Home/Residential Solar

[Capertrj]

Not sure where to put this so put it in General Topics to get most visibility to start. I wanted to see everyones personal experience and if they have similar setup/panels. I am a 9/19 build week and expecting delivery any day now. Live in southern maine with residential rate of $0.204/kWhr (net metering here). Recently had heat pumps (6 tons) installed as primary HVAC with oil backup. Commute is about 110 miles total 4-5 days a week (mix of 65% highway/35% residential). I figure a conservative estimate would be 2 miles/kWh which would be ~50 kWh a day. This commute isn't long term just another year or two and will reduce significantly.

Recently got estimates from two of the major installers in the area for a 10kW array which should be near annual usage. Prices are before 30% tax credit. Panels take up same area of roofing. This is a grid tied system with no battery back up. The lightning will be hooked up to manual transfer switch already installed for power outages.

First: 10.29 kW array
Silfab 490 Watt (21 panels) - 20.9% efficiency
SolarEdge SE10000 Inverter with SolarEdge DC optimizers
Price ~ 32k

Second: 10 kW array
Q Cell 400 Watt Q.Peak Duo G10+ (25 panels) - 20.4% efficiency
SolarEdge 7.6kW HD-Wave Inverter w/ revenue grade monitoring
25 SolarEdge S440 DC optimizer
Price ~ 35k


Both have 25 year warranties but the Silfab has a 30 year power performance guarantee of 82.6% at end of 30th year. It is nice as both are manufactured in US or Canada. Silfab has a slight advantage in power with a lower cost and long warranty.

Does anyone have experience with Silfab or Q Cell? Any recommendations or comments in general? It seems quite a few have solar on here and just wanted to see overall opinions as this is a pretty big investment.

Thank you all!

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[It's Just Me]

Sorry, to answer your question I do not have experience with these companies BUT I do have solar.

My system made a good chunk more than what I needed, however using the charger at home I will say that I am not making enough now to make it "free."

Did the quotes include EXPECTED increases in charging needs will be? There are enough EVs out there - though maybe not lightnings - that they ought to be able to make a reasonably good prediction as to what the needs are going to be.

My system has 20 panels, I live in Southern, NH.

But, the prices do not seem out of range at all.

 

[luebri]

Seems in line… this is my 8.1kW system. Install is prepped for panels to arrive any day now. Contract signed in june

20 405W REC solar modules, with a 25 year power output warranty
20 Enphase micro-inverters, with a 25 year warranty and free internet monitoring system

$25,600

 

[lancersrock]

God I feel like I'm getting hosed. Mine will be 28 410 watt panels with 8 being ground mounts (increase of about $5k) and enphase micro inverters. Final will be $52k but locked into 1.5% interest rate. I talked to 5 installers and they were all in this range. System will be 11.48 kw, I probably would've saved $10k by paying cash.

 

[queuewho]

I've got an 8kw Tesla Solar array and a Double Powerwall system. It was 24k after tax rebate. I did the math on the financing and it came out to paying double price in the end. I ended up forking over the cash.

 

[Capertrj]

Sorry, to answer your question I do not have experience with these companies BUT I do have solar.

My system made a good chunk more than what I needed, however using the charger at home I will say that I am not making enough now to make it "free."

Did the quotes include EXPECTED increases in charging needs will be? There are enough EVs out there - though maybe not lightnings - that they ought to be able to make a reasonably good prediction as to what the needs are going to be.

My system has 20 panels, I live in Southern, NH.

But, the prices do not seem out of range at all.

Right now with mileage probably ~90%. Down the road it will probably balance to even due to less driving and slight loss in performance over time.

also the roof is separated in three areas. So additional panels would be way on the other side.

 

[COrocket]

I have Q-Cells and they seem like a solid panel. No issues so far but I’ve only had them a couple of years. I’ve heard good things about Silfab so I’d be comfortable with either brand.

We ended up going with Enphase microinverters instead of the SolarEdge inverter. It was comparable in price and the Enphase has a 25 year warranty vs. 12 year SolarEdge warranty. It also helps if one microinverter fails you do not loose production of the entire array while the replacement is being sourced (even if failures are relatively rare)

When I was shopping around, competitive prices were around $2-3/watt and we were on the lower end of that range. It like yours is $3.2-3.5/watt so those quotes are not far off especially with inflation the way it is. You might be able to crack below $3/watt if you shop around a bit more.

One final note - are you paying cash or did any of those quotes include financing? Or were those paid with cash prices? Often times what solar companies will do is try and sell you a 1% or 2% long term financing deal, but bake in thousands of extra dollars to the quote to cover the difference between market interest rates and the solar loan rate. If you are going to take the entire period to pay off the loan, the cost over the life of the loan may not be that bad. But solar loans are not ideal for a cash buyer because even if you pay off the loan instantly, you still paid a lot of frontloaded fees for the loan. If cash buying is an option, you can often get Solar way cheaper if you go with a company that will give you a “cash price” and simply collect the balance upon completion.

 

[Capertrj]

I have Q-Cells and they seem like a solid panel. No issues so far but I’ve only had them a couple of years. I’ve heard good things about Silfab so I’d be comfortable with either brand.

We ended up going with Enphase microinverters instead of the SolarEdge inverter. It was comparable in price and the Enphase has a 25 year warranty vs. 12 year SolarEdge warranty. It also helps if one microinverter fails you do not loose production of the entire array while the replacement is being sourced (even if failures are relatively rare)

When I was shopping around, competitive prices were around $2-3/watt and we were on the lower end of that range. It like yours is $3.2-3.5/watt so those quotes are not far off especially with inflation the way it is. You might be able to crack below $3/watt if you shop around a bit more.

