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Sunpower is ridiculously high. I understand they have a quality product, but so does the likