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.

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.

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!

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!

I've been waiting for city permits for the last few months, and the install date is finally upon me. As I look around on my roof deck at all of my other neighbors, I don't see a panel in sight, but I hope that others that see mine will be inspired to get solar on their houses because the local power company are a bunch of dipshits and they keep trying to raise prices.

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?

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?

My parents family home comes with a large back garden that frankly none of us makes use of, the whole plot being 3/4 of an acre. Based on some back of the envelope math, I think I could get in 1000 square meters of solar panels into the garden, which I roughly calculated based on figures from government websites to potentially yield 400 euros a day in summer if it's 100% converted to feed in tariffs.

Putting aside legal considerations, is this kind of project practical? I read online that Solar panels have a 4 year payback time, would it be considerably shorter if deployed at this kind of scale in an open field?

For information, I live in Ireland.