4 ms·

I decided to install solar myself, paid out of pocket, after having sales rep after sales rep knock on my door trying to sell me a leased or financed system. Wh

by dymk 3y ago

I decided to install solar myself, paid out of pocket, after having sales rep after sales rep knock on my door trying to sell me a leased or financed system. What they were offering for $60k over 30 years, I was able to do for $23k after incentives, and I fully own the system. The hardware itself is top of the line, and so will be less likely to need repair over the next few decades. But if I do need it repaired, I can call up any good installer in the area (ones that make their money putting panels on roofs, not the ones that make their money selling loans and leases), and I'll still be ahead.

foxyv 3y ago
A little bit of sweat equity is the ONLY way to do solar installs. Even if you hire other people to do the installation, sourcing the panels, the hardware, and your own electrician will save tens of thousands of dollars. If you let a general contractor like SunRun, Tesla, or Solar City do the sourcing, you will either get: a) The older generation equipment for top of the line prices. b) Top of the line equipment for obscene prices.
- fewald_net 3y ago
  I am thinking about installing solar. Do you have any resources to learn about panels etc?
  - foxyv 3y ago
    There are a lot of guides out there like: https://unboundsolar.com/solar-information/diy-solar https://unboundsolar.com/solar-information/diy-solar https://www.renogy.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-diy-offgrid-solar-systems/?Rng_ads=30dfdebf70858a7b&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyNSoBhA9EiwA5aYlbwUgKV4xtXRO7MBQmd_5dXuJuqcR-f92wkh8ss3sLnj0OL7qPbs4YxoCX9UQAvD_BwE https://www.renogy.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-diy-offgri... You may also want to watch some YouTube videos about how other people have installed their own. Mostly they are off-grid, but there are a few grid-tied systems as well. For the grid tied systems I would recommend buying plans like dymk did. A bill of materials and a plan will help a ton. Based on the kit DYMK showed in his breakdown I think he used SelfSolar: https://selfsolar.com/your-solar-journey/ https://selfsolar.com/your-solar-journey/
    - dymk 3y ago
      I originally started with one of those semi-DIY companies (not Unbound, but similar) where they build a site plan, give you a permit packet, and offer to sell you the hardware in a kit, but I found it to be not worthwhile. They mismeasured the roof via poor quality areal photography, and the BOM they came up with was low to midrange hardware with a large markup. I just rolled it myself and found suppliers for the panels, inverters, racking, did the roof CAD layout & branch structure, and permitting (single line diagrams + some paperwork) myself. Saved a bunch of money and ended up with a nicer install that way.
- dymk 3y ago
  And I'd have saved a lot more if I did the actual installation myself as well, but my roof is an 8/12 and 12/12 slope on a two story house. I did some test walks up there, and there was absolutely no way I'd have pulled off a one-man install even with a cherry picker. If the roof was 6/12 and had an easier geometry to work with, I'd have ended up paying closer to $14k for a 16.5kW system, which is an absurdly good price ($0.84 / watt) for solar, even if you compare it to a country like Australia. Smaller installers are more likely to take on semi-DIY projects like this at a reasonable rate that'll still save you money. Here's my cost breakdown - https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png
anonuser123456 3y ago
What did you use as your discount rate and inflation expectation to compare 23,000 of todays nominal dollars to 60,000 of future nominal dollars?
- dymk 3y ago
  In theme with the article, I'd likely end up with a system that didn't get installed for a year+, and if it did go up, it'd be poor quality and unsupported if I needed repair. I can tell a potential home buyer that with this home's system, there are no strings attached, no leases that come with the house, etc. WYSIWYG.
rapsey 3y ago
How many kW?
- dymk 3y ago
  16.5 kW system; IQ8+ and IQ8M microinverters, 455W bifacial LG panels Cost breakdown - https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png
  - tzs 3y ago
    Why four different line items for IQ8+ inverters? I see 18 @ $133.81 each, 1 @ $150.56, 3 @ $128.45, and 9 @ 130.55. Buying from multiple sellers to take advantage of deals?
    - dymk 3y ago
      eBay + a few other suppliers. For eBay, they were brand new inverters sold in those quantities, warranty and all. From what I can tell, surplus from solar projects done by other installers. :)

