Reading this sub for awhile now has me terrified of the solar industry so I figured I’d ask you guys what I actually need done before I start requesting bids.

In LA, I tried upgrading my service to 200a but as I live in a 6 unit townhome community SCE told me, as of last year, they only upgrade all or none of the units and while 2 are already upgraded the other 3 have no interest in paying to upgrade their panels. Thanks to my remodel where I swapped out a gas oven for an electric oven/speed oven combo requiring a 40a circuit my panel is maxed and I need to load balance at peak times so I can’t cook and do the laundry while the ac is on and all the miscellaneous stuff runs in the background, for example.

My roof has space for max ~4kw of solar panels which seems like plenty to provide whatever buffer I need. Seems like I would need a battery but I can’t swing a powerwall. What’s else needs to be done? Does my panel need upgrading? Would a sub-panel work or be preferable for some reason? Is this a situation where a battery by itself would work (i.e. no solar panels)? This can’t be a DIY solution because I will sell eventually so def require licensed electricians. All ideas appreciated!

We’ve been in escrow for over a month now and we’re supposed to close today but the solar company has filed chapter 13 bankruptcy. Any idea how long it will be until they give us a plan especially if it’s escalated?

We met with a solar company after they knocked on our door a few weeks ago. Sat down and ran through basic numbers. I had to digitally provide a signature to get the proposal and have someone come measure our roof the next week. We decided the other day to press pause on the project and the salesperson sent me these messages. Is this normal or even real? My husband is telling me it’s not real and just a sales tactic.

Dumb question here but I can’t find an answer. I have 19kw of panels hooked up to 18kw eg4 inverter with 12kw out. If I get a nice day and get the full 18kw of energy going into the inverter how can I best use it?

I also have a battery system.

Would this inverter send 12000W to grid and 6000W to my home?

6000w to home 6000w to grid and 6000w to battery?

I just don’t totally understand the difference in input vs output and where energy goes if I max input at 18kw but am only allowed to output 12kw.

Thanks!

Hello

I hope someone can help me. The MPPT useable maximum is 25 A which allows for two strings to be connected in parallel. It also states on the spec sheet the max short circuit input current as 31 A.

Does this mean as long as the solar panel ISC is 12.5 A or less I am good to parallel two strings together?

I have a ppa through a major solar company and have been trying to get my panels removed since MAY for a reroof.

The company kept giving me random excuses and pushing back the removal date…. Eventually I was able to find a third party to remove the panels and just got my reroof done.

But unfortunately, even the reputable third party is backed up and won’t be able to reinstall my panels until January.

can’t imagine if you end up with a roof leak or something! By the time you get your panels removed, your house would be flooded!

I was approached by a solar vendor to agree to a PPA, which they phrased as a VPA instead of a PPA because I'm not actually buying or leasing equipment. They said its different because I'd be partnering with Shell as the utility company rather than a Solar company selling hardware.

Here are the details:

• 25 year agreement
• $0 installation
• It would come with 16 panels and 2 batteries (20kw each). This would help supply about 70% of my energy consumption.
• The plan would include the ability to use these during power outages (which Houston has had too many of in the past few years)
• This is apparently a deal across a few companies: Pure Energy as the installer, Solarite as the vendor which is then owned by Shell as the energy / utility company.
• There would not be multiple bills coming from utility and solar in the case of overages. It would all be handled via Shell/Solarite.
• They insure the panels and batteries fully.
• .12c kwh lock in, 2.9% escalator. This results in an initial flat fee for electricity of $86.25/month total. Some of my lowest cost months (eg, dec) were right around $70, but also included a ~$20 delivery fee so that's a thing.
• The vendor (shell in this case) gets to day trade the excess energy above ~50% of battery capacity in 15 minute intervals. They stop the trading during outage periods so I, the customer, can depend on it.

What I'm worried about is that my wife and I want to sell the house in a 1 - 2 years. Typically I know that getting solar, knowing you want to move, is a bad idea.

But the fact that I'm not passing on a loan or lease seems like it would be less of an issue.

Please help me think through this, I haven't done much with solar.

(note: I have also become so tired of our electricity infra provider, centerpoint, for the horribly unreliable supply of energy. This is possibly an improvement?)

I am in the midst of soliciting proposals for solar panels on my house. I have been strongly advised to "go local". I get calls from folks operating as Project Solar does; i.e. small office staff and different company to do the installs. When I ask about where my installer is, and, consequently, service is coming from they don't know but say that they use "national installers". When I look up those installers the depots I can find are usually at least two hours travel from my place. Is there any advantage to using "national installers" over local guys?

