New 4.8KW installation in San Diego just finished

[SolarRB]

I signed for less than $3.5/watt for a 4.1 system in the Inland Empire/SanBernardino area - contractor is in OC

I'm in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego county) so OC is a little far. What equipment did you install to get $3.5/W? I'm pretty sold on LG panels with either SolarEdge or micro-inverters, even though it's a little more expensive. If I can save a lot of money, I could go with Canadian Solar. I'm not confident SolarWorld can survive after 2016.

[MikeInRialto]

I'm in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego county) so OC is a little far. What equipment did you install to get $3.5/W? I'm pretty sold on LG panels with either SolarEdge or micro-inverters, even though it's a little more expensive. If I can save a lot of money, I could go with Canadian Solar. I'm not confident SolarWorld can survive after 2016.

I was able to choose the equipment i wanted - i was debating between Solarworld and LG... I went with 275w Solarworld Black Mono and enphase but i could have gone with optimizers if i wanted to. I went with Solarworld because they are made in the US and Aesthetics - I doubt solarworld will be in business 25 years, but it's a quality panel so i'm not worried about one going bad. It's unlikely but sure, anything is possible. I'm sure LG is not going anywhere anytime soon and that is why i was considering LG as well.

[thejq]

I read both yours and subdriver97's thread (http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showth...n-to-San-Diego) Sounds like you guys use the the same installer. I've been having difficulty getting below $4/W quotes from reputable sources. Could one of you PM me your installer's name? BR

You guessed right. Subdriver97, myself and a few others from this forum used the same installer (based locally in San Diego). Not sure what system size you're looking for, but $3.5/W is a good starting point for negotiation in the 4-6KW range. If larger, you might get it even cheaper.

LG is a good brand, but so is Canadian Solar and Solar World. But I agree with you that Solar World is probably the least financially stable of the 3. Still I would not count them out as early as after 2016 (after the Fed 30% tax credit is done).

Good luck and check your PM.

[SolarRB]

Thanks everyone who PM'd me. Really appreciate all the tips and information.

[karlf]

I'm in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego county) so OC is a little far. What equipment did you install to get $3.5/W? I'm pretty sold on LG panels with either SolarEdge or micro-inverters, even though it's a little more expensive. If I can save a lot of money, I could go with Canadian Solar. I'm not confident SolarWorld can survive after 2016.

LG for us. And it was done primarily because I believe they will be in business in 10-20 years. I went with a normal inverter, not micros as I didn't trust them as a tech yet.

We're about 6 months in with our system. We've generated almost exactly 4 GW at this point on our 4.76 KW system. Sadly, our lack of rain probably is why we're making so much power. Somehow our usage of electricity has dropped too so we're over producing by a good 14-15 kw a day. My wife kids that come the summer we'll be producing so much extra we'll have to keep the AC running at 70 just to burn through our SDGE credits.

[thethingx]

If you would PM your install info it would be much appreciated.

[thejq]

LG for us. And it was done primarily because I believe they will be in business in 10-20 years. I went with a normal inverter, not micros as I didn't trust them as a tech yet.

We're about 6 months in with our system. We've generated almost exactly 4 GW at this point on our 4.76 KW system. Sadly, our lack of rain probably is why we're making so much power. Somehow our usage of electricity has dropped too so we're over producing by a good 14-15 kw a day. My wife kids that come the summer we'll be producing so much extra we'll have to keep the AC running at 70 just to burn through our SDGE credits.

LG is definitely a brand you can trust and bank on. Personally I think it deserves the premium of $0.2-0.3/W. Plus I think LG is the only solar manufacture in the world that can claim "carbon free", whatever it implies, it must be good for the environment. I'm with you on not trusting micros, but I'm a geek and I like to see per-panel performance, so I picked SolarEdge which is probably the lesser of the two evil. I'm not sure if running AC 24/7 is a efficient way to "burn" through the SDGE credits. Maybe EV is better a way?

