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Old 10-18-2022, 03:56 PM
 
Location: Newburyport, MA
12,382 posts, read 9,483,835 times
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Has anyone here ever priced out a roof-mounted solar panel array, versus a ground/pole-mounted array with the motor-driven system to follow the sun elevation and azimuth angles through the hours of the day and days of the year for optimal yield? Obviously you need to have the available open land for the latter installation to be feasible.

When I first saw the prices for these ground based systems, I thought they looked too expensive, but I have since learned that they can hold many panels each, so you shouldn't need that many poles. And in addition to keeping the panels at the optimal orientation at all times, having them close to the ground should allow you to easily sweep off winter snow - both of these characteristics should improve the yield significantly. But do these ground based systems come out ahead, money-wise?
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Old 10-18-2022, 05:43 PM
 
Location: The Moon
1,717 posts, read 1,805,961 times
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I personally haven't, but in the past when I had solar panels installed the vendors had some pretty sophisticated models that would outline all of that for you. Energysage is a platform that submits your info to several installers at once and they do a no obligation quote/visit to confirm your conditions. From there I was able to negotiate further but I'm not sure what the state of the industry is right now and how competitive they're being.
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Old 10-19-2022, 08:26 AM
 
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OP here, to close the loop on this I ended up working through Energysage and picking a contractor. Everything's installed and I'm just waiting to get the approvals to connect. Contract was signed back in May before the Inflation Reduction Act was passed so got a little lucky on getting both a lower price on the work compared to if I booked now and getting the higher tax credit.
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Old 10-20-2022, 06:43 AM
 
2,710 posts, read 1,730,097 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by simplexsimon View Post
OP here, to close the loop on this I ended up working through Energysage and picking a contractor. Everything's installed and I'm just waiting to get the approvals to connect. Contract was signed back in May before the Inflation Reduction Act was passed so got a little lucky on getting both a lower price on the work compared to if I booked now and getting the higher tax credit.
Which contractor did you go with? How are their prices?

Is Tesla any good? They're literally half the price of the big companies like Sunrun, Revolusun, Sunbug etc.
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Old 10-20-2022, 08:18 AM
 
1,537 posts, read 1,122,563 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by matrix5k View Post
Which contractor did you go with? How are their prices?

Is Tesla any good? They're literally half the price of the big companies like Sunrun, Revolusun, Sunbug etc.
Company called Invaleon, based out of Haverhill. Sunrun/Sunbug and the like were the most expensive, yes Tesla is by far the least. I paid about $2.63/watt.

I believe Tesla relies very heavily on subcontractors, depending on location and availability, and their customer service is extremely lacking.

Someone I know waited around almost two years for Tesla to get to work - during that time they had their price increased significantly (but still cheaper than the other companies) and then eventually Tesla canceled on them because there was something wrong with the roof. I believe a reputable local company would have been much more timely in the communication and solving the problem with the customer, and they'll definitely be paying more now for an install compared to if they signed a contract two years ago.

I heard secondhand that a Tesla install caused leaks in the roof and it's been impossible to get ahold of them to fix the issue.

The people I personally know who had success with Tesla had installs done pre-pandemic.
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Old 10-20-2022, 02:41 PM
 
2,710 posts, read 1,730,097 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by simplexsimon View Post
Company called Invaleon, based out of Haverhill. Sunrun/Sunbug and the like were the most expensive, yes Tesla is by far the least. I paid about $2.63/watt.

I believe Tesla relies very heavily on subcontractors, depending on location and availability, and their customer service is extremely lacking.

Someone I know waited around almost two years for Tesla to get to work - during that time they had their price increased significantly (but still cheaper than the other companies) and then eventually Tesla canceled on them because there was something wrong with the roof. I believe a reputable local company would have been much more timely in the communication and solving the problem with the customer, and they'll definitely be paying more now for an install compared to if they signed a contract two years ago.

I heard secondhand that a Tesla install caused leaks in the roof and it's been impossible to get ahold of them to fix the issue.

The people I personally know who had success with Tesla had installs done pre-pandemic.
I had a quote from Invaleon back in March and it was $3.25/watt for me They said my roof could fit 25 panels max for 5.9kw system and I would have 90% offset. It would have cost around 34k. The other companies said I can fit 32 panels for around 10kw system and the cost was around $43k+, so I'm not sure why it's so different. Tesla is around $29k for a 12kw system.
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:15 PM
 
Location: Westwood, MA
5,037 posts, read 6,919,512 times
Reputation: 5961
Quote:
Originally Posted by simplexsimon View Post
Company called Invaleon, based out of Haverhill. Sunrun/Sunbug and the like were the most expensive, yes Tesla is by far the least. I paid about $2.63/watt.

I believe Tesla relies very heavily on subcontractors, depending on location and availability, and their customer service is extremely lacking.

Someone I know waited around almost two years for Tesla to get to work - during that time they had their price increased significantly (but still cheaper than the other companies) and then eventually Tesla canceled on them because there was something wrong with the roof. I believe a reputable local company would have been much more timely in the communication and solving the problem with the customer, and they'll definitely be paying more now for an install compared to if they signed a contract two years ago.

I heard secondhand that a Tesla install caused leaks in the roof and it's been impossible to get ahold of them to fix the issue.

The people I personally know who had success with Tesla had installs done pre-pandemic.
Looking at getting solar eventually. Would you recommend Invaleon?
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:19 PM
 
1,537 posts, read 1,122,563 times
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Oof, that is quite a difference not sure why. This is without a battery right? Could be more expensive brand of panel? Although 25 panels for 5.9kw seems odd as all my quotes used 400w panels.
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:22 PM
 
1,537 posts, read 1,122,563 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jayrandom View Post
Looking at getting solar eventually. Would you recommend Invaleon?
They’ve been great so far, I would recommend them, but I’d recommend using energysage since it was an easy to use platform to track different bids. I’m not sure why matrix5k’s quotes were so much more than mine, I signed the contract in May of this year.
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Old 10-20-2022, 04:38 PM
 
2,710 posts, read 1,730,097 times
Reputation: 1319
Quote:
Originally Posted by simplexsimon View Post
Oof, that is quite a difference not sure why. This is without a battery right? Could be more expensive brand of panel? Although 25 panels for 5.9kw seems odd as all my quotes used 400w panels.
Yes these are all quotes without batteries. Batteries are another 15k and 2.2k for a heavy loads panel.
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