r/solar

I've recently been visited by companies that are offering solar panels. The weird part is they are offering them at no cost that could include possible roof replacement. It definitely screams "too good to be true" vibes. The one company today was InifinitySolarUSA.

Does anyone have any experience with these companies?

Located in Central Pennsylvania.

In Maryland getting several solar quotes. 100% intent on owning, but one company, SEW (owned by Comcast), has a new type of leasing that had me crunching numbers (integrates 30% 3rd party rebate, can prepay the lease to have zero payments, zero escalation, SEW takes care of system for length of lease, table of buyout values over life of lease if want to switch to owning).

Does anyone else have experience with this program? (understanding it is fairly new)

Apologies if this isn’t the right place to ask for a 2nd opinion but I’m about to lose my mind on this and would be grateful for some input.

Had some hail damage on the property a couple years ago. Contractor came out, repaired the siding, installed hail resistant shingles, and reinstalled my enphase solar array.

7 months after the reinstall, one of my panels says the micro inverter has stopped reporting. I don’t think too much of it, figure I’ll get it fixed at some point. Another year goes by and I noticed the door frame trim is getting swollen from water damage.

The weird part is it’s only the bottom of the frame trim that has water damage and a little bit of the baseboard trim. Nothing on the ceiling or walls and no apparent leak in the attic. It’s a split level roof so both areas show no leak. Moisture level in the door frame only ever increases when it rains so it’s definitely an exterior leak and not something from plumbing.

The original company sent a roofer out who didn’t find anything. They are now going to send out their solar guys who keep pushing back on the inverter and leak not being related.

I have no other explanation as to how this leak is happening and even the roofer couldn’t find anything. The array that has the broken panel sits over the side of the house that is showing water damage. Wouldn’t it make the most sense that something went wrong with the installation, causing a leak that first broke the panel and now has been making its way inside?

Thanks in advance for any ideas on this.

My parents family home comes with a large back garden that frankly none of us makes use of, the whole plot being 3/4 of an acre. Based on some back of the envelope math, I think I could get in 1000 square meters of solar panels into the garden, which I roughly calculated based on figures from government websites to potentially yield 400 euros a day in summer if it's 100% converted to feed in tariffs.

Putting aside legal considerations, is this kind of project practical? I read online that Solar panels have a 4 year payback time, would it be considerably shorter if deployed at this kind of scale in an open field?

For information, I live in Ireland.

So I’m looking at the numbers on the family farm and for less than half of it, it used 1,024 KWh in one day. Just for hypotheticals sake, how many solar panels and how much wattage would I need to provide that?

I have been interested in solar since we moved into our house. The front roof isn't perfect but based on the below quotes we can get some good coverage. It's south facing. On top of this, I had the roof inspected once (I plan to get a 2nd opinion) and the inspector who is form a well known/well respected company said our front has 2-3 years and back has 3-4 years in their opinion. It's shorter than we thought and wonder if the former owners fudged their roof age. Anyway, now we're considering getting a new roof next year so we can get solar.

I'm interested in getting shingle quotes & standing seam metal. The first quotes I received were for 23k and 58k for shingle / standing seam respectively. I will get more quotes. This company specializes in standing seam.

Important to note: I plan on getting an electric car soon so that will up my usage. Annual usage now is ~9,300 kWh based on trailing year of electric bills.

Solar quote 1:

Total system cost: $27,000. Nets to $22,000 after NYS $5k credit.

System size; 8.74kW

Annual production estimate: 10,462 kWh

Panel: 19x REC460AA Pure-RX

Inverter: Tesla 7.6

Solar quote 2:

Total system cost: $23,643. Nets to $18,643 after NYS $5k credit. They also proposed a leasing plan (I don't plan on doing this). They also offered a Tesla power wall for ~$13k.

System size; 5.98kW

Annual production estimate: 7,500-7,900 kWh

Panel: 13x REC460AA Pure-RX

Inverter: Enphase IQ8x

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I asked quote 2 why they only had 13 panels and they stated the code limited how much they could do. I asked quote 1 about this and they said they maximize the space. I do not plan on leasing.

Based on cost, another shingle roof seems more attractive. I like the idea of a Standing Seam metal roof outlasting my wife and I but it's sooooo expensive.

