Price paid per watt

[rbtripathi]

It's not from SunRun. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post their name. They are non-profit and may be that's why they are able to quote such a good price.

[buellwinkle]

It's not from SunRun. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post their name. They are non-profit and may be that's why they are able to quote such a good price.

People have posted names. I think the limit is you can't post links, phone numbers, contacts that may appear like an advertisement. But I'm not the moderator, just going by posts I've read.

Is that non-profit by choice, or non-profit by chance like SolarCity, LOL. It's cool that they are a public company because you can see their financials. They posted $61M in revenue and that added up to a net loss of $48M. Imagine, for very 61 cents they charge a customer, it cost them $1.09, what a deal They plan to make it up in volume (really, that's what they said). When I was getting bids, they were the highest at over $5/w. Needless to say, did not go with them.

[rbtripathi]

I'll wait for administrator's OK for posting name. They are non-profit by choice and only install for customers who consume less than $130/month of electricity.

[buellwinkle]

That may be possible in S.F. where climates are milder in the summer. I haven't had a $130 bill in years, even on the lowest use month.

[CA_Tom]

I'll wait for administrator's OK for posting name. They are non-profit by choice and only install for customers who consume less than $130/month of electricity.

Sounds like sunwork... I was a volunteer for one install by Sunwork. They got free labor. And I got to ask the employee questions.

[russ]

People have posted names. I think the limit is you can't post links, phone numbers, contacts that may appear like an advertisement. But I'm not the moderator, just going by posts I've read.

You are correct - as we do not know the various parties all over the place we can not say if they are really good or are a problem.

[rbtripathi]

Sounds like sunwork... I was a volunteer for one install by Sunwork. They got free labor. And I got to ask the employee questions.

You are right, it's Sunwork. Website is sunwork dot org. They have great reviews at solarreviews.

http://www.solarreviews.com/installers/sunwork-renewable-energy-projects-reviews/

How was your experience with them?

[CA_Tom]

You are right, it's Sunwork. Website is sunwork dot org. They have great reviews at solarreviews.

http://www.solarreviews.com/installers/sunwork-renewable-energy-projects-reviews/

How was your experience with them?

Pretty good.

The safety training a month or so before volunteering was not particularly useful - but I've never had a safety training that was useful.
Only new thing I can think of that I learned was about PG&E's net-metering methodology in that training. (With time-of-use you can have 3 outcomes at the end of the yearly period - you owe them $, no money changes hands (you produced fewer kwh, but was more $ than you used), and lastly - that they pay you a small $/kwh because you produced more kwh than consumed.)

The guy doing the install was happy to answer questions as we were unloading the panels into the customer's garage.
As I was helping I learned a few things that aren't obvious - like they use anti-seize goop on all the bolts securing the rails.

But I'm not sure that's really helpful for someone looking at using them as a customer.

[bcroe]

they use anti-seize goop on all the bolts securing the rails. But I'm not sure
that's really helpful for someone looking at using them as a customer.

That will work for a while. But outdoors with 6061 aluminum, I use all 18-8
stainless steel nuts & bolts. Bruce Roe

[CA_Tom]

That will work for a while. But outdoors with 6061 aluminum, I use all 18-8
stainless steel nuts & bolts. Bruce Roe

To clarify - they used stainless steel nuts and bolts with anti-seize on the bolt threads.

[J.P.M.]

That will work for a while. But outdoors with 6061 aluminum, I use all 18-8
stainless steel nuts & bolts. Bruce Roe

Just make sure you don't gall the threads (sometimes called cold welding or friction welding). One approach : Molybdenum disulfide thread lube. There are other proprietary compounds avail. Most are benign, but check for possible toxicity. Another: use different stainless steels - 304 for bolts, 316 for nuts, vice versa. I'd use both techniques. Brass nuts/stainless bolts will also work well in most applications.

[bcroe]

Hardware

Just make sure you don't gall the threads (sometimes called cold welding or friction welding). One approach : Molybdenum disulfide thread lube. There are other proprietary compounds avail. Most are benign, but check for possible toxicity. Another: use different stainless steels - 304 for bolts, 316 for nuts, vice versa. I'd use both techniques. Brass nuts/stainless bolts will also work well in most applications.

I use anti seize on cars all the time. Haven't tried it on the PV 18-8 stainless yet, but might
change my mind in a few years. Its not too hard to muck up the threads, if you use gorilla
tactics. Rather than making them that tight, I lock everything with double nuts. I'll remember
the possibility of (more expensive) 304 or 316 nuts, just in case.

And regular steel won't be serviceable, in a short time. Bruce Roe

[rick.m650]

The best quote I got, in the Bay Area, is $3.75/W for a 3.92KW system, using older LG panels and Enphase micro-inverters.

chunglau, that will be pretty similar to the system I might install, can you PM me your installer. My initial quote came in at $4.70/w for a 4.2KW system. Thanks.

[rbtripathi]

chunglau, that will be pretty similar to the system I might install, can you PM me your installer. My initial quote came in at $4.70/w for a 4.2KW system. Thanks.

Clear Solar of San Jose gave me quote at $3.7/w for a 4kW system. This was for Canadian solar panels and SMA inverters

[rick.m650]

Clear Solar of San Jose gave me quote at $3.7/w for a 4kW system. This was for Canadian solar panels and SMA inverters

That's the same outfit that quoted me $4.70 but with Enphase M250 Micro-inverters and 15 LG280 panels. Shouldn't be $1/W difference and I'm a little disappointed that I have to go thru the song and dance routine to get them off their artificially high initial bid. Thanks for the info.