Solar Panel Deal Thread

[StoleMyOwnCar]

54 lb for a 400 watt panel seems pretty typical. What did you think they weighed?

It's not really so much that I had some preconception as to what they weighed as I just now realized how much they did weigh while looking over the specifications on that page. It does make it a bit daunting.

About 50lbs for a 400 watt panel is typical, I put up 100 of them on my property, 20 of them went on my pole barn roof which has a 60 degree angle, I had to rent a telehandler for those, the rest I was about to do by myself (60 are on ground mounts I built, 10 on my solar shed roof (that houses all my inverters and batteries).

I am residential. I think at most I would be able to put them on my roof. But this is a home roof, so I can't quite just treat it like a barn roof. I guess the question is whether or not it's easy to install them without risking mold damage and water buildup over time, or whether it would require an expensive professional installation.

Just based on what I know about labor costs and roofing right now, it seems to me like the panels might end up being a drop in the bucket compared to the installation costs.

 

[OKC Yeakey Trentadue]

Just based on what I know about labor costs and roofing right now, it seems to me like the panels might end up being a drop in the bucket compared to the installation costs.

Pretty much. Mounting on my house just seems to scary and expensive. Is there no place on your lot to do a ground mound or build a structure to place them on top?

 

[OKC Yeakey Trentadue]

About 50lbs for a 400 watt panel is typical, I put up 100 of them on my property, 20 of them went on my pole barn roof which has a 60 degree angle, I had to rent a telehandler for those, the rest I was about to do by myself (60 are on ground mounts I built, 10 on my solar shed roof (that houses all my inverters and batteries).

Man, that is a serious array by the way. What battery and inverters do you have?

 

[doox00]

Man, that is a serious array by the way. What battery and inverters do you have?

I bought this house/property 3 years ago and went all out lol. I diy'd the entire install (did hire an electrician to move my main power feed from the gridm moved it from the house to the pole barn). I Love seeing my 9 dollar electric bill now instead of 700, but of course that was at a ~100k out of pocket cost (got 30 percent back with solar tax credits though, so about 70k out of pocket). I have 5 EG4 6000XP inverters in parallel (would have went with 3 12ks if they were out at the time I purchased them). I have 200 KWH of lifep04 battery storage, those are all diy as well. I have 50 of the panels on angle adjustable ground mounts I built, 20 on a non adjustable ground mount, 20 on the pole barn and 10 on the solar shed. Was a fun project and thankfully the permitting was not as scary or as hard as I feared. Passed final inspection the first try. Most of my batteries are YIXIANG diy cases with jk bms's and Eve MB31 cells, a few Gobel Power ones (basically the same as the YIXIANG ones though). And 75kwh of them are CATL cells (pretty much the same as the eve cells) with jk bms's (all in parallel too and closed loop with communication with the inverters).

If my batteries are dead and full sun I can get over 250kwh in a day, so enough to fully charge the batteries and enough to use in the house/shop. This systme has been up for a little over 1.5 years now, the first year was only 24k watts of panels, added 16k watts more last november. I have yieled 53.5 mwh from solar and used 65.6 mwh. So about 84% of my electrical needs have been met, a few months in the winter we do not get enough sun and all my heat in the house and pole barn is electric.

 

[OKC Yeakey Trentadue]

I bought this house/property 3 years ago and went all out lol. I diy'd the entire install (did hire an electrician to move my main power feed from the gridm moved it from the house to the pole barn). I Love seeing my 9 dollar electric bill now instead of 700, but of course that was at a ~100k out of pocket cost (got 30 percent back with solar tax credits though, so about 70k out of pocket). I have 5 EG4 6000XP inverters in parallel (would have went with 3 12ks if they were out at the time I purchased them). I have 200 KWH of lifep04 battery storage, those are all diy as well. I have 50 of the panels on angle adjustable ground mounts I built, 20 on a non adjustable ground mount, 20 on the pole barn and 10 on the solar shed. Was a fun project and thankfully the permitting was not as scary or as hard as I feared. Passed final inspection the first try. Most of my batteries are YIXIANG diy cases with jk bms's and Eve MB31 cells, a few Gobel Power ones (basically the same as the YIXIANG ones though). And 75kwh of them are CATL cells (pretty much the same as the eve cells) with jk bms's (all in parallel too and closed loop with communication with the inverters).

If my batteries are dead and full sun I can get over 250kwh in a day, so enough to fully charge the batteries and enough to use in the house/shop. This systme has been up for a little over 1.5 years now, the first year was only 24k watts of panels, added 16k watts more last november. I have yieled 53.5 mwh from solar and used 65.6 mwh. So about 84% of my electrical needs have been met, a few months in the winter we do not get enough sun and all my heat in the house and pole barn is electric.

View attachment 813517

Array is impressive but you capacity is absolutely nuts at 200 kw/h! Even then, getting to 100% requirements is nearly impossible if you have a week of overcast during the hottest or coldest times of the year.

Still, how did you end up dropping $100k? Quick estimation, $20k batteries, $8k in inverters, $10k panels and mounts, and around $2k in cable, wiring, fuses, misc... $40k total or so.
What am I missing?

