Request for SF Bay Area Solar Owners

[MadDog]

Recent, proud owners of shiny new solar panels in the Bay Area, Since the CSI database is not getting updated with PG&E customer's data, we (the ones trying to be proud owners of shiny new solar panels) are at a dis-advantage. I humbly request that you post your system information in this thread to provide that visibility to us like we used to before. Please provide details of systems that you have installed or you have signed contracts to be installed such as system size, type of panels, cost, type of inverter, if the price includes any monitoring. Adding your region (south bay, east bay, etc.) will help too. I know that a lot of you have posted your details in other threads on this site, but hopefully this will provide an easy access to all of them in one location.

Please don't provide all the quotes that you have gotten, but only the one you selected, like we would from the CSI database.

SF Bay Area Solar owners, help out your neighbors!

Thanks!

[J.P.M.]

Recent, proud owners of shiny new solar panels in the Bay Area, Since the CSI database is not getting updated with PG&E customer's data, we (the ones trying to be proud owners of shiny new solar panels) are at a dis-advantage. I humbly request that you post your system information in this thread to provide that visibility to us like we used to before. Please provide details of systems that you have installed or you have signed contracts to be installed such as system size, type of panels, cost, type of inverter, if the price includes any monitoring. Adding your region (south bay, east bay, etc.) will help too. I know that a lot of you have posted your details in other threads on this site, but hopefully this will provide an easy access to all of them in one location.

Please don't provide all the quotes that you have gotten, but only the one you selected, like we would from the CSI database.

SF Bay Area Solar owners, help out your neighbors!

Thanks!

I am really on your side in this in a big way and on the face of it this may have some merit, but it may very well be a minefield of problems. Scammers for one thing, i.e. verification. Trollers abound. LOTS of other potential problems. Not everyone is completely honest about what they have or are about to buy. There would be no semi bulletproof way to verify the information. Without that, it's pretty useless. I genuinely wish it were not the case, but I don't see something like this working.

[MadDog]

I am really on your side in this in a big way and on the face of it this may have some merit, but it may very well be a minefield of problems. Scammers for one thing, i.e. verification. Trollers abound. LOTS of other potential problems. Not everyone is completely honest about what they have or are about to buy. There would be no semi bulletproof way to verify the information. Without that, it's pretty useless. I genuinely wish it were not the case, but I don't see something like this working.

I understand your concerns but how is it any different than having to go through multiple pages to get this same information, which may have the same issues you suggest? I believe that regardless of how you get the information, you have to be a little savvy of how you use it and not take everything on its face value. You have to be a little careful about what information you share with anyone that you meet online.

Overall, I think it could be quite beneficial to get an idea of what the going rates are in this area...

[slopoke]

I understand your concerns but how is it any different than having to go through multiple pages to get this same information, which may have the same issues you suggest? I believe that regardless of how you get the information, you have to be a little savvy of how you use it and not take everything on its face value. You have to be a little careful about what information you share with anyone that you meet online.

Overall, I think it could be quite beneficial to get an idea of what the going rates are in this area...

One thing about getting info about a persons installation, how do you prove to a installer that the price is legit without you having the actual contract in hand. Now if you sort through the CSI data and give the salesperson the line number or numbers of the spreadsheet where you got the data from, that is concrete info from an unbiased source and anyone can access the same info and verify. I know it's a lot of work to sort through all of the data, but in the end it's well worth it. It was for me. I don't have the time to research different configurations, I already burned about 2 days doing it for my configuration to back up the averages posted on this board. No pain, no gain.

[MadDog]

One thing about getting info about a persons installation, how do you prove to a installer that the price is legit without you having the actual contract in hand. Now if you sort through the CSI data and give the salesperson the line number or numbers of the spreadsheet where you got the data from, that is concrete info from an unbiased source and anyone can access the same info and verify. I know it's a lot of work to sort through all of the data, but in the end it's well worth it. It was for me. I don't have the time to research different configurations, I already burned about 2 days doing it for my configuration to back up the averages posted on this board. No pain, no gain.

I have combed through the CSI data file extensively as well. That is how I figured out the quotes I was getting were very high. I know what is being paid for a system that I would like. How do you go about asking them to price a system based on this information from SoCal?

[slopoke]

I have combed through the CSI data file extensively as well. That is how I figured out the quotes I was getting were very high. I know what is being paid for a system that I would like. How do you go about asking them to price a system based on this information from SoCal?

Like I've stated before. Most of the sales people here say "you can't use their data here, it's S Ca data". I reply, all of my numbers are from areas that have the same overhead costs, materials cost as up here. I can't use numbers from Fresno or Palmdale, Lancaster, but I can and did use Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach, Alhambra, San Diego, La Jolla, etc. Using those cities, they could not say it's not an apples to apples comparison. They tried it with me. I spoke to 14 different installers. Most of them changed their tune when I used my data.

How can a person say that it costs more to do business in the Greater Bay area than in Long Beach, Irvine, Manhattan Beach, Buena Park, Anaheim? They can't, and if they try, it's time to walk away, because "you can't fix stupid".