One final note - are you paying cash or did any of those quotes include financing? Or were those paid with cash prices? Often times what solar companies will do is try and sell you a 1% or 2% long term financing deal, but bake in thousands of extra dollars to the quote to cover the difference between market interest rates and the solar loan rate. If you are going to take the entire period to pay off the loan, the cost over the life of the loan may not be that bad. But solar loans are not ideal for a cash buyer because even if you pay off the loan instantly, you still paid a lot of frontloaded fees for the loan. If cash buying is an option, you can often get Solar way cheaper if you go with a company that will give you a “cash price” and simply collect the balance upon completion.

thank you! It will be straight cash. They both split from loan vs cash.

I sent this link to the companies:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/new-tech-can-make-your-house-a-solar-microgrid/

maybe I should look deeper into cost of enphase? I would nice to have capability to still generate power during an outage.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Not sure where to put this so put it in General Topics to get most visibility to start. I wanted to see everyones personal experience and if they have similar setup/panels. I am a 9/19 build week and expecting delivery any day now. Live in southern maine with residential rate of $0.204/kWhr (net metering here). Recently had heat pumps (6 tons) installed as primary HVAC with oil backup. Commute is about 110 miles total 4-5 days a week (mix of 65% highway/35% residential). I figure a conservative estimate would be 2 miles/kWh which would be ~50 kWh a day. This commute isn't long term just another year or two and will reduce significantly.

Recently got estimates from two of the major installers in the area for a 10kW array which should be near annual usage. Prices are before 30% tax credit. Panels take up same area of roofing. This is a grid tied system with no battery back up. The lightning will be hooked up to manual transfer switch already installed for power outages.

First: 10.29 kW array
Silfab 490 Watt (21 panels) - 20.9% efficiency
SolarEdge SE10000 Inverter with SolarEdge DC optimizers
Price ~ 32k

Second: 10 kW array
Q Cell 400 Watt Q.Peak Duo G10+ (25 panels) - 20.4% efficiency
SolarEdge 7.6kW HD-Wave Inverter w/ revenue grade monitoring
25 SolarEdge S440 DC optimizer
Price ~ 35k


Both have 25 year warranties but the Silfab has a 30 year power performance guarantee of 82.6% at end of 30th year. It is nice as both are manufactured in US or Canada. Silfab has a slight advantage in power with a lower cost and long warranty.

Does anyone have experience with Silfab or Q Cell? Any recommendations or comments in general? It seems quite a few have solar on here and just wanted to see overall opinions as this is a pretty big investment.

Thank you all!

Are you sure 10kW is enough? I have 7 tons of heat pumps. Same region as you but further south. Electric well pump. Heat pump water heater. 2 EVs and a pool. I also have 45kW of solar…and I use all of my electricity generated. The majority of my costs are the heat pumps and my EV.

With a 10kW system, I’d probably say you’d be able to cover your 50kWh usage of the EV but that’s about it.

 

[Blainestang]

FWIW, my 11kW system in FL (all South facing) made an average of 43kWh per day in 2021.

That was good enough for 100% offset of electric usage for my all-electric house (AC, Heater, water heater, stove, dryer, etc) and 2 EVs, but it wouldn’t even cover the usage of the Lightning driving 100 miles/day of that’s the goal.

 

[Capertrj]

Are you sure 10kW is enough? I have 7 tons of heat pumps. Same region as you but further south. Electric well pump. Heat pump water heater. 2 EVs and a pool. I also have 45kW of solar…and I use all of my electricity generated. The majority of my costs are the heat pumps and my EV.

With a 10kW system, I’d probably say you’d be able to cover your 50kWh usage of the EV but that’s about it.

Honestly, right now 10Kw might not be enough. But 10kW could be a bridge gap until we eventually retire at this house. So we are military and know we will move in a few years. The house is split into 3 roof sections. The main part is where the panels would be. Down the road, more panels could be added to the other sections.

 

[Capertrj]

i guess i have an alternate question. Being active duty military and moving every 3 years. This is the home we will retire at. It seems the price of panels are going down but labor and inflation are going up. Is it worth it to install panels now or later down the road?

 

[gapsd]

I purchased an 8KWh System with a single Powerwall from Tesla for 25k. I was going for a 12kwh system, but already filled the south facing roof with 18 panels. Financed 20K of it.
The problem I have now is finding out if I can connect my Procharger to the system without the extra inverter for extra battery. Tesla has not been very helpful. And I will not deal with Sunrun.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

i guess i have an alternate question. Being active duty military and moving every 3 years. This is the home we will retire at. It seems the price of panels are going down but labor and inflation are going up. Is it worth it to install panels now or later down the road?

Just making sure I follow the question. So any solar you install now, will most likely no longer be used in 3 years until you retire at the house. Is that correct?

Very generally, I look back at my first system (10kW) and the only regret I had was not installing more which is why I have my 2nd system (36kW). The price per kW was about the same. Cost of materials went down, cost of labor went up. At the same time my 2nd systems installation was far better - as well as service, but the equipment has been less reliable.

I think an answer to your question depends on the 1st part. Will it only be used for 3 years and then not again for how long?

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I purchased an 8KWh System with a single Powerwall from Tesla for 25k. I was going for a 12kwh system, but already filled the south facing roof with 18 panels. Financed 20K of it.
The problem I have now is finding out if I can connect my Procharger to the system without the extra inverter for extra battery. Tesla has not been very helpful. And I will not deal with Sunrun.

The charge station Pro? Or the Pro Power on board? You can trick your powerwall into thinking your pro power is a generator, but it won’t communicate with the charge station pro to utilize your Lightning without the inverter.

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