Pricing

[fraser]

It's a racket. I saw and ad for 27 panels of 440 wats for 11K. I may need 30 of those, that should not be more that 13K. Installation I know takes 5 man days, another 3K at 500 per day, plus 1K frames and wiring 1K . That adds up to 18K. How do they come up with 39K?

Retail prices for all but the most advanced panels should be in the $.55-60/watt range. If you shop, and buy a pallet (about the right number anyway), then you can get to 50 cent/watt or lower.

[Mike 134]

Retail prices for all but the most advanced panels should be in the $.55-60/watt range. If you shop, and buy a pallet (about the right number anyway), then you can get to 50 cent/watt or lower.

Please post the retail listings you described. I think your mistaken but hope I’m wrong

[Jerry Kirwan]

Mike, you are missing the point. The panel installers want to know what my bill is so they can charge me something similar. -When I tell them they don't need to know that, and give them my monthly use in kwh instead, but they say that is not what they need!!!My profit would be the tax credit. I decided to do without them. I have taken measures to save, tight windows, reinstalled the ol bahamian shutters, shade trees east and west, insulation, LED lights only, new AC and smart thermostat, tankless WH and my bill for the last 12 months was 31% lower than for the previous 12 months,. Until they act like the AC installers I will not answer their calls.

Conservation has ALWAYS been cheeeper than Generation

[bcroe]

Conservation has ALWAYS been cheeper than Generation

My approach is elimination of energy waste. Some think conservation
means suffering and deprivation, but I instead buy more panels.
Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

My approach is elimination of energy waste. Some think conservation
means suffering and deprivation, but I instead buy more panels.
Bruce Roe

Ronald Reagon, bless his pointed little head, once said something to the effect that conservation meant being cold in winter and hot in summer. I guess that might be true if you don't have a brain or, as seems to be more common these days, choose to let the one you have atrophy from disuse.

I'd buy more panels but only after I'd have exhausted all the other means of reducing my energy bills that were less cost effective than throwing more panels at the bills, staring with the cheapest measures first. I've found that process starts with simply turning stuff off. This is not rocket science people.

[aranala]

I'm getting calls from the Department of Energy with loan offers for home improvement, including solar panel installation. Too bad that even with a low interest loan that is still a bad idea in Florida. The scam needs to be resolved first.

[azdave]

The panel installers want to know what my bill is so they can charge me something similar.

Sounds a bit like buying a car at a dealership with in-house financing. They only want to know how much you can afford to pay per month for a new car, not what the total cost of the car will actually be including financing over the life of the loan. They clearly don't want you to pay attention to the total cost, just the affordable monthly payments they are working out just for you.

[fraser]

Please post the retail listings you described. I think your mistaken but hope I’m wrong

Not wrong. Here are some sample pricing:
Renvu - Hyundai 390w 144half cell- 58cent/watt, 55cents for 27+ panels
Renvu - Recom 380w 72 cell- 58cent/watt, 55cents for 25+ panels
Tandem Solar - Longi 350w 60 cell- 74cent
Tandem Solar - Jinko 340w 66 cell- 64cent
Signature solar - BlueSun 460w (pallet)- 49.7cent
Solaris shop - JA solar 535w - 67 cent
Solaris shop - Trina 300w (pallet 30)- 60 cent

These are all retail prices. I know renvu has wholesale pricing 10-20% lower. Others have similar discounts too for larger wholesale orders.

[foggysail]

I have shopped around and found some sales guys did not have a clue as to what the rules are but still asked for more bucks than I was willing to part with. I started out with a 10KW system goal and as other have found, sales guys were not even bashful throwing numbers like 39-40K! What really got my jollies up though was how each want to look at electric bills.

The heart of the matter is not at all what one's electric bill happens to be other than maybe a sales guy trying to size an adequate system for one's application. And other guys told me ''you cannot put that many panels onto your roof, the power provide will not allow it!!!!" I could not understand why!!! YEAH--- JUST BULL$*** at least here in Massachusetts. It took awhile for me to even get straight answers about limitations but finally I got what I think makes sense. Here, the limitation by state law I believe is 10KW X 1.4. I understand this is so that the maximum one can pump back into the grid is 10KW and get paid 100% of the current electric rate. Go over that amount and the electric company will put you into a commercial energy source category and pay only 60% of the current rate. The choice is yours! Keep your grid tie under 10KWH and get paid the current rate by the electric company that it charges its customers OR be treated as a commercial source and only get a 60% return.

Back to cost. I finally called a halt to this nonsense when I secured a reasonable, no, make that acceptable cost of just over 30K for 26 each 400W 72 cell CAnadian BLACK panels eith Enphase microinverters. Locked in the deal last Saturday with a 30% payment. The installation is scheduled not to start until September. It could have started earlier but Wifey demanded that nobody was to work on the roof during summer, More later---at least the search is over for me!

[Ampster]

I'm getting calls from the Department of Energy ..........

The Department of Energy? That on its face sounds like a scam. Does that name even come up on a quick search of the State government site?

[aranala]

Is not a scam. The DOE has a program called Home Improvement Weatherization Program. For some reason all my calls are from CA. I guess they are agents or a third party interested in the program. But they do no sell the panels.

[aranala]

26 panesl 400 w at $ 310 is lesl than 9K. How did they get to 30K? Installation is 6 man days, at most.

[J.P.M.]

Is not a scam. The DOE has a program called Home Improvement Weatherization Program. For some reason all my calls are from CA. I guess they are agents or a third party interested in the program. But they do no sell the panels.

The DOE has a program called the "Weatherization Assistance Program" but I'm pretty sure it only deals with conservation and energy use reduction, not solar applications. The program is administered through the states and then down to contractors. My guess is you are getting calls from a contractor that somehow got your name.

I could no find a reference to "Home Improvement Weatherization Program".

Do your homework. I'd be skeptical.

[Ampster]

Is not a scam. The DOE has a program called Home Improvement Weatherization Program. For some reason all my calls are from CA. I guess they are agents or a third party interested in the program. But they do no sell the panels.

The DOE program is not a scam. The "agent" trying to sell you something based on that DOE carrot may just be getting paid for lead development for a high priced installer. Caveat Emptor.

[aranala]

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Before looking for efficiency financing, first determine if you qualify for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program or another program that will cover the cost of improvements.

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