newfly
Guest
Inspired by the thread by @NickRoseSN1985 , i got interested in getting solar as well. Replaced my roof 2 years ago, and timing is right to think about solar. Read up on pro and cons for different equipment, etc and here what i ended up doing.
Panel - Most tier1 panel are practically the same. 22.xx% efficiency, bifacial, 25years warranty. I went with 16x Hyundai 435w vs REC 460W primary due to lower cost and availability. REC have lower degradation per year - add up to 2-3% difference after 30 years. Both are bifacial panel. I have light color roof, not sure how much "extra" benefit from the bifacial panel. I read btw 8-12% boast. Realistically I will be happy with 5%.
Inverter - MIcro or String. Since i have some shading for a few panel, i went with micro. Most of the quote is with MIcro if i don;t want battery. Don;t really have the real cost comparison. The key decision is which micro pairing or DCAC ratio. There is a LOT of opinion on this. PVWATT site gives a good estimate of total power output with different size inverter. Decided to go with higher rated inverter, lower DC-AC ratio for the following reason.
Pay off is 10 years , which is not great but not terrible either. We are talking about $300 total differences. So no big deal. Higher rated inverter will clip less, ie won't max out on power for a long duration, hopefully this translate to longer longevity. Who knows. I ended up with Enphase IQ8HC-380w vs IQ8MC-330w. Bifacial panel may increase the panel output , so higher rated inverter may benefit more. DCAC ratio are 1:15 vs 1.30 . I went with 1.15. All the cons of going with lower ratio is cost.
Installer/Pricing - Pricing is all over the place. I happen to like the solar consultant from the lowest cost bidder. $2.2/watt for 7kw system. I went back and fourth with him discussion equipment options probably 10-15 times . Online review is a mixed bag but most negative review is project get delayed by a couple of months. If this is the worst case, i can live with that.
If this goes well, i'll have the system installed in less then 2months. Looking forward for almost zero electric bill.
Tesla Solar is a joke. I sign up, paid $100 deposit to talk to the consultant. agreed on the system size. Their planning team suppose to draw up the proposal, but they cannot get the system size right after 3 tries. The consultant is very apologetic but there is nothing he can do beside putting in yet another memo and request to correct the number. I asked for 7kw , they quoted 5kw, 10kw and 14kw. Somehow 7 is a unlucky number. I got the refund back. Their pricing is $2.6/watt. I would consider going with that, since i know Tesla is likely to be around 20 years from now. Who knows about the local contractor i went with. But since Tesla cannot get a simple task correctly, i don;t think i want to take the risk.
Panel - Most tier1 panel are practically the same. 22.xx% efficiency, bifacial, 25years warranty. I went with 16x Hyundai 435w vs REC 460W primary due to lower cost and availability. REC have lower degradation per year - add up to 2-3% difference after 30 years. Both are bifacial panel. I have light color roof, not sure how much "extra" benefit from the bifacial panel. I read btw 8-12% boast. Realistically I will be happy with 5%.
Inverter - MIcro or String. Since i have some shading for a few panel, i went with micro. Most of the quote is with MIcro if i don;t want battery. Don;t really have the real cost comparison. The key decision is which micro pairing or DCAC ratio. There is a LOT of opinion on this. PVWATT site gives a good estimate of total power output with different size inverter. Decided to go with higher rated inverter, lower DC-AC ratio for the following reason.
Pay off is 10 years , which is not great but not terrible either. We are talking about $300 total differences. So no big deal. Higher rated inverter will clip less, ie won't max out on power for a long duration, hopefully this translate to longer longevity. Who knows. I ended up with Enphase IQ8HC-380w vs IQ8MC-330w. Bifacial panel may increase the panel output , so higher rated inverter may benefit more. DCAC ratio are 1:15 vs 1.30 . I went with 1.15. All the cons of going with lower ratio is cost.
Installer/Pricing - Pricing is all over the place. I happen to like the solar consultant from the lowest cost bidder. $2.2/watt for 7kw system. I went back and fourth with him discussion equipment options probably 10-15 times . Online review is a mixed bag but most negative review is project get delayed by a couple of months. If this is the worst case, i can live with that.
If this goes well, i'll have the system installed in less then 2months. Looking forward for almost zero electric bill.
Tesla Solar is a joke. I sign up, paid $100 deposit to talk to the consultant. agreed on the system size. Their planning team suppose to draw up the proposal, but they cannot get the system size right after 3 tries. The consultant is very apologetic but there is nothing he can do beside putting in yet another memo and request to correct the number. I asked for 7kw , they quoted 5kw, 10kw and 14kw. Somehow 7 is a unlucky number. I got the refund back. Their pricing is $2.6/watt. I would consider going with that, since i know Tesla is likely to be around 20 years from now. Who knows about the local contractor i went with. But since Tesla cannot get a simple task correctly, i don;t think i want to take the risk.
