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You can DIY + electrician (for hookup) for fairly cheaply. I just bought 5kW of used solar panels for $1k shipped to my door. You can get new panels for aroun

You can DIY + electrician (for hookup) for fairly cheaply. I just bought 5kW of used solar panels for $1k shipped to my door. You can get new panels for around double that ($0.27/watt). My 3kW inverter + charge controller (can run w/o battery) was $750. The inverter powers a critical loads panel, which switches to grid when solar isn't available. I setup the panel, I had an electrician move my critical loads and connect my inverter. That said, this is not the standard grid-tie setup, but it works for me. The advantage for me is price and the ability to add a battery later.

1123581321 5y ago
Nice. I wanted to do this but I wasn’t able to do enough of the labor myself, and in my state DIY is looking like it may get deprioritized out of receiving renewable energy credits. In exchange for paying the markup on the panels I’m getting all the paperwork done right and paying a reasonable rate for the electrical and installation work. It’s a bummer, though, similar to when I conclude I have to pay for auto maintenance work instead of saving money.
TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
I thought panels had a 20 or 25 year life span with reduced wattage each year. Is that true? How old are the panels you bought?
- bserge 5y ago
  25 years until they drop below 80% efficiency afaik (newer ones are even better). But 80% is still rather decent for home use especially if you have space for more of them. Buy dirt cheap, use for another 10-20 years.
- jeffbee 5y ago
  Modern panels lose less than ½% per year. If you bought 20-year-old panels today you should expect to get 90% of their nameplate capacity still. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/51664.pdf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/51664.pdf
jmartrican 5y ago
Any guides on how to go about doing what you mentioned?
- turtlebits 5y ago
  This is the specific off grid inverter I'm using - SPF 3000TL LVM-ES. You essentially place it between your loads and grid and it will intelligently switch to grid when your solar output is too low and your battery voltage is at a certain threshold.

1123581321 5y ago

Nice. I wanted to do this but I wasn’t able to do enough of the labor myself, and in my state DIY is looking like it may get deprioritized out of receiving renewable energy credits. In exchange for paying the markup on the panels I’m getting all the paperwork done right and paying a reasonable rate for the electrical and installation work. It’s a bummer, though, similar to when I conclude I have to pay for auto maintenance work instead of saving money.

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago

I thought panels had a 20 or 25 year life span with reduced wattage each year. Is that true? How old are the panels you bought?

bserge 5y ago
25 years until they drop below 80% efficiency afaik (newer ones are even better). But 80% is still rather decent for home use especially if you have space for more of them. Buy dirt cheap, use for another 10-20 years.
jeffbee 5y ago
Modern panels lose less than ½% per year. If you bought 20-year-old panels today you should expect to get 90% of their nameplate capacity still. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/51664.pdf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/51664.pdf

jmartrican 5y ago

Any guides on how to go about doing what you mentioned?

turtlebits 5y ago
This is the specific off grid inverter I'm using - SPF 3000TL LVM-ES. You essentially place it between your loads and grid and it will intelligently switch to grid when your solar output is too low and your battery voltage is at a certain threshold.