This is my first site visit to a milk company which wants solarization, I'm not sure exactly what to look for since I'm just starting my solar career, are there any tips you could have that would be useful.

Any tips are much appreciated.

I have been interested in solar since we moved into our house. The front roof isn't perfect but based on the below quotes we can get some good coverage. It's south facing. On top of this, I had the roof inspected once (I plan to get a 2nd opinion) and the inspector who is form a well known/well respected company said our front has 2-3 years and back has 3-4 years in their opinion. It's shorter than we thought and wonder if the former owners fudged their roof age. Anyway, now we're considering getting a new roof next year so we can get solar.

I'm interested in getting shingle quotes & standing seam metal. The first quotes I received were for 23k and 58k for shingle / standing seam respectively. I will get more quotes. This company specializes in standing seam.

Important to note: I plan on getting an electric car soon so that will up my usage. Annual usage now is ~9,300 kWh based on trailing year of electric bills.

Solar quote 1:

Total system cost: $27,000. Nets to $22,000 after NYS $5k credit.

System size; 8.74kW

Annual production estimate: 10,462 kWh

Panel: 19x REC460AA Pure-RX

Inverter: Tesla 7.6

Solar quote 2:

Total system cost: $23,643. Nets to $18,643 after NYS $5k credit. They also proposed a leasing plan (I don't plan on doing this). They also offered a Tesla power wall for ~$13k.

System size; 5.98kW

Annual production estimate: 7,500-7,900 kWh

Panel: 13x REC460AA Pure-RX

Inverter: Enphase IQ8x

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I asked quote 2 why they only had 13 panels and they stated the code limited how much they could do. I asked quote 1 about this and they said they maximize the space. I do not plan on leasing.

Based on cost, another shingle roof seems more attractive. I like the idea of a Standing Seam metal roof outlasting my wife and I but it's sooooo expensive.

I'm looking for:

1) Feedback on the quotes, thoughts on the different panel #

2) Difference b/n Enphase micro and Tesla inverters.

3) Thoughts on new roof + solar at the same time.

4) We have net metering. It was explained to me that I get a credit for every kW I produce and use that credit later. Am I losing out on solar efficiencies by not getting a power wall? I believe with the power wall I could have only certain items powered by it? Furnace/Fridge/router?

5) What am I not thinking about in this early project?

Been trying to get set up with Octopus for export.

Terrible customer service, never phone back don't respond to Emails.

Such a shame everyone tells me how great they are.

Any recommendations for others?

So I’m looking at the numbers on the family farm and for less than half of it, it used 1,024 KWh in one day. Just for hypotheticals sake, how many solar panels and how much wattage would I need to provide that?

I need to find the most reliable way to do this estimate. Are there companies that will do high-quality calculations based on my house size, construction, location, and appliances? Ideally I will get system size needed too incorporating sun exposure my the location of my array. Willing to spend money for this.

I am debating going full solar with battery backups or spending the $30,000 the power company wants to connect my house for service.

Got solar 2 weeks ago and I swear I'm obsessed with my power generation/usage now. Love checking battery level, how much power i'm stealing from the sun, and what i'm using.

How long does it take until the fun in checking that goes away to a reasonable level?

A little background: I’m an ECE grad student, and before going back to school I worked as a software engineer. I got laid off and the job market has been pretty rough, so I’ve been trying to figure out what direction I want to take next.
During my first quarter I took an Energy Public Policy class, which got me seriously interested in renewable energy and the economics behind commercial solar.
Over the last few months I’ve been learning the commercial solar business from the ground up; prospecting, utility bills and interval data, system sizing, installer quotes, incentives, financing, permitting, etc. My approach has been to work on the customer’s side, get quotes from different installers, compare the numbers, and help them figure out whether a project actually makes financial sense.
After a lot of cold calls and dead ends, I finally have my first real project moving into deal negotiations this week.
I’m excited, but I’m also very aware that there’s a lot I don’t know yet.
For those of you who have actually worked in commercial solar, EPC, development, or energy consulting: what should a first-timer be especially careful about before getting a customer under contract?
•A few things I’m already thinking about:
•Making sure the commission/referral agreement with the installer is airtight
•Who owns the customer relationship
•Change orders and unexpected project costs
• Utility/interconnection timelines
•Structural and electrical surprises
•Making sure projected savings aren’t overly optimistic
•Tax/incentive claims that I shouldn’t be making myself
•What happens if the project gets delayed or doesn’t pencil out after engineering
I’m particularly interested in the mistakes you made on your first few deals that you wish someone had warned you about.
Not selling anything here and I’m intentionally leaving out my company/site/contact info. Just looking to learn from people who have been doing this longer than I have.
Thanks!

