Price per Watt in NJ currently

[sunfun]

Hello All,

Just wanted to say hello as a new member! There are some great topics of discussion on these threads, and I would appreciate some $.02 on a dilemma I am having.

I recently received an offer for an 8.7 kWh system that goes for approximately $3.15/watt. This system is powered by 30 290W SolarWorld Panels and uses Solar Edge power optimizer. I live in NJ btw, and hope to reap the benefits of SRECS. Now here are some questions I pose to the great gurus of SolarPanelTalk!

Do you think this is an appropriate price for an installed, turn key system?

What do you think of Solar Edge PO vs SMA string inverters?

Anyone have experience with SolarWorld as I saw many posts for SunPower, which is a bit more expensive than SolarWorld.

Is there a major difference between black on black panels vs silver frame mono-crystalline panels?

Is it worth looking into thin film panels if I can comfortably fit 50 panels on my roof?

I have some shading due to trees that fall on my SE facing home in central NJ. Will Power optimizer be better than string inverters for this scenario?

Thank you for all your comments in advance, and I apologize if I did not post in the right thread!

[solar pete]

Hello All,

Just wanted to say hello as a new member! There are some great topics of discussion on these threads, and I would appreciate some $.02 on a dilemma I am having.

I recently received an offer for an 8.7 kWh system that goes for approximately $3.15/watt. This system is powered by 30 290W SolarWorld Panels and uses Solar Edge power optimizer. I live in NJ btw, and hope to reap the benefits of SRECS. Now here are some questions I pose to the great gurus of SolarPanelTalk!

Do you think this is an appropriate price for an installed, turn key system? Yep

What do you think of Solar Edge PO vs SMA string inverters? I am a SMA cheerleader but others prefer Solar Edge

Anyone have experience with SolarWorld as I saw many posts for SunPower, which is a bit more expensive than SolarWorld. Dont have any personal experience with either, I dont think its an issue, tier 1 panels perform about the same

Is there a major difference between black on black panels vs silver frame mono-crystalline panels? No not really it could be argued that the black panels will get hotter and that will effect performance but I dont think that is a very good argument especially if you want the black frames due to aesthetics

Is it worth looking into thin film panels if I can comfortably fit 50 panels on my roof? NO

I have some shading due to trees that fall on my SE facing home in central NJ. Will Power optimizer be better than string inverters for this scenario? Hmm well this could lean you towards Solar Edge, it depends what time of the day, if its early in the morning or late in the arvo it wont matter much

Thank you for all your comments in advance, and I apologize if I did not post in the right thread!

Hello sunfun and welcome to Solar Panel Talk, see answers above, cheers

[sunfun]

Hello sunfun and welcome to Solar Panel Talk, see answers above, cheers

Thanks for responding and thanks for the warm welcome (pun intended)!

So I'm going to nix the idea of the thin film. The silver frame panels are slightly cheaper, so I think I will go with those. I start getting shading from the trees around 4pm during this time of year (October). I plan on cutting down some trees for the sake of green energy (I know, counter-intuitive, but I live in a forest).

In terms of Solar Edge vs SMA, I could still use some more info and opinions!

Also, if any of the older members could link me to some informative articles on the details of going solar for a home, and members' advice, that would be great!

Thanks Solar Pete for my first response!

[sunfun]

FYI: So people can compare their proposals! The system that is proposed is an 8.7 kWh SolarWorld 290W, silver frame, monocrystaline panel system. It will be mounted on IronRidge mounting system. It will use SolarEdge P300 power optimizers (30 of them) and a single SE7600A Inverter also by SolarEdge. The price is approximately $3.15/watt in central NJ. Please let me know your thoughts on SolarEdge and IronRidge as I have no experience on those systems! As always, thank for reading!

[Joe in Maryland]

FYI: So people can compare their proposals! The system that is proposed is an 8.7 kWh SolarWorld 290W, silver frame, monocrystaline panel system. It will be mounted on IronRidge mounting system. It will use SolarEdge P300 power optimizers (30 of them) and a single SE7600A Inverter also by SolarEdge. The price is approximately $3.15/watt in central NJ. Please let me know your thoughts on SolarEdge and IronRidge as I have no experience on those systems! As always, thank for reading!

Welcome to the forum, I have 50 280 watt Solarworld panels installed back in May 2015 and they have been working and looking great so far. What type of inverter are you considering (Enphase/SolarEdge)?

[sunfun]

Welcome to the forum, I have 50 280 watt Solarworld panels installed back in May 2015 and they have been working and looking great so far. What type of inverter are you considering (Enphase/SolarEdge)?

Hi, Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner! I think they have the SE7600-A inverter for the panels. I am trying to get 36 panels installed currently for a total of 10.44kW. I don't know if they are going to be able to do it, but if they can, I saw it is a fair price for $3.15 a watt. Do you have the SE10000A-US? I may have to switch to that one if my total wattage is above 10kW.

[Joe in Maryland]

Hi, Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner! I think they have the SE7600-A inverter for the panels. I am trying to get 36 panels installed currently for a total of 10.44kW. I don't know if they are going to be able to do it, but if they can, I saw it is a fair price for $3.15 a watt. Do you have the SE10000A-US? I may have to switch to that one if my total wattage is above 10kW.

I have 2 SE6000 watt inverters that split the load into 4 strings on two orientations. Has your installer advised you on considering the new SolarEdge's HD-Wave Inverter Technology inverters (more efficient)?

[sunfun]

I have 2 SE6000 watt inverters that split the load into 4 strings on two orientations. Has your installer advised you on considering the new SolarEdge's HD-Wave Inverter Technology inverters (more efficient)?

Maybe I could ask to have them do the same (2 inverters, 4 strings). I have not finished the final design plan but I will ask them today about the new HD-Wave Inverter. Anything else I should know about SolarEdge power optimizers or inverters? I am getting Solar World panels installed and having a direct ethernet connection from the inverter to my router for monitoring.

[Joe in Maryland]

Maybe I could ask to have them do the same (2 inverters, 4 strings). I have not finished the final design plan but I will ask them today about the new HD-Wave Inverter. Anything else I should know about SolarEdge power optimizers or inverters? I am getting Solar World panels installed and having a direct ethernet connection from the inverter to my router for monitoring.

My guess is that if you can do it with one inverter it may make more sense financially but I'm not an expert. Your installer should be able to advise you on this and the new style inverter. All of the research I've done seems to support SolarEdge over Enphase which I why I selected it. You may want to look at SolarEdge vs Enphase videos on youtube for some insight.