I'm looking for:

1. Feedback on the quotes, thoughts on the different panel #

2. Difference b/n Enphase micro and Tesla inverters.

3. Thoughts on new roof + solar at the same time.

4. We have net metering. It was explained to me that I get a credit for every kW I produce and use that credit later. Am I losing out on solar efficiencies by not getting a power wall? I believe with the power wall I could have only certain items powered by it? Furnace/Fridge/router?

5. What am I not thinking about in this early project?

Got solar 2 weeks ago and I swear I'm obsessed with my power generation/usage now. Love checking battery level, how much power i'm stealing from the sun, and what i'm using.

How long does it take until the fun in checking that goes away to a reasonable level?

This is my first site visit to a milk company which wants solarization, I'm not sure exactly what to look for since I'm just starting my solar career, are there any tips you could have that would be useful.

Any tips are much appreciated.

Looking for a sanity check on a solar+battery quote before I sign. First time doing this, so brutal honesty welcome.

Location: Union City, CA 94587 (East Bay). PG&E delivery, Ava Community Energy (CCA) for generation. On the EV2A rate plan.

System:

- 6.9kW DC / 15x REC Alpha Pure-R 460W panels

- Enphase IQ8X-80 microinverters (1:1)

- Enphase IQ Battery 10C, 10kWh usable, energy arbitrage mode

- Extra: tile roof mounting ($345), "Essentials" backup panel ($2,500)

Pricing:

- List price: $36,148

- Discounts: -$345 ("6kW Group") + -$13,689 ("Propel" program) = -$14,034

- Net cost: $22,114 (possibly $21000 if I sign before a stated deadline)

Projected numbers (per their proposal):

- Year 1 production: 9,681 kWh (~102% of usage)

- Avg monthly savings: $248.56

- Payback: 6.8 years, 15.91% annual ROI

Why I'm skeptical of their projected numbers:

Pulled my real bill: 77% of my usage is off-peak at $0.318/kWh, but peak (4-9pm) is $0.716/kWh and part-peak is $0.561/kWh. My actual trailing-12-month average bill is ~$225/mo, and even the last 6 months average ~$233/mo

Questions:

1. Is $22,114 (6.9kW + 10kWh Enphase + extras) a fair Bay Area price right now?

2. Anyone dealt with a "Propel" style discount program or similar large list-to-net markdown — normal?

3. Enphase IQ Battery 10C vs. other options at this price point (Tesla Powerwall 3, FranklinWH, etc.) for someone on EV2A with a wide peak/off-peak spread — worth the swap?

4. Does this look reasonable enough to move forward?

5. What happens if something happens to the panels act of god or something similar (from an insurance perspective - home insurances covers it

Happy to share more details if useful. Thanks in advance.

A little background: I’m an ECE grad student, and before going back to school I worked as a software engineer. I got laid off and the job market has been pretty rough, so I’ve been trying to figure out what direction I want to take next.
During my first quarter I took an Energy Public Policy class, which got me seriously interested in renewable energy and the economics behind commercial solar.
Over the last few months I’ve been learning the commercial solar business from the ground up; prospecting, utility bills and interval data, system sizing, installer quotes, incentives, financing, permitting, etc. My approach has been to work on the customer’s side, get quotes from different installers, compare the numbers, and help them figure out whether a project actually makes financial sense.
After a lot of cold calls and dead ends, I finally have my first real project moving into deal negotiations this week.
I’m excited, but I’m also very aware that there’s a lot I don’t know yet.
For those of you who have actually worked in commercial solar, EPC, development, or energy consulting: what should a first-timer be especially careful about before getting a customer under contract?
•A few things I’m already thinking about:
•Making sure the commission/referral agreement with the installer is airtight
•Who owns the customer relationship
•Change orders and unexpected project costs
• Utility/interconnection timelines
•Structural and electrical surprises
•Making sure projected savings aren’t overly optimistic
•Tax/incentive claims that I shouldn’t be making myself
•What happens if the project gets delayed or doesn’t pencil out after engineering
I’m particularly interested in the mistakes you made on your first few deals that you wish someone had warned you about.
Not selling anything here and I’m intentionally leaving out my company/site/contact info. Just looking to learn from people who have been doing this longer than I have.
Thanks!