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I was debating getting a rooftop solar system, but then I had some interactions with the door-to-door sales people pushing these installs. It quickly became cl

I was debating getting a rooftop solar system, but then I had some interactions with the door-to-door sales people pushing these installs. It quickly became clear to me that there was a strong disconnect between the "acquire business" and "fulfill obligations" aspects of these operations. I don't think a single one of the installers in my area would look at my situation and say "nah I wouldn't put panels on your roof - not worth it. Please keep your money".

MerelyMortal 3y ago
> door-to-door sales people The harder they work, the more lucrative the contract for them AKA you're getting a bad deal. Pretty much like 99% of advertising: the more they advertise, the more expensive they will be compared to the competition.
- BenoitP 3y ago
  Exactly! It's like ads on TV. It's like a catalog for the highest margin products. Also often for products that can hack us through instinctive reactions (appeal to status: cars/makeup, fear: insurance, etc)
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
dylan604 3y ago
In today's world, you just have to assume that any door-to-door sales must be a scam.
hotnfresh 3y ago
Yeah, can confirm, don’t do it. Ours is performing as intended but only after months and months of bullshit and having to get half our roof redone (which they paid for, but god that was annoying) because they messed it up horribly on initial install. I’m never doing rooftop again, and if I do solar, it’ll be ground level and I’ll do everything myself but the scariest parts of the electrical work. [edit] oh and it’s connected through some Internet of Shit device that I’m sure will stop working in a few years and cause all kinds of trouble in the replacement. If I’d known it wasn’t just gonna be a big on/off switch, I’d not have done it.
- Kon-Peki 3y ago
  > it’s connected through some Internet of Shit device You probably got some "tax credits" that are, legally, a pre-payment for the expected generation of carbon offset credits, and your system has to report metrics to verify the actual electricity generation so that the credits can be created over time. Did you read all the fine print of the contracts you signed? We did, and it left a pretty bitter taste in our mouths.
  - hotnfresh 3y ago
    Oh, I’m sure it was mentioned in there somewhere and I just missed it. But utility Internet-connected meters and such seem pretty reliable at this point, if they just wanted to monitor. Instead it’s the usual smart-home garbage with an app and probably 500x the computing power it should reasonably need, basically guaranteed to cause problems sooner rather than later. Would’ve called it off if I’d noticed that up front.
- dr-detroit 3y ago
  [dead]
adolph 3y ago
I see these installs on roofs not facing south and wonder if the installers know something I don't know or if they are paid to install cells, not to optimize cell utilization.
- mercutio2 3y ago
  Southwest facing panels better match peak rates/modern demand curves, of course at a moderate decrease in total energy produced. But yeah. I’ve seen some Northwest facing panels, and those people really got screwed.
r00fus 3y ago
According to reddit: * Never go with a power purchase agreement (PPA) or lease. * Solar loans are not really worth it (super high interest rate compared to home loans). * Installing yourself is doable, but as with all other contractors, best to compare installers. This requires some research beforehand. My rush journey to meet NEM2 date earlier this year in CA: 1) researching components (panels/inverters) based on /r/solar subreddit 2) picked a popular inverter manufacturer (Enphase) and went to their "installers" page 3) spammed 20-30 installers and compared the ability for them to meet the date as well as cost for the sizing/components I wanted 4) selected one installer and let them do the install. Before getting to (4) I did get a lot of "what you're asking for doesn't make sense" which I respected.

MerelyMortal 3y ago

> door-to-door sales people The harder they work, the more lucrative the contract for them AKA you're getting a bad deal. Pretty much like 99% of advertising: the more they advertise, the more expensive they will be compared to the competition.

BenoitP 3y ago
Exactly! It's like ads on TV. It's like a catalog for the highest margin products. Also often for products that can hack us through instinctive reactions (appeal to status: cars/makeup, fear: insurance, etc)
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

dylan604 3y ago

In today's world, you just have to assume that any door-to-door sales must be a scam.

hotnfresh 3y ago

Yeah, can confirm, don’t do it. Ours is performing as intended but only after months and months of bullshit and having to get half our roof redone (which they paid for, but god that was annoying) because they messed it up horribly on initial install. I’m never doing rooftop again, and if I do solar, it’ll be ground level and I’ll do everything myself but the scariest parts of the electrical work. [edit] oh and it’s connected through some Internet of Shit device that I’m sure will stop working in a few years and cause all kinds of trouble in the replacement. If I’d known it wasn’t just gonna be a big on/off switch, I’d not have done it.

Kon-Peki 3y ago
> it’s connected through some Internet of Shit device You probably got some "tax credits" that are, legally, a pre-payment for the expected generation of carbon offset credits, and your system has to report metrics to verify the actual electricity generation so that the credits can be created over time. Did you read all the fine print of the contracts you signed? We did, and it left a pretty bitter taste in our mouths.
- hotnfresh 3y ago
  Oh, I’m sure it was mentioned in there somewhere and I just missed it. But utility Internet-connected meters and such seem pretty reliable at this point, if they just wanted to monitor. Instead it’s the usual smart-home garbage with an app and probably 500x the computing power it should reasonably need, basically guaranteed to cause problems sooner rather than later. Would’ve called it off if I’d noticed that up front.
dr-detroit 3y ago
[dead]

adolph 3y ago

I see these installs on roofs not facing south and wonder if the installers know something I don't know or if they are paid to install cells, not to optimize cell utilization.

mercutio2 3y ago
Southwest facing panels better match peak rates/modern demand curves, of course at a moderate decrease in total energy produced. But yeah. I’ve seen some Northwest facing panels, and those people really got screwed.

r00fus 3y ago

According to reddit: * Never go with a power purchase agreement (PPA) or lease. * Solar loans are not really worth it (super high interest rate compared to home loans). * Installing yourself is doable, but as with all other contractors, best to compare installers. This requires some research beforehand. My rush journey to meet NEM2 date earlier this year in CA: 1) researching components (panels/inverters) based on /r/solar subreddit 2) picked a popular inverter manufacturer (Enphase) and went to their "installers" page 3) spammed 20-30 installers and compared the ability for them to meet the date as well as cost for the sizing/components I wanted 4) selected one installer and let them do the install. Before getting to (4) I did get a lot of "what you're asking for doesn't make sense" which I respected.