Price paid per watt

[CA_Tom]

$3.10 is a new low for the Bay area, especially with Enphase inverters. Panel and inverters alone probably cost around $1.50 a watt together. Personally, I'd be a bit worried about having volunteers do the work. If the result is good though, then you really can't beat that price.

At each work site they have at least 1 employee, and then the homeowner and other volunteers to help out with the grunt work. When I volunteered it was 1 volunteer (me), the homeowner, and an employee.

A lot of the work goes much faster/easier with a helper or two, and the helper's work can be easily supervised.
For example, we spent at least 15 minutes just removing the packaging material from the modules, putting wire retainer clips on, and stacking them in the garage. Work that doesn't need any skill or expertise, but needs to be done.
A slightly more skilled job was putting the rails onto the legs. Each of us worked on getting the bolts slid into the rails and roughly lined up with the legs. Then when it came time to fasten the rails to the legs the three of us worked together on the rail - one at each end, and the third near the ridge giving direction ("A little higher on the east side")

The employee did most of the conduit bending (requires a little skill/experience).
And I believe he did or checked all the electrical connections. As a volunteer I have no problem holding conduit in place or fastening it down with a conduit strap. Even bolting the inverter's bracket to the wall doesn't worry me. But I'm not doing electrical work on someone else's home and taking on that liability.

[whiteboxr]

Got it! Thanks macholini!

[macholini]

Hey macholini, could you PM me the sales rep name that was pushy & bad-mouthing, I'm going to give them a call for a quote and want to avoid him. Could you also give me the installer you ended up getting the $3.50/w from? Thanks

Done.

[whiteboxr]

I also got a $3.70/W quote from them for a 9.9 kW LG300 system with 2 SMA inverters, supposedly after a $3000 corporate discount. The thing that put me off though was that their sales rep was pushing Enphase pretty hard and bad-mouthing alternatives (e.g. saying they've had numerous issues with SolarEdge), even though I told him I wasn't interested in Enphase (when I asked how many SolarEdge systems they had installed, it turned out it was just 4). He also kept forwarding me internal email threads with his superiors, where he had referred to me as "that guy". Anyway, maybe this sales rep was just inexperienced but I got a bad vibe out of them. I ended up with another installer who initially matched their price and later even went lower after I suggested that I might be open to getting a few more panels for the right price (I ended up with an 11.4 kW system of 38 LG300 panels and 2 SMA inverters @ $3.50/W pre-incentives).

Hey macholini, could you PM me the sales rep name that was pushy & bad-mouthing, I'm going to give them a call for a quote and want to avoid him. Could you also give me the installer you ended up getting the $3.50/w from? Thanks

[rbtripathi]

$3.10 is a new low for the Bay area, especially with Enphase inverters. Panel and inverters alone probably cost around $1.50 a watt together. Personally, I'd be a bit worried about having volunteers do the work. If the result is good though, then you really can't beat that price.

Volunteers go through a training session before work. I've also signed up as volunteer. Volunteers mostly do labor work under guidance of a an expert. Sunwork has 4.99 review rating at solarreviews from 69 reviews.

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

[JCP]

I'me going with sunwork as they quoted $3.1/w for a 4KW system with REC panels and Enphase inverters. If you average bill is less than $130 they are best option in Bay Area I think.

$3.10 is a new low for the Bay area, especially with Enphase inverters. Panel and inverters alone probably cost around $1.50 a watt together. Personally, I'd be a bit worried about having volunteers do the work. If the result is good though, then you really can't beat that price.

[rbtripathi]

I'me going with sunwork as they quoted $3.1/w for a 4KW system with REC panels and Enphase inverters. If you average bill is less than $130 they are best option in Bay Area I think.

[urthling]

Guys I worked with in India would ask for 20 rounds - they did get the best price almost every time. Don't be afraid to ask multiple times.

Guess it's too much to ask for them to provide the best pricing after asking once, eh? =] I guess they know some people don't want to play the game, and will accept the first or second offer.

I also got a $3.70/W quote from them for a 9.9 kW LG300 system with 2 SMA inverters, supposedly after a $3000 corporate discount. The thing that put me off though was that their sales rep was pushing Enphase pretty hard and bad-mouthing alternatives (e.g. saying they've had numerous issues with SolarEdge), even though I told him I wasn't interested in Enphase (when I asked how many SolarEdge systems they had installed, it turned out it was just 4). He also kept forwarding me internal email threads with his superiors, where he had referred to me as "that guy". Anyway, maybe this sales rep was just inexperienced but I got a bad vibe out of them. I ended up with another installer who initially matched their price and later even went lower after I suggested that I might be open to getting a few more panels for the right price (I ended up with an 11.4 kW system of 38 LG300 panels and 2 SMA inverters @ $3.50/W pre-incentives).

Yah, my guy flat out told me that they would not install SolarEdge since SunRun explicitly forbade them to do so (even though SolarEdge told me SunRun is a SolarEdge dealer). However, he may not be completely inaccurate about the issues with SolarEdge since I heard from another dealer regarding customer service and firmware issues.

[macholini]

I was quoted about $3.70 as well for a 4.5 kW system with SolarWorld and Enphase. I also had to go through a few rounds to get them to drop the price. I feel like I can ask them to go lower but I despise having to go more than one round to ask them for a best offer. The only significant thing that sets them apart from other installers is their 15 year warranty on the system, as opposed to the usual 10. Are the extra five years worth the additional $1000 or so from the next lowest bid?

I also got a $3.70/W quote from them for a 9.9 kW LG300 system with 2 SMA inverters, supposedly after a $3000 corporate discount. The thing that put me off though was that their sales rep was pushing Enphase pretty hard and bad-mouthing alternatives (e.g. saying they've had numerous issues with SolarEdge), even though I told him I wasn't interested in Enphase (when I asked how many SolarEdge systems they had installed, it turned out it was just 4). He also kept forwarding me internal email threads with his superiors, where he had referred to me as "that guy". Anyway, maybe this sales rep was just inexperienced but I got a bad vibe out of them. I ended up with another installer who initially matched their price and later even went lower after I suggested that I might be open to getting a few more panels for the right price (I ended up with an 11.4 kW system of 38 LG300 panels and 2 SMA inverters @ $3.50/W pre-incentives).

[russ]

I despise having to go more than one round to ask them for a best offer.

Guys I worked with in India would ask for 20 rounds - they did get the best price almost every time. Don't be afraid to ask multiple times.

[urthling]

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.

I was quoted about $3.70 as well for a 4.5 kW system with SolarWorld and Enphase. I also had to go through a few rounds to get them to drop the price. I feel like I can ask them to go lower but I despise having to go more than one round to ask them for a best offer. The only significant thing that sets them apart from other installers is their 15 year warranty on the system, as opposed to the usual 10. Are the extra five years worth the additional $1000 or so from the next lowest bid?

[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.

[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]

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.

[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