BTW, I think you meant 4MWh (not 4GW).

[thejq]

If you would PM your install info it would be much appreciated.

Done. FYI, from talking to a couple of friends who just signed with the same installer, looks like the price/W hasn't changed much. So $3.5/W is still a good starting point for negotiation in the 4-6KW system range. If you're really charming, you might do even better. One got a free extended SolarEdge warranty. When I asked my installer (in dismay), I was told that she was better looking than me . The trick is to know what you want in terms of usage, system size and equipment, so they know you're serious and have the research.

[sensij]

LG has been mass producing panels for less than 5 years (citation, and a better citation). Their experience in the industry is less than frequent whipping-boy Enphase. Although they are a big name, and are clearly pushing the envelope with reasonably priced high performing panels, I would use some critical thinking in assessing how committed they, or any other company, is to this industry. Their warranty support, along with all others that I've looked at, if you read the fine print, is pretty much worthless after the first couple years. Whether any of that is worth a premium of $0.20-0.30 / W is far from certain.

[thethingx]

Done. FYI, from talking to a couple of friends who just signed with the same installer, looks like the price/W hasn't changed much. So $3.5/W is still a good starting point for negotiation in the 4-6KW system range. If you're really charming, you might do even better. One got a free extended SolarEdge warranty. When I asked my installer (in dismay), I was told that she was better looking than me . The trick is to know what you want in terms of usage, system size and equipment, so they know you're serious and have the research.

Rofl, maybe I'll have my wife do the negotiation.

[thethingx]

What was your guys reasoning for going with SolarEdge inverters?

[thejq]

LG has been mass producing panels for less than 5 years (citation, and a better citation). Their experience in the industry is less than frequent whipping-boy Enphase. Although they are a big name, and are clearly pushing the envelope with reasonably priced high performing panels, I would use some critical thinking in assessing how committed they, or any other company, is to this industry. Their warranty support, along with all others that I've looked at, if you read the fine print, is pretty much worthless after the first couple years. Whether any of that is worth a premium of $0.20-0.30 / W is far from certain.

All valid points. It's exactly these opposing but well thought of opinions that make this forum useful.

[sensij]

Yes! I think there is a lot more to be learned in discussion than there is from any one opinion.

[thejq]

What was your guys reasoning for going with SolarEdge inverters?

A lot of times, it's a personal preference. For me, I really liked to have per-panel monitoring. But I don't like the idea of having the most venerable part of your system (the inverter) up on the roof constantly under extreme heat/cold/humidity/wind etc.. Also the horrendous reputation of m190 doesn't make me feel good about Enphase either, even though the newer generations of m215 and m250 seems to have vastly improved. SMA (or other reputable string inverters) is a solid choice and probably will give you the best overall value if you don't have shading issues. Another observation which might give some performance edge to panels that're individually tracked (eg. Enphase and SolarEdge) is that there're always some variation between panels, eg temperature difference, dirt/leaf/bird poop covering, degree of degradation etc. For example, I always find my panels on the outside performance better slightly (cooler temperature?), see below.
Capture.JPG

If you go to San Diego team's pvoutput.org page (http://pvoutput.org/listteam.jsp?tid=859), pick a sunny day and rank based on efficiency, Enphase and SolarEdge are consistently on the top.

[J.P.M.]

LG has been mass producing panels for less than 5 years (citation, and a better citation). Their experience in the industry is less than frequent whipping-boy Enphase. Although they are a big name, and are clearly pushing the envelope with reasonably priced high performing panels, I would use some critical thinking in assessing how committed they, or any other company, is to this industry. Their warranty support, along with all others that I've looked at, if you read the fine print, is pretty much worthless after the first couple years. Whether any of that is worth a premium of $0.20-0.30 / W is far from certain.

As mentioned before on other posts, product warranties, like performance warranties are probably more useful to sellers as marketing tools than to users as protection.