Newbie - Bids at Solar at $5.50/Kwh in Los Angeles

[forest]

Im new here. Looking around it seems people are quoting bids they have received at around $3.50-4.00 a kwh. I just started talking to solar companies (3 of the big companies, one window/solar company, and one small company) and they have all given me quotes in the $5.25-5.50 a kwh range. That is a pricey difference and changes my payback from about 5-6 years to 9-11 years.

What am i missing?

My energy consumption/needs:
- Avg annual usage - 16,150 kwh
- Avg monthly usage - 1,346 kwh
- Avg monthly bill (DWP) - $240/mon
- South facing home with hardly any shadows
- I have an old electrical panel that needs upgrading
- Im hoping to purchase, depending on the cost. Prefer not to lease.

Here are a couple samples to give you an idea of what I am getting.
- Company A - 24 panels; 345 watts each; 8,280 DC System; electrical panel upgrade included;Sunpower panels; 2 inverters; Total cost before rebates 43,569; Net cost 28,621; 91% of bill covered; Cost per Kwh $5.26
- Company B - 27 panels; 8,235 kwh system; electrical panel upgrade included; LG Panels; 1 or 2 inverters (not sure); Total cost before rebates 45,300; Net cost 25,950; 100% of bill covered; Cost per Kwh $5.50

[J.P.M.]

Forget Sunpower - way overpriced for what you get.

Try LG 270 to 290's, they seem less.

Do you have a weird application ? strange roof, split up areas, ground mount ???

Get more quotes, but get an energy audit first and lower usage as much as possible. $3.40 - $3.70/ att before tax credit is possible in San Diego anyway.

[forest]

Thank you for the info. That is what I figured. Im not sure why they are charging for more in my area. I have an open south facing roof. Its a ranch style single story home. All of the quotes show my panels in one section. It doesnt seem extraordinary in anyway.

[J.P.M.]

Thank you for the info. That is what I figured. Im not sure why they are charging for more in my area. I have an open south facing roof. Its a ranch style single story home. All of the quotes show my panels in one section. It doesnt seem extraordinary in anyway.

They are charging no more than solar ignorance permits. You are about to spend several thousand $$'s. Invest 20 bucks in a book about residential solar and possibly save thousands in avoided rip offs and mistakes allowed by ignorance.

Roof material : tile/composition/ ???

Roof slope ??

[buellwinkle]

The larger companies have larger overhead. For example, for every dollar you spend with SolarCity, it costs them $2, so they are a very inefficient company. I had 26 LG 280W panels installed with an SMA inverter for $26.400 before any tax credit.

[DanKegel]

- Avg monthly usage - 1,346 kwh

Just checking - have you worked on reducing your consumption yet?
Reducing your load somehow might also make the solar system more affordable...

[scenomo]

The larger companies have larger overhead. For example, for every dollar you spend with SolarCity, it costs them $2, so they are a very inefficient company. I had 26 LG 280W panels installed with an SMA inverter for $26.400 before any tax credit.

I am not trying to derail the thread but any chance you can PM me the name and/or number for these guys because I am getting 5.10 from the company I inquired into.

[forest]

If you could PM me the name of the contractor you are working with I would also appreciate it. I'm clearly talking to the wrong guys.

[forest]

Perhaps you sent it to scenomo. Could you PM it to forest. Thanks so much.

[cf400]

Im new here. Looking around it seems people are quoting bids they have received at around $3.50-4.00 a kwh. I just started talking to solar companies (3 of the big companies, one window/solar company, and one small company) and they have all given me quotes in the $5.25-5.50 a kwh range. That is a pricey difference and changes my payback from about 5-6 years to 9-11 years.

What am i missing?

My energy consumption/needs:
- Avg annual usage - 16,150 kwh
- Avg monthly usage - 1,346 kwh
- Avg monthly bill (DWP) - $240/mon
- South facing home with hardly any shadows
- I have an old electrical panel that needs upgrading
- Im hoping to purchase, depending on the cost. Prefer not to lease.

Here are a couple samples to give you an idea of what I am getting.
- Company A - 24 panels; 345 watts each; 8,280 DC System; electrical panel upgrade included;Sunpower panels; 2 inverters; Total cost before rebates 43,569; Net cost 28,621; 91% of bill covered; Cost per Kwh $5.26
- Company B - 27 panels; 8,235 kwh system; electrical panel upgrade included; LG Panels; 1 or 2 inverters (not sure); Total cost before rebates 45,300; Net cost 25,950; 100% of bill covered; Cost per Kwh $5.50

Co A is 8280 DC system and covers 91% yet.... Co B is smaller at 8235 and covers 100% of your bill. Your Pre rebate and net prices don't make any sense either...

[J.P.M.]

Further to my 2 prior comments on this thread, besides being way high in price, both estimates are optimistic in their estimates of output. Company A's estimate is possible and about what I'm getting on a kWh/yr. per installed kW basis. The Boogie Woogie boy of Company B is not only way overpriced for LG, but I doubt if you'll get quite that much per yr. - maybe a bit more than the S.P, but 100% of 16,160 kWh/yr out of an 8,235 W system is overly optimistic by about 10% or so.