RegGuheert
Well-known member
Congratulations! Very cool!davewill said:
What did you pay per watt DC for solar?
- Thread starter hd172
- Start date
Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
davewill
Well-known member
With the SunPower lease, there's no out-of-pocket at all. You can prepay the lease, or make fixed monthly payments for 20 years. In our case, the prepaid lease would be paid back after 4.5 years. The monthly payment is maybe 3/5ths of our current electric bill putting us ahead from day 1. We're still deciding which way to go, but either way it's good. So, for twenty years, I get the benefits, and since they own it, they take care of all the maintenance and repairs. At the end of 20 years, you have the option of buying the system, or having them take it down...but the residual is so high that no one in their right mind would buy the 20 year old HW, so the plan is to tell them to take it back at the end of the lease. According to the contractor, not even SunPower is likely to want the HW back so they are likely to simply offer the system to us gratis rather have to pay to remove it from our roof. But I'm OK if they do take it down.gergg said:
RegGuheert
Well-known member
That's probably good, as I expect that inverter will need to be replaced at least one time in twenty years.davewill said:
I wonder if they will return your roof to pre-PV condition or if you will have a roof full of holes filled with black roofing goo. I drilled 88 1/4-inch holes in my roof to mount the rails for my system...
davewill
Well-known member
Well, it would be a bit much to expect that they would resheet and retile my roof. They do warranty the removal work the greater of a year or the existing roof warrantry...yes, that's not a lot, but it will be a pretty old roof by then. That said, I'm honestly not expecting they will take it down.RegGuheert said:
hd172
Active member
Sunpower says they will remove the system within 10days of the end of the lease or they will give it to you. I think it would cost them more to take it down than it would be to leave it. I'm going to tell them to take it down at the end of my lease just to see what happens.
davewill
Well-known member
Remember that it's dependent on what incentives exist in your area. For this 9.2kW system, they quoted $177 per month including taxes.gergg said:
I found out that it is illegal to lease solar panels in Georgia.
I did get a quote for $4/watt installed on Suniva panels which seems pretty reasonable, especially considering rebates....30% fed, 35% state, 12% local utility....dang, that means 77% paid for......So a 5.2 Kw system at $20,818 would end up costing me $4,789.00 or less than a dollar/watt(.92 cent actually). That's hard to pass up.
I did get a quote for $4/watt installed on Suniva panels which seems pretty reasonable, especially considering rebates....30% fed, 35% state, 12% local utility....dang, that means 77% paid for......So a 5.2 Kw system at $20,818 would end up costing me $4,789.00 or less than a dollar/watt(.92 cent actually). That's hard to pass up.
I've only seen prepaid leases offered in TX.
I have been quoted just under $14k for a 7kW system which is pretty much break even for me after 20 years. Still getting quotes and talking to people hopeful something can be worked out with a decent ROI, because I'd really like to do it.
Biggest problem for me is that my electricity is already 7.3 cents/kwH (yes that is monthly total bill / meter reading), so where the ROI may be much better for people who haven't shopped around in this area and are paying over 11 cents., for me it is tight.
I have been quoted just under $14k for a 7kW system which is pretty much break even for me after 20 years. Still getting quotes and talking to people hopeful something can be worked out with a decent ROI, because I'd really like to do it.
Biggest problem for me is that my electricity is already 7.3 cents/kwH (yes that is monthly total bill / meter reading), so where the ROI may be much better for people who haven't shopped around in this area and are paying over 11 cents., for me it is tight.
shay
Well-known member
The electric rates in Texas are tied to natural gas rates which are very low right now. IMHO until TOU comes into play, solar in Texas will not cost effective. I suspect we will start seeing many more plans with TOU once the roll out of is complete: http://www.oncor.com/tech_reliable/smarttexas/deployment_map_metro.pdf.Cheezmo said:
jspearman
Well-known member
We also did the Sunpower prepaid lease and our 15.3kW system came to around $1.15 per watt. $1.27 if we buy it out at year 7. It all depends on how much incentives are, so results will vary, but the lease was a screaming deal for us, and the ROI will be very quick.
craigmartell
Active member
Purchased system outright. Not a lease.
