About to go solar in Bakersfield CA

[DanEaton]

After getting 11 quotes from 7 different companies, I am now looking for comments on my latest bid from a local solar company that I trust. I have a south facing home with a good amount of roof space and no shade issues. Looking for a clean looking installation.

7.650 System
30 Yingli YL255P-29b
15 APS YC500-NA
$26,392 System cost
$3.45/W

Or should I go with the Solarworld 280 with APS Microinverter at $3.75/W?

[DanKegel]

Depends. Is that before or after subsidy?

And have you already done all you can to increase your energy efficiency?

How many kWh do you use per month?
What tier does that put you in?

[ghoticov]

Depends. Is that before or after subsidy?

And have you already done all you can to increase your energy efficiency?

How many kWh do you use per month?
What tier does that put you in?

Im in Fresno and my installer is from Tulare and I got 36 Canadian Solar 250w panels with 36 enphase micros for $3.50 / watt.

[DanEaton]

Before.

I have. New construction home the exceeds energy star HERS rating. Added LEDs and home automation to help conserve.

On average for the year we are using 950-1000kWh a month. Mostly in tier 3 and good amount in tier 4 during the summer where the kids and wife are home all day.

Depends. Is that before or after subsidy?

And have you already done all you can to increase your energy efficiency?

How many kWh do you use per month?
What tier does that put you in?

[DanKegel]

Excellent. Looks like you sized for 100% of average power use?
Some would say that's a bit much, but given that you're using 255 watt
panels, you ought to be able to get an excellent price.

Lessee... at 6 hours of full sun/day in summer (I get 6.5 in LA), that'd be 46KWH/day generated.
I bet that'll that take you down from tier 4 to tier 1 on those hot summer days, what do you think?

It's tempting to ask whether you could go down to 250 watt panels and get a significant price cut, not sure.

The real solar guys will probably chime in here, I'm just guessing.

[thejq]

After getting 11 quotes from 7 different companies, I am now looking for comments on my latest bid from a local solar company that I trust. I have a south facing home with a good amount of roof space and no shade issues. Looking for a clean looking installation.

7.650 System
30 Yingli YL255P-29b
15 APS YC500-NA
$26,392 System cost
$3.45/W

Or should I go with the Solarworld 280 with APS Microinverter at $3.75/W?

Bakersfield is known to be pretty hot in the summer. One of the main draw back of (or argument against) microinverter is the location from where it operates is too hot under the sun. Do you have shading issue? If not, why not just get a central inverter? If so, have you considered SolarEdge optimizers? or Enphase which is more reputable and probably more durable?

[J.P.M.]

You'll probably generate about 11,500-12,500 kWh/yr. with a system that size. Unless you have shade, I'd go w/ a string inverter.

I'd not worry about daily use too much. With net metering, daily use smoothes out. You'll probably not have much of an annual bill if your usage stays about the same as you report.

[ghoticov]

Bakersfield is known to be pretty hot in the summer. One of the main draw back of (or argument against) microinverter is the location from where it operates is too hot under the sun. Do you have shading issue? If not, why not just get a central inverter? If so, have you considered SolarEdge optimizers? or Enphase which is more reputable and probably more durable?

Im in Fresno and the installer doing mine said they have been putting in enphase micros for over a year (the 215's) and have only had one failure. His company doesnt seem to think the heat is going to cause any issues with the micros. I guess I will find out (hopefulky not the hard way).

[DanEaton]

You'll probably generate about 11,500-12,500 kWh/yr. with a system that size. Unless you have shade, I'd go w/ a string inverter.

I'd not worry about daily use too much. With net metering, daily use smoothes out. You'll probably not have much of an annual bill if your usage stays about the same as you report.

I currently don't have any shade issues but I been talking to my neighbors and they plan on putting in large trees that "could" be an issue in 5-8 years. The wife also doesn't want a inverter in or outside of the garage.

My installer has installed 1000's of the APS inverters in the Bakersfield heat. In theory heat could be an issue but doesn't seem to be one.

[DanEaton]

Correct on sizing for 100%, did this for a few reasons. Only been in the home since mid August so the summer months are a guess. We have plans to get a pool and maybe a EV within the next 3-5 years. This will raise our usage but hopefully we will stay in tier 1.

Excellent. Looks like you sized for 100% of average power use?
Some would say that's a bit much, but given that you're using 255 watt
panels, you ought to be able to get an excellent price.

Lessee... at 6 hours of full sun/day in summer (I get 6.5 in LA), that'd be 46KWH/day generated.
I bet that'll that take you down from tier 4 to tier 1 on those hot summer days, what do you think?

It's tempting to ask whether you could go down to 250 watt panels and get a significant price cut, not sure.

The real solar guys will probably chime in here, I'm just guessing.

[J.P.M.]

I currently don't have any shade issues but I been talking to my neighbors and they plan on putting in large trees that "could" be an issue in 5-8 years. The wife also doesn't want a inverter in or outside of the garage.

My installer has installed 1000's of the APS inverters in the Bakersfield heat. In theory heat could be an issue but doesn't seem to be one.

I'd not disagree with anyone's wife, but string inverters for systems of the size you envision are something like the size of a large suitcase, make little if any noise, and are usually an unobtrusive color. Solar arrays, on the other hand, tend to have a bit more visual impact. I haven't seen too many articles in House Beautiful about garages.

Aside from the heat issues, which are nonetheless important, micro inverters introduce as many more potential failure points as one less than the number of microinverters in a system. Getting at and replacing a failed one takes at least one trip to the roof per failure. Sometimes labor is not part of any warranty.

They also tend to cost more up front.

Your installer, while I'm sure honest, has skin in the game.

Deal with the tree when it becomes a problem if you're still there.