Months of communications, but they don't have enough support staff to quickly respond. Lost close to 800 days of electric generation by now. Also discovered the Sunrun keeps saying the system "is healthy" even when it is not generating energy and the inverter has shut itself down

Please advise what system size I should install based on my usage numbers below considering that I don't plan to increase my electricity usage in the future?

10/24: 750 kWh
09/24: 1,050 kWh
08/24: 1.100 kWh
07/24: 450 kWh
06/24: 390 kWh
05/24: 390 kWh
04/24: 380 kWh
03/24: 450 kWh
02/24: 420 kWh
01/24: 490 kWh
12/24: 400 kWh
11/24: 390 kWh

What are your thoughts on this EnergySage quote? I understand many EnergySage installers quote low and then get you with some extra fees. Any way to protect yourself from it?

Location: Simi Valley, CA Size: 6.9 kW 15 x REC460AA Pure-RX 15 x IQ8X-80-M-US 240V Gross solar price: $15,318 ($2.22/w)

2 x Engage 5p Gross battery price: $9,900

Home backup option: $5,200

I've received quotes from a few quality local companies (Maryland). One uses Aurora, one uses Solargraf. One I'm not sure yet. They have different ways of determining losses from shade, tilt, wiring, AC/DC conversion, etc. Aurora has a computed value they call Site Quality.

I'm looking for a way to use the same value across the proposals to reduce variables in production estimates. How should I do it?

I'm currently just using Aurora's Site Quality number on everyone's proposed systems but it's like a black box so I'm not sure if the number I'm using is advantaging a quote with one panel type over another.

Does that sound like a reasonable price for consumption monitoring? Had Enphase system installed 2 years ago but didn't include consumption. Now I'd like to include it and they're asking $500 to get it installed.

https://preview.redd.it/7sq2mucwiivd1.png?width=1107&format=png&auto=webp&s=4576438132bb8ce3df85aff319eeab768b6cf4f1

I got this quote for a power wall. Is it a good or bad price? I do not want to go through what I just went through in Tampa. I want to protect my family.

Hi, sorry to ask this, I am struggling to find this on Google as everytime I google something about size of solar panels, the reading I get is about "how big should your installation be for your home" or stuff like that.

I have a fairly large, old house in Northern Europe, on which I cannot get solar panels (partially because it would be an eye sore, partially as it's a "protected" house so I likely won't get approval). Given the size and age, we have a high energy consumption.

However, we do have a small outhouse which lies basically unobstructed and gets sun all day on which I think some panels could be installed (it's also not very tall, so installation should be easy).

But lots of what I'm reading on the subject makes it sound like if your installation is too small it won't be economically sound to install. I don't really understand this - I am guessing it is because there is a certain amount of "fixed cost" involved in installation, but I would have thought if anything a smaller installation would be easier to "optimize" than a big one as you would rarely have surplus electricity which you either need to give back to the grid or store in battery. Can anyone explain to me?

I know it's hard to say without much detail but hoping for some general thoughts on this.

Building a cabin and in the preliminary stages of determining the PV and BESS size, but also want to add a generator. Is there an ATS/controller that allows the batteries to be the primary source and then switch to the generator when those get low and then switch back when recharged from the PV?

Location: SF Bay area (PG&E) 2 existing solar PV systems:

1. 5.18kW (14 panel) with Solaredge inverter installed 2020 on detached garage
2. 3.48 kW (8 panels) enphase microinverters on main house installed 2023

Use case:

1. backup power for outages, which are frequent in our area (at least 4-5 x/ year)
2. Energy arbitrage

Other relevant info:

• I have an EV that is not V2L or V2H available, and not planning on getting a new car anytime in the next 3 years
• the Solaredge inverter is likely to run out the cellular service contract this year and I have been offered a deal to replace the entire inverter.

These are the options for battery backup offered by the installer of our most recent system:

Enphase IQ10P (10 kWh): $15,000.00

Enphase IQ15P (15 kWh) : $19,850.00

LG Home 8 (14.4 kWh): $15,000.00

SolarEdge Home (10 kWh): $14,000.00

2 Panel Expansion NEM 2.0 (>1.0 kW DC): 2 x SunPower MAXEON MAX6 435W panels: $2,700.00

I am considering installing a bidirectional EV charger when they become available but seeing as how I don't currently have a compatible EV this is not a priority, but in the interest of future-proofing, I do wonder about whether getting an Enphase battery is the best option, since the charger would need to be installed in the garage, about 30 ft from the main electrical panel where the batteries would be installed.