5.52 kW system.
$3.79/watt before rebates.
$2.51/watt after rebates.
5.52 kW system.
$3.79/watt before rebates.
$2.51/watt after rebates.
craigmartell
Active member
QueenBee said:
This includes installation and monitoring. The installer is Mark Davis (http://www.mothernaturesolar.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
. He's installing:23 Canadian Solar CS6P 240P panels
23 Enphase M215 micro inverters.
Craig
craigmartell said:This includes installation and monitoring. The installer is Mark Davis (http://www.mothernaturesolar.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
23 Canadian Solar CS6P 240P panels
23 Enphase M215 micro inverters.
That's awesome!! Very similar to mine. 21x CS6P-230P's with M215 inverters. Looks like those you panels are now at least 15% cheaper than when I bought last fall and the inverters almost 10% cheaper.
This quote from their website describes EXACTLY how I feel. It's very encouraging to see that someone is out there trying to install these systems as cost efficiently as possible. When I was doing it the cheapest I could find was $5.5 a watt and that wasn't with Enphase inverters so I decided to tackle it myself.
"The average installed price of a residential solar electric system by solar companies in California this year- Jan 1 thru April 3, 2012- was $6.16 per watt (per the California Solar Initiative). Pretty ridiculous, as we broke the $5 per watt barrier last year, and now we've broken the $4 per watt barrier."
craigmartell
Active member
QueenBee said:
Agreed. He came by for lunch yesterday and we finalized the deal. I was very impressed by his attitude, knowledge and goals. He is really on a mission to provide affordable solar. So far, I recommend him highly. I will keep the forum posted as the installation goes forward and alert you to any issues. My guess is that it will go smoothly, though.
Craig
craigmartell said:
This is an industry that I feel needs more people like that.
BTW: Nice choice on the Enphase microinverters. The cabling and inverters might cost a bit more but at least for me designing the system was so much easier, no concerns about the shading, no big inverters in the garage/side of the house, 25 year warranty to match the panel warranty, for installation was a lot simpler and as the owner of the system there is nothing like being able to monitor the system at the panel level.
They've got a new enlighten site coming soon that's supposed to be even better than this: http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/2Kkg31401" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The one thing I want them to add is a module for the Envoy (The computer that you connect to your network which talks to the inverters and relays teh information to the internet) that will do power consumption monitoring.
craigmartell
Active member
QueenBee said:
I am pretty sure my Mother Nature Solar install includes the Envoy as well. He said he is paying extra for the computer that connects the panels to the internet.
Craig
shrink
Well-known member
I did a Sunpower Solar lease last year, but I don't think they offer the terms any more.
I prepaid a 20-year lease on a 6.9kWh system for $7,186. In year 7, there is a buy out option of $926 (not long before I'll probably need a new inverter) for a total of $8,112.
So, $8112 / 6900 W = $1.17/Watt.
They needed programs like this to keep making solar more accessible. However, when I tried to get an additional 2.8 kWh system installed a couple of months later, my installer here in AZ said the program was no longer being offered. The IRS wasn't happy with the leasing company taking a 30% tax credit based on a full price system that was actually selling for about 80% less.
I prepaid a 20-year lease on a 6.9kWh system for $7,186. In year 7, there is a buy out option of $926 (not long before I'll probably need a new inverter) for a total of $8,112.
So, $8112 / 6900 W = $1.17/Watt.
They needed programs like this to keep making solar more accessible. However, when I tried to get an additional 2.8 kWh system installed a couple of months later, my installer here in AZ said the program was no longer being offered. The IRS wasn't happy with the leasing company taking a 30% tax credit based on a full price system that was actually selling for about 80% less.
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
-
Any reason not to buy approved/used 62kwh Tekna (UK)?
- Latest: Martin Hogbin
-
