What did you pay per watt DC for solar?

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hd172

Active member
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
34
Location
Pleasanton, CA
I'm looking to get a 5kwh system and I was wondering what I should expect to pay. I'm in the bay area. Currently the best price has been for sunpower panels at 6.00 per watt DC. Oh and this is before any rebates.
 
This won't help you much, but I can't help commenting. I paid $5 per Watt AFTER rebates five years ago. I'd be pissed, but in the five years that we've had the system, we haven't had an electric bill and this past year we still didn't have a bill despite charging a LEAF to drive over 10,000 miles. So I guess we came out about even with current prices.
 
I ended up doing it "my self" and paid $3.3 per DC watt for and Enphase 4.7 KWH system in Seattle. The lowest price I could find from a professional company was $5.5 last Fall.
 
I just paid $9,000 for a 3.6 kW DC system through a fully prepaid 20-year lease. Of course, I won't be getting any credits or rebates, but I do get 20 years of maintenance and repair. The system has Yingli panels and a Power-One Aurora inverter.
 
My out-of-pocket was $3.60/kW for a 10.88kW array three years ago. Could have done it cheaper, but I paid a bit of a premium for solar roof tiles (replaces and interlocks with standard concrete tile common in AZ). I like the look - at first glance you don't even notice the array. I GC'd it myself but used licensed roofers and electrician (required for the rebates). You pay a lot more if all you want to do is sign a check.
 

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TickTock said:
My out-of-pocket was $3.60/kW for a 10.88kW array three years ago. Could have done it cheaper, but I paid a bit of a premium for solar roof tiles (replaces and interlocks with standard concrete tile common in AZ). I like the look - at first glance you don't even notice the array. I GC'd it myself but used licensed roofers and electrician (required for the rebates). You pay a lot more if all you want to do is sign a check.
I paid $3.60/kW (after rebates) in 2009 for my 5kW thin film system. You can also hardly tell I have solar panels. It just looks like some of my metal roof is painted black.
 
My cost, after tax credit and rebates worked out to about $0.92/W... :eek:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=6534" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
hd172 said:
I'm looking to get a 5kwh system and I was wondering what I should expect to pay. I'm in the bay area. Currently the best price has been for sunpower panels at 6.00 per watt DC. Oh and this is before any rebates.

I paid $6.09 prior to rebates, $2.40 per DC watt after rebates and Federal Tax Deduction about 2 1/2 years ago for a 7.59 DC system.
 
I just got quoted $5.21 per watt including tax for a system here in Texas. The problem is that I have already priced the materials involved and they add up to less than half the quoted price. I would REALLY like to see an itemized quote sometime from these solar outfits. Me thinks the labor and profit is still far too much at this point. I'm probably going to stick to my original game plan and build it myself. It isn't rocket science for cryin' out loud....regulation racket notwithstanding.
 
hd172 - wait for DOW Powehouse solar shingles. They roll them out this year. 60% of regular panel cost.
 
$5.90 per watt, installed, including Tigo Energy Maximizer units, via One Block off the Grid (REC Solar did the install). Installed in Oct. 2010. 5.2 kW total size (24 210 watt panels). I've since seen other 1BOG deals in the $4.90 - $5.50 range, depending on location, installer and equipment used. Total cost for me at the time (post Federal tax incentive and LADWP rebates) was around $15k (it could have been less, but I deliberately sized big enough to cover my LEAF, and the upsizing wasn't eligible for the LADWP rebate).
 
Thanks for the info everyone. I'm in a townhouse with limited roof space so I'm looking for the most power for a given area. Sunpower seems to have what I want but they are priced high. I'll check out DOW.
 
hd172 said:
Thanks for the info everyone. I'm in a townhouse with limited roof space so I'm looking for the most power for a given area. Sunpower seems to have what I want but they are priced high. I'll check out DOW.
Note that every "solar shingle" I've ever seen is based on thin-film solar technology, which is significantly less efficient than typical mono- or polycrystaline panels (like 9-10% vs. 16-18%). If you're limited on roof space, a "solar shingle" solution will likely not work for you.
 
ahagge said:
hd172 said:
Thanks for the info everyone. I'm in a townhouse with limited roof space so I'm looking for the most power for a given area. Sunpower seems to have what I want but they are priced high. I'll check out DOW.
Note that every "solar shingle" I've ever seen is based on thin-film solar technology, which is significantly less efficient than typical mono- or polycrystaline panels (like 9-10% vs. 16-18%). If you're limited on roof space, a "solar shingle" solution will likely not work for you.
There is a major advantage for using solar panels that are not made of glass in a hurricane zone!
 
I just signed on the dotted line to have a 9.2kW system installed (28 SunPower 327s with an SPR-8000m inverter). I've been wanting to do this for a while. It would be $3.50/W to purchase outright, or $2/W for a 20 year prepaid lease. I'm pretty stoked, I'll finally be electric bill free!
 
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