by dymk 3y ago

foxyv 3y ago

A little bit of sweat equity is the ONLY way to do solar installs. Even if you hire other people to do the installation, sourcing the panels, the hardware, and your own electrician will save tens of thousands of dollars. If you let a general contractor like SunRun, Tesla, or Solar City do the sourcing, you will either get: a) The older generation equipment for top of the line prices. b) Top of the line equipment for obscene prices.

fewald_net 3y ago
I am thinking about installing solar. Do you have any resources to learn about panels etc?
- foxyv 3y ago
  There are a lot of guides out there like: https://unboundsolar.com/solar-information/diy-solar https://unboundsolar.com/solar-information/diy-solar https://www.renogy.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-diy-offgrid-solar-systems/?Rng_ads=30dfdebf70858a7b&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyNSoBhA9EiwA5aYlbwUgKV4xtXRO7MBQmd_5dXuJuqcR-f92wkh8ss3sLnj0OL7qPbs4YxoCX9UQAvD_BwE https://www.renogy.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-diy-offgri... You may also want to watch some YouTube videos about how other people have installed their own. Mostly they are off-grid, but there are a few grid-tied systems as well. For the grid tied systems I would recommend buying plans like dymk did. A bill of materials and a plan will help a ton. Based on the kit DYMK showed in his breakdown I think he used SelfSolar: https://selfsolar.com/your-solar-journey/ https://selfsolar.com/your-solar-journey/
  - dymk 3y ago
    I originally started with one of those semi-DIY companies (not Unbound, but similar) where they build a site plan, give you a permit packet, and offer to sell you the hardware in a kit, but I found it to be not worthwhile. They mismeasured the roof via poor quality areal photography, and the BOM they came up with was low to midrange hardware with a large markup. I just rolled it myself and found suppliers for the panels, inverters, racking, did the roof CAD layout & branch structure, and permitting (single line diagrams + some paperwork) myself. Saved a bunch of money and ended up with a nicer install that way.
dymk 3y ago
And I'd have saved a lot more if I did the actual installation myself as well, but my roof is an 8/12 and 12/12 slope on a two story house. I did some test walks up there, and there was absolutely no way I'd have pulled off a one-man install even with a cherry picker. If the roof was 6/12 and had an easier geometry to work with, I'd have ended up paying closer to $14k for a 16.5kW system, which is an absurdly good price ($0.84 / watt) for solar, even if you compare it to a country like Australia. Smaller installers are more likely to take on semi-DIY projects like this at a reasonable rate that'll still save you money. Here's my cost breakdown - https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png

anonuser123456 3y ago

What did you use as your discount rate and inflation expectation to compare 23,000 of todays nominal dollars to 60,000 of future nominal dollars?

dymk 3y ago
In theme with the article, I'd likely end up with a system that didn't get installed for a year+, and if it did go up, it'd be poor quality and unsupported if I needed repair. I can tell a potential home buyer that with this home's system, there are no strings attached, no leases that come with the house, etc. WYSIWYG.

rapsey 3y ago

How many kW?

dymk 3y ago
16.5 kW system; IQ8+ and IQ8M microinverters, 455W bifacial LG panels Cost breakdown - https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png https://i.imgur.com/lieB9XG.png
- tzs 3y ago
  Why four different line items for IQ8+ inverters? I see 18 @ $133.81 each, 1 @ $150.56, 3 @ $128.45, and 9 @ 130.55. Buying from multiple sellers to take advantage of deals?
  - dymk 3y ago
    eBay + a few other suppliers. For eBay, they were brand new inverters sold in those quantities, warranty and all. From what I can tell, surplus from solar projects done by other installers. :)