I am leaning toward upgrading the Solaredge inverter ($1,600) + the LG battery installed in the garage to take advantage of the higher solar output of that system and keeping the physical location of a possible charger where we keep the car.

Does this plan seem reasonable? I think the prices are pretty competitive. Curious if there are considerations I'm missing.

Solar recommendations

Hello I’m new into the hobby I need recommendations this is what I found

301w solar panel by Trina solar used panels Fb marketplace

Solar charger - ecoworthy

ECO-WORTHY Regulador de cargador solar 30A regulador de batería del panel solar regulador inteligente con doble puerto USB Auto 12/24V PWM tierra positiva https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JBLMC33?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_ct_YXAY4TTPQXEXVH44YW3Z&language=en_US

Battery - I cant find one yet I hope you guys can recommend any

Inverter - cantonape 1000w

https://a.co/d/7Oo8olT

I’m following this guide

https://www.reddit.com/r/selfreliance/s/7ZOuVrxaDM

I just want to run a little screen monitor and a console in my job trailer (android console that I have so not like a ps4)

I hope you guys can help me to get into this hobby

Hello, I would like to add solar to our home which used to be a duplex. We have two 200amp meters and main panels. One panel is nearly full and used for most appliances, the other one has only outlets, lights one water heater and a 60amp service for the EV charger. trying to get electricians out for quotes to combine meters but from researching it's very costly. If too much, Would I need two inverters, one for each meter? Is there a solution that would work with this and also supports a battery or would i need to double that up as well? Thanks!

20kw solar with 2 5p batteries. Is it possible for me to add another inverter with batteries to ac couple and add to the reserve capacity for grid down periods? That way I can add backup capacity without the expensive install for more 5p’s

I got a quote the other day, and I'm happy with the price.

The system would use Qtron BLK M-G2+ 430W panels, and was quoted with a Powerwall 3. My situation would be better if I could attach a generator, so we've discussed EG4 batteries and inverter.

Any thoughts on the equipment?

In the SF Bay Area and we are planning on getting a new roof install soon. After that we were going to look into solar panels. Hearing from people if we can get a company that will do both, it is more beneficial since they can add brackets to the roof during the install, instead of having a solar company drill into the roof.

There aren’t many companies in my area, but I have found one offers GAF Decotech. It seems like it’s just regular solar panels that they are able to mount directly to the roof. Does anyone know of any pros or cons with using this or going this route?

I’m from the West coast and am accustomed to seeing a lot of roof mounted residential solar but almost no ground mounted arrays.

Currently traveling in rural New England and surprised to see tons of ground mounted arrays and almost no roof mounted ones.

Anyone know the reason behind the difference? Is it related to snow or the prevalence of older homes that might not be suited for roof mounting?

After getting solar + battery installed here in Dallas, I looked at various free nights plans (math worked out better than net metering). After seeing a few threads about Just Energy, I was planning to sign up until I noticed they no longer offered 36 months, with 24 months being the max.

Turns out Amigo is their sister company and offers essentially the same plan but at the 36 month duration.

First month bill just came in, and I'm very happy with the results! Solar buyback more than covered the fees and resulted in a credit balance for my bill.

Happy to answer any questions here. Also, if this helps anyone, feel free to use my referral code 1AEC84E45 to get us both a $75 credit.

https://preview.redd.it/bk6njyp51evd1.png?width=825&format=png&auto=webp&s=735684a1f3c093c0d9ea9e91f173cf1ece18444d

I just bought the ultra 12kw set up but now I am second guessing. I live in a valley where direct sunlight is only about 4 hours a day. I do have an area about 400 yards from the house that is on a flat ridge cut that gets sun like 8+ hours this time of year. So my charging probably needs to be done in that area and I could set my solar panels up with ease. I’m planning on having portable panels and only set them up if I need to(power outage). Looking at having 6-8 400 watt panels. I’m afraid voltage drop would be too great to run wires that far. So my only option is to buy a second inverter and ferry the units back and forth for charging. Doesn’t seem practical. Should I just go with a Jackery system for ease of transport? I’m a complete noob if you had any doubts. Appreciate the input.

I received an unexpected email from NRG Clean Power today containing a sketchy PDF. I just received confirmation from the sender that their email was hacked and that was the source of the email.

The PDF itself is safe (I know something about PDF and examined it with a tool that allows me to view the internal structure), but it contains three Link annotations that point to sketchy web sites where the actual malware resides.

Edit: I'm guessing the hack just sent email to everyone in the affected user's address book - the email was from someone there I corresponded with around 18 months ago.