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I'm getting closer to making a decision on a new PV setup for my house just outside of Detroit, MI and have some questions for some of the pros here. I have quite a few in-depth questions, but I'll try to keep this as short as I can.
A little background - I'm an architect with a fair amount of DIY experience and have done quite a few major projects (gutted and renovated entire master bathroom) around my house and my brothers house. I have a decent knowledge of building codes and general construction practices - and if I don't know it I have access to it or people that do know it (architectural and MEP).
1. I've been looking around at grid-tie solar setups around the net and most of the ones I have found are in the $4-5/watt range, and that doesn't include installation. I recently came across a link for DMSolar on someone's PV installation page. They have very low prices on setups and I am currently looking at this system. It is 4.6kW with Enphase D380's for about $14,000 (including shipping). That works out to about $3 per watt, which is much cheaper than everyone else and still includes most everything needed to install it. For a 4.6kW system, I can get an up-front credit from my utility for $11,000 with an ongoing payment of about $550 per year for 20 years, plus 30% of the remaining installation cost from federal credit. The better prices will allow me to get a bigger system than I was originally planning (around 2kW). My main question is, is this an okay company or one that I should stay away from? They are on the California solar panel approved manufacturers list, but just wanted some other opinions.
2. Since I will be installing everything for this outside of the major electrical stuff (I will not touch the panel myself - it's not worth it), what do you think the time and cost for a final hookup would be? I assumed it would be no more than a couple thousand, but wanted to get some other feedback.
3. In regards to orientation: I only have 1 true south facing roof that will only fit about 8 panels on it. The majority of the space I have is on a west facing roof at 5/12 pitch. With having the microinverters, I have the easier possibility of splitting the array into 2 with 8 panels facing south and 12 facing west. According to PV Watts, all 20 at true south is 5428 kW (which is not possible), a split setup is 4872 kW, and an all west facing setup is 4501 kW per year. My question is, will the extra 7.5% efficiency out of the split setup be worth it compared to the ease/aesthetics of an all west facing array (the back of the house)?
I'm sure I will come up with some more questions as I go along, but these are the major ones that I wanted to run by some of the pros. Any help you can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Brad
A little background - I'm an architect with a fair amount of DIY experience and have done quite a few major projects (gutted and renovated entire master bathroom) around my house and my brothers house. I have a decent knowledge of building codes and general construction practices - and if I don't know it I have access to it or people that do know it (architectural and MEP).
1. I've been looking around at grid-tie solar setups around the net and most of the ones I have found are in the $4-5/watt range, and that doesn't include installation. I recently came across a link for DMSolar on someone's PV installation page. They have very low prices on setups and I am currently looking at this system. It is 4.6kW with Enphase D380's for about $14,000 (including shipping). That works out to about $3 per watt, which is much cheaper than everyone else and still includes most everything needed to install it. For a 4.6kW system, I can get an up-front credit from my utility for $11,000 with an ongoing payment of about $550 per year for 20 years, plus 30% of the remaining installation cost from federal credit. The better prices will allow me to get a bigger system than I was originally planning (around 2kW). My main question is, is this an okay company or one that I should stay away from? They are on the California solar panel approved manufacturers list, but just wanted some other opinions.
2. Since I will be installing everything for this outside of the major electrical stuff (I will not touch the panel myself - it's not worth it), what do you think the time and cost for a final hookup would be? I assumed it would be no more than a couple thousand, but wanted to get some other feedback.
3. In regards to orientation: I only have 1 true south facing roof that will only fit about 8 panels on it. The majority of the space I have is on a west facing roof at 5/12 pitch. With having the microinverters, I have the easier possibility of splitting the array into 2 with 8 panels facing south and 12 facing west. According to PV Watts, all 20 at true south is 5428 kW (which is not possible), a split setup is 4872 kW, and an all west facing setup is 4501 kW per year. My question is, will the extra 7.5% efficiency out of the split setup be worth it compared to the ease/aesthetics of an all west facing array (the back of the house)?
I'm sure I will come up with some more questions as I go along, but these are the major ones that I wanted to run by some of the pros. Any help you can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Brad
I saw a link to it on a personal installation page - will have to see if I can find it.
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