Itemized solar quotes?

[randomuser]

My installer said I could make a check out to his distributor for the cost of material and pay his company the rest of the cost. This was agreed upon from reading all the contract legality stuff about liens over and over and over again. Does requesting for this kind of payment help? I agreed to this, not to get a cost of material but for my own protection that the distributor doesn't come after me for payment. After getting quotes from installers and looking at component pricing online, I've concluded that about half the cost of my system is for equipment and the other half is to the installer for labor, marketing, profit, etc.

It sucks when I get an oil change to see that I'm charged $9/quart of oil then use my cell phone at the shop and see that Autozone sells a quart for $3 where the oil change is $30. But as solarix says, if I'm unhappy having someone change my oil, I can do it myself.

[J.P.M.]

If someone does their homework, and has the ability to learn and to do the labor, DIY will dost fewer $'s but be more expensive in terms of labor, involvement and warranty issues if/as/when they arise. If the analysis of turnkey vs. DIY falls in favor of a turnkey system, then competitive bidding to a complete bid package is one way to go.

As for bid comparison, the goal of most long term bang for the buck for the particular situation and time frame considered over simple and short sighted low 1st cost only will almost always result in a system that is more cost effective on a long term basis. Low buck is not necessarily the best price or choice.


Either turnkey or DIY, thinking long term and globally (for a few examples, roof servicing, tree growth vs. trim/removal, long term cost of initial oversize vs. incremental up sizing, etc.) will probably yield a better result, or at least won't hurt.

It's mostly or entirely a moot point, but if it wasn't for laziness, short sightedness and math phobia, some time spent learning and understanding the basics of the time value of money and sane comparison of alternative type analysis would probably result in fewer and smaller PV systems that would be more fit for purpose and more cost effective.