SKY888 wrote:Hi Guys,
I talked to one installer here in RI, and gave me a quote of 1kw system for $4,300 installed.
I'm planning to get 4-5kw system on my house.
here are the products that he'll be using:
Modules- AU optronics aka BenQ 260 watt efficiency 16.1%. All black module
with high output under low light conditions
Inverters- Enphase M215 CEC weighted efficiency 96+%
Module PTC rating- 233.4 watts
Module warranty- 10 year workmanship, 10 year 90% output 25 year 80% output
Power tolerance- (-)0-+3%
Mounting- Quick mount integrated flashing, low profile mounts (about 4" off
roof for air circulation), Uni-Rac black anodized rail system with one inch
equal spacing between all modules for air circulation and best snow
remediation. Modules are 1.5" thick
so for a 5k system, it will be around $21,500
$21,500 - $5,375 (25% RI grant) = $16,125
$16,125 - $4,837.50 (30% fed tax credit) = $11,287.50 total in the end
What do you guys think of $4,300 installed for a 1k system?
what about the products that he'll be using?
thanks!
I would expect there to be a much bigger price difference between a 5kw system and a 1kw system. There are other installers on the other coast who are selling them in the mid $3.00s per watt (Mother Nature Solar) but I have a feeling it'll be hard to find other installers as fair as him so I wouldn't be surprised if other quotes came in close to your price but I'd expect them to have some room to negotiate.
As for the products, you are paying a little bit of a premium for black, I assume the racking is black as well. I'm not sure what the total per watt ends up costing more but I could see it being $.25 per watt. Having said that I suspect they'll look really nice. As far as appearance how do you think the extra spacing between panels will impact appearance?
The QuickMounts are great and I get impression that unirack is a premium more expensive product. I'm not familiar with BenQ Solar but I'd suspect they are good. Their 260 watt rating on a standard sized 60 cell module seems pretty impressive as 250/255 or less seems to be what most people are putting out.
Efficiency doesn't really matter except when it allows you to get the total per watt cost down. So paying for the most efficient panel generally doesn't allow you to get a cheaper system since the panel per watt costs more than the rest of the materials saved from needing less panels to achieve the same output.
Have you had a solar survey and/or are you pretty comfortable with the expected output from the system? If so what's your ROI to break even?
I'd want to make sure the installer has a good reputation but everything you've said seems great, one question to ask is to this include the Envoy that allows you to see the production stats on their Enlighten website, it's ~$400 (I forget exactly).
And on that note the roof installers just showed up to install a new roof before I upgrade my 4.8kw system to ~15kw
