I felt more competent, I would follow your lead. What an awesome cost per watt.

Since it is a single story, is it reasonably easy to just hose the panels off? (I saw you mention pollen accumulation)

[entgegnen]

I am not sure how to do private messaging on this forum either. I would love to pass along a specific referral - assuming all goes well with my install - but I am not sure that the forum rules permit. I can say that I ended up with the following:

7.68 System
7600 Solar Edge Inverter
(w/ the added on 25-year warranty on the inverter)
P300 Optimizers
LG320N1C-G4 Panels.
XR100 Black Anodized Rails
Install on a 2-story Roof
$3.38/Watt

There are a number of solar power quote sites.... (I am not sure I can name them here) but if you were to google - Solar Energy Competing Quotes - you will find them... I used one of them to get on-line quotes... then I had 3 guys come out to actually give a firm bid... (would have been 4 but a notoriously large company actually no-showed) then after talking with the 3 that came out to inspect and bid, I went with my gut. So far, I have been impressed. We will see if I feel that way when it is all done.

One additional important point: I am paying cash. Not financing. Paying cash may have something to do with the price I ultimately got. (Although I suppose some vendors may get financing kick-backs - like cars - and may actually be cheaper if it is NOT cash transaction.)

Also, after I had the written bids from my (3) guys, I got on the phone an negotiated with the one I liked the best. I told my guy his bid was not the lowest, but I liked his company the best. I told him that I was willing to pay more for him - recognizing that his level of quality was worth more - but I also suggested it was difficult when his bid was X higher than my lowest bid. I asked him to meet me in the middle. (the middle of his original bid and my lowest bid). He agreed. A written bid in my mind is just a starting point. When all of the specs are in writing (on the bid) go and have that conversation with the contractor. It is a buyers market and a contractor with open days on his calendar is not meeting his bottom line.

FWIW: The lowest quote (not formal bid) I got was something like $3.30/watt... and it was for modules that are perfectly good (but a couple years old). My system was not the most efficient choice ($/watt) but I after looking around it is what I wanted to get. However, I almost even held out to get the new 330 Panasonic HIDs.... but I didn't want to wait to find someone who could get a hold of them since they are very new.