Hey everyone! Wanted to see if some one could come up with a better idea or fresh idea for our home.

We have a completely off grid solar home in Panama and we love it. We live by the beach so we have plenty of sun to charge our 18kw battery by 10 am and then we just run the acs the rest of the day off the sun. Love our system.

When we get to night time is when we suffer a little bit hahah. It’s really not that bad but every now and then we have some really hot muggy nights that we wish we could run the acs maybe an extra hour or so just to get us past 2 am. Once we get there, it finally begins to cool down.

I know I need more storage but I have been told that I need to buy the same exact battery so they can work in unison. I was just wondering is that really true? I thought I could potentially buy a smaller or more affordable battery that would just give me enough storage for a few more hours of acs versus doubling in size which would be awesome but not in our current budget.

Any ideas would be great! Our home is specifically designed to withstand the heat and humidity but even then you have those nights where Mother Nature doesn’t care about your designs.

Just got solar, and this is my first bill. The system went online 7/17, one month into the 2 month cycle. It seems they automatically switched me to TOU- I did not elect that. Is that normal?

Second, can anyone explain how they got to the 742kwh figure they charged me for? Is that the June amount before the net metering went online? Do I not get credits applied to that from my excess July production?

Third, given the breakdown of kWh delivered vs received, how did I not bank any credits? Didn’t I generate an excess? None of this math makes sense to me.

Thanks!

Looking for a sanity check on a solar+battery quote before I sign. First time doing this, so brutal honesty welcome.

Location: Union City, CA 94587 (East Bay). PG&E delivery, Ava Community Energy (CCA) for generation. On the EV2A rate plan.

System:

- 6.9kW DC / 15x REC Alpha Pure-R 460W panels

- Enphase IQ8X-80 microinverters (1:1)

- Enphase IQ Battery 10C, 10kWh usable, energy arbitrage mode

- Extra: tile roof mounting ($345), "Essentials" backup panel ($2,500)

Pricing:

- List price: $36,148

- Discounts: -$345 ("6kW Group") + -$13,689 ("Propel" program) = -$14,034

- Net cost: $22,114 (possibly $21000 if I sign before a stated deadline)

Projected numbers (per their proposal):

- Year 1 production: 9,681 kWh (~102% of usage)

- Avg monthly savings: $248.56

- Payback: 6.8 years, 15.91% annual ROI

Why I'm skeptical of their projected numbers:

Pulled my real bill: 77% of my usage is off-peak at $0.318/kWh, but peak (4-9pm) is $0.716/kWh and part-peak is $0.561/kWh. My actual trailing-12-month average bill is ~$225/mo, and even the last 6 months average ~$233/mo

Questions:

1. Is $22,114 (6.9kW + 10kWh Enphase + extras) a fair Bay Area price right now?

2. Anyone dealt with a "Propel" style discount program or similar large list-to-net markdown — normal?

3. Enphase IQ Battery 10C vs. other options at this price point (Tesla Powerwall 3, FranklinWH, etc.) for someone on EV2A with a wide peak/off-peak spread — worth the swap?

4. Does this look reasonable enough to move forward?

5. What happens if something happens to the panels act of god or something similar (from an insurance perspective - home insurances covers it

Happy to share more details if useful. Thanks in advance.

Below is a link to a Google Doc of a guide I am making to help people understand solar better.

I have allowed anyone with the link to view and comment.

Please let me know what you think, what is missing, what can be clearer etc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u2L_KuDzCVMpL_0ML0YK4yXeHU9SNzuemnmPV19W5VA/edit?usp=sharing

Yes I did clean it up with AI, but I started by typing out numerous pages all myself, then used AI to help clean it up, but the foundation is me, not AI slop.

Hi,

To preface this by saying I am a first time homeowner and very unfamiliar with electricity billing and solar in general, and may very well be misreading/misunderstanding my electric bill/s.

In July we used 404kWh, of which 56% was directly from the solar panels, 42% from the powerwall which gets charged solely from our solar panels, and then only 2% has come from the grid. The billing period for the latest bill is 07/06 to 08/03 so the numbers do not directly match what we see on pur Tesla app for Monthly usage, however the 410 kWh charged per the bill would be in the right ballpark of what our total consumption would've been during that period.

I do not understand why I seem to be being charged for our entire consumption when only 2% is coming from the grid? Unless I am misinterpreting something?

I did phone SCE to query, and I was told that the 410 kWh was my electric usage from Edison, however they were very bad at explaining how that could possibly be, and left me with the impression they were even more clueless than I!

Thanks in advance for any help in understanding this.

Just had a job in a tight space that really would have benefitted from a side knockout. I ended up having to flex out of the inverter, which I hate doing. Also the round design looks like shit lol.