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None of this would matter if the US Solar installers would stop price gouging the customer. I just got 4KW installed of Canadian Solar panels. They come with

None of this would matter if the US Solar installers would stop price gouging the customer. I just got 4KW installed of Canadian Solar panels. They come with an actual 25 year insurance bond to cover the warranty. I'd like to see China try that. The installation was literally half what SolarCity quoted me. The little guys make a nice profit but don't gouge and you get superb quality panels. Capitalism. it's really hard to tell what's really an issue and what's abject greed.

diafygi 12y ago
Soft costs are a huge problem right now in solar. They accounts for 64% of installed cost[1], which is crazy. Luckily, there is a big effort to reduce these costs[2]. [1]: http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2013/5306.html http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2013/5306.html [2]: http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/soft-costs http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/soft-costs
ghshephard 12y ago
What did a 4KW Canadian Solar panel system cost you, inclusive of warranty? How large a battery system? Also, did it have a cutoff that disables the solar panel system if you lose utility power?
- FrankenPC 12y ago
  16 panels installed, Permitted, micro-inverter tech, with hard mounting rails (through tile), not the easy hangars most people install with cost me out the door 16K$. Then I got a 30% tax rebate from the feds. Everything has 25 year warranty on it from manufacturers. This is a grid tie system. No batteries. In the city we're not concerned with 100% off grid solutions. PG&E our provider has contracted with me as a power provider. So excess power is banked and credited over a period of 12 months. Also, the system is easily extensible. I'll be adding another 3KW for another tax write off this year. No additional inspections required as the micro-inverters don't need a central monolithic inverter which need to be increased as the number of panels increases.
  - ghshephard 12y ago
    Thanks! So, I guess the two really interesting follow-on questions are - how many kWh/year do you expect to generate, and how much is PG&E paying you per kWh?
adventured 12y ago
Most of Canadian Solar's panels are made in China, and Canadian Solar isn't one of the little guys - they're one of the world's largest solar companies. They do 10 times the sales of SolarCity.

diafygi 12y ago

Soft costs are a huge problem right now in solar. They accounts for 64% of installed cost[1], which is crazy. Luckily, there is a big effort to reduce these costs[2]. [1]: http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2013/5306.html http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2013/5306.html [2]: http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/soft-costs http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/soft-costs

ghshephard 12y ago

What did a 4KW Canadian Solar panel system cost you, inclusive of warranty? How large a battery system? Also, did it have a cutoff that disables the solar panel system if you lose utility power?

FrankenPC 12y ago
16 panels installed, Permitted, micro-inverter tech, with hard mounting rails (through tile), not the easy hangars most people install with cost me out the door 16K$. Then I got a 30% tax rebate from the feds. Everything has 25 year warranty on it from manufacturers. This is a grid tie system. No batteries. In the city we're not concerned with 100% off grid solutions. PG&E our provider has contracted with me as a power provider. So excess power is banked and credited over a period of 12 months. Also, the system is easily extensible. I'll be adding another 3KW for another tax write off this year. No additional inspections required as the micro-inverters don't need a central monolithic inverter which need to be increased as the number of panels increases.
- ghshephard 12y ago
  Thanks! So, I guess the two really interesting follow-on questions are - how many kWh/year do you expect to generate, and how much is PG&E paying you per kWh?

adventured 12y ago

Most of Canadian Solar's panels are made in China, and Canadian Solar isn't one of the little guys - they're one of the world's largest solar companies. They do 10 times the sales of SolarCity.