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

Pretty much. Mounting on my house just seems to scary and expensive. Is there no place on your lot to do a ground mound or build a structure to place them on top?

It's a residential suburb. I technically don't have an HOA but there are city standards for lawn upkeep and whatnot. I can check into it but I sort of doubt that they would let me fill my entire front yard with solar panels. That leaves the backyard. Which I could technically just fill with solar panels, but I don't think too many would fit. Obviously it would probably also tank the resale of the property. I only have about 0.35 acres to work with or so. So, the roof is the most logical place. It's probably viable, but it also might need some reinforcement to support this sort of weight.

 

[doox00]

Array is impressive but you capacity is absolutely nuts at 200 kw/h! Even then, getting to 100% requirements is nearly impossible if you have a week of overcast during the hottest or coldest times of the year.

Still, how did you end up dropping $100k? Quick estimation, $20k batteries, $8k in inverters, $10k panels and mounts, and around $2k in cable, wiring, fuses, misc... $40k total or so.
What am I missing?

Was more around ~25k in batteries, 8k inverters, 12k in panels, 3k just for the 200 amp wires to run from my solar shed to house (~300'). at least ~5k in other wire and accessories/tools, disconnects, bus bars, shunt, all the cabling for the batteries (like 250 dollars for 20', need like 6 of those alone etc), 7-8k for the concrete for the solar shed and all the footings for the solar mounts, ~4k in lumber and materials for the solar shed (I built it myself, 12 x 16) ~4k for all the lumber for the ground mounts, ~2k for the solar roof mounts and hardware, paid 12k (well 15k, but that 3k cable was part of it) to the electrician (he and his helper were here for a week), he also replaced the panel in my house to a 200 amp one, replaced the 100 amp automatic transfer switch on my generator/house and put in a 200 amp one (those are like a grand alone, since I was now running 200 amp to the house and not 100 amp anymore so the transfer switch had to be replaced), he put a few panels in the solar shed as well, all ac side stuff. a couple manual transfer switches so I can switch my pole barn and house independently from solar or grid, all needing that expensive 200 amp cabling, run from solar shed to pole barn is ~60', had to do that with 2 of those runs. Can't think what else off the top of my head, it adds up quickly and you end up needing a lot of shit, can't imagine what a solar company would charge for something this size, at least 200k or more I bet. Ohh also forgot I had maybe 3k in engineered stamped plans for the solar install itself and the ground mounts I diy'd.

I know it was ~100k because I have every receipt, I needed them all for the tax credits.

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

... Yeah this might be prohibitively expensive for me to even make mid-long term savings off of, then. Panels also wear out and need to be replaced, and roof will be too expensive. About the only economical place to put some panels is in my backyard because it would be cheap, if I didn't mind not having a backyard anymore. Not like I really use it I suppose. But then I wouldn't really need 30 panels, probably.

 

[DogsofJune]

Panels can be installed on gazebo's, shed's. and carports as well as on a roof and ground mount.
There are things like the Smartflower solar tracker as well.

Perhaps an awning along side of a structure or deck. Some places, providing it isn't attached to the house, may not require a building permit.


There are plenty of options to get creative

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

the Smartflower solar tracker as well.

That thing costs like 65k on its own?

Either way though, yes I maybe should look into exactly what my area's rules are on it. If there's nothing against it, I might just be "that one neighbor".

 

[bigddybn]

I know there are advantageous ways to do this but several of my neighbors (Florida) have systems on their roof. They are all paying a monthly rate that negates any savings for the next 25 years. By the time the system is paid off they'll be due for new panels and/or a roof. The guy immediately next to me also got dropped from his insurance. I'm on an acre and probably have plenty of room for a ground based system but this all feels like it's still just not "there" yet.

 

[doz]

I know there are advantageous ways to do this but several of my neighbors (Florida) have systems on their roof. They are all paying a monthly rate that negates any savings for the next 25 years. By the time the system is paid off they'll be due for new panels and/or a roof. The guy immediately next to me also got dropped from his insurance. I'm on an acre and probably have plenty of room for a ground based system but this all feels like it's still just not "there" yet.

Agree with you that there isn’t much savings if you pay a contractor. I did the math and passed multiple times. Finally did it myself and it’s well worth it. Already paid for itself with the tax credit (now gone).

Crazy how they bring in $20 illegals to install a system in a day. No more than $1000 in labor costs. A 15kW system probably costs them all in about $10k tops (all materials) yet they charge $30-40k.

 

[doox00]

Agree with you that there isn’t much savings if you pay a contractor. I did the math and passed multiple times. Finally did it myself and it’s well worth it. Already paid for itself with the tax credit (now gone).

Crazy how they bring in $20 illegals to install a system in a day. No more than $1000 in labor costs. A 15kW system probably costs them all in about $10k tops (all materials) yet they charge $30-40k.

Friend of mine did this 5-6 years ago, put in 8k system on his roof, grid tied (net metering), no batteries, just micro inverters and paid 40k for it, when he told me I yelled at him lol.

 

[bigddybn]

I'd love to do it. It's something I would geek out on for sure. We've also gone fully electric with the vehicles so it would be "free" fuel as well. Yeah yeah I know. I'm waiting for my new pronouns to come in the mail and I'm dyeing my hair blue this weekend.