Solar install turning out really bad - looking for some help/advice please.

[sensij]

Should yeah, and most probably do. But with this clown, there were two bolts I ran into that he just went into the plywood, no stud at all. And it was right at the top of the install where the rafters go horizontal. It looks me over an hour to locate the rafter correctly and that was with referencing pictures of when the house was built...he probably said screw this and moved on to the next one.



That was 1/2 the whole job...the deal was 1/2 cash and 1/2 barter. So his price was $29,500 and I was to buy the inverter and optimizers myself (~$4,500). Now that I bought the panels and mounts myself, I subtracted what I paid for those out of the cash I still owed him which was basically the whole amount, so at this point I don't owe him anything anymore, but if he doesn't finish up the install (put up the panels, commissioning, etc) I can get all or most of that barter back through the barter company, I've already talked to them about it.

The system is 12,400 Watts.

Wow. For those who want to subcontract the permitting and installation only, competitive quotes here in southern CA are $1.00 / W or less.

[Alisobob]

My install labor was $0.46 a watt.... or $5700 for a system your size.

$15,000 seems like a hugely inflated number.

[HX_Guy]

My install labor was $0.46 a watt.... or $5700 for a system your size.

$15,000 seems like a hugely inflated number.

That wasn't the labor part. The total job was $30,000 (well $29,500) and payment was to be half in cash half in barter, he didn't specify how much was for labor, parts, etc.

[HX_Guy]

Got what I expected to take two days done in one day today!
All the posts are mounted to the roof...no more measuring, no more drilling, no more hammering.
All that needs to be done now is the roof cement and cutting the tiles, which is planned for tomorrow.

[Living Large]

That wasn't the labor part. The total job was $30,000 (well $29,500) and payment was to be half in cash half in barter, he didn't specify how much was for labor, parts, etc.

That was the estimate I came up with, being a novice. $15K +/- for the panels, you supplied some or all of the equipment, leaving $14K-15K. What would your estimate be?

[HX_Guy]

That was the estimate I came up with, being a novice. $15K +/- for the panels, you supplied some or all of the equipment, leaving $14K-15K. What would your estimate be?

Not sure how other companies would break it down but the price per watt seems to be in line with other company's prices ($2.77/watt pre tax credit), they probably all inflate the prices on parts too and there is profit in those as well for them, not just the install. Plus there's racking, disconnect boxes, electrical, etc.

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Worked a bit more up on the roof today but getting a little burnt out, probably will put it on hold till Friday. Had an unexpected hiccup this morning with two mounts that had no studs to grab on to since they run horizontally on that part of the roof, so had to go up in the attic and put in two blocks of 2x4s to create a spot for the roof mounts to grab onto. That was a lot of fun.

Haven't been able to get a hold of the original installer since last Tuesday, he won't answer my calls or texts.

Oh yeah, and Santa came early this year!

[sdold]

Be careful when you start taking the panels out of the boxes. When I got maybe 2/3 of the panels out of my box, I realized that the only thing keeping the remaining panels from tipping the box over was the sides of the box, which are held in position by the bottom of the box, which is held in position by the weight of the panels on the other side that weren't there anymore

It looks like you may have figured that out and are removing them from the center first. I think you're smarter than I am.

[HX_Guy]

Haha no, that's how the box came...there's only 16 in there so they removed 8 from the warehouse, the other box is a full set of 24.
I would of liked it better if they were stacked like pancakes, would definitely make it easier to carry them to the backyard with two people I would think.

[HX_Guy]

Looks like these were packed pretty intelligently, there's a half box left over after you remove the outer box and then each panel is slotted into place.






I also finally figured out the dilemma with the holes in the tile...was going to use a grinder with a diamond wheel but was was taking kind of long (having to make 4 cuts) and wasn't a very clean cut. Tried out a diamond tip hole saw and works great, though I need to order a bigger one off Amazon, Home Depot only had a 2" and it's too small to drop down over the cone all the way.

[inetdog]

Maybe I just do not understand your roof design?
Is there a waterproof membrane underneath the tiles, so that your flashing is sitting on top of that membrane?
If not, I do not see what good the flashing is doing you, unless you will be depending on a seal between the tile and the flashing cone to prevent water from getting to the top of the flashing.
The standard installations that I have seen, where the tile is the primary water proofing, would have the bottom edge of each flashing come over the top of the next course of tile down.

[silversaver]

Maybe I just do not understand your roof design?
Is there a waterproof membrane underneath the tiles, so that your flashing is sitting on top of that membrane?
If not, I do not see what good the flashing is doing you, unless you will be depending on a seal between the tile and the flashing cone to prevent water from getting to the top of the flashing.
The standard installations that I have seen, where the tile is the primary water proofing, would have the bottom edge of each flashing come over the top of the next course of tile down.

There's top flashing after complete


29.jpg

[Ian S]

Maybe I just do not understand your roof design?
Is there a waterproof membrane underneath the tiles, so that your flashing is sitting on top of that membrane?
If not, I do not see what good the flashing is doing you, unless you will be depending on a seal between the tile and the flashing cone to prevent water from getting to the top of the flashing.
The standard installations that I have seen, where the tile is the primary water proofing, would have the bottom edge of each flashing come over the top of the next course of tile down.

I thought the underlayment was the primary waterproofing on a tile roof. The tiles do provide some water protection but mainly protection of the underlayment against other elements like sun, wind etc.

[sdold]

Many people say that the primary waterproofing is in the underlayment, but they sure squirm when you don't flash the tile. Looking under my tiles, I saw no evidence of water whatsoever. Good thing too, the whole roof is full of water dams, nail holes, little rips in the paper, and all sorts of evidence of craftsmanship left behind by the proud professionals that built my house.

[Bikerscum]

....and all sorts of evidence of craftsmanship left behind by the proud professionals that built my house.

My neighbor says the only things level on his house are the rain gutters.

[Alisobob]

Now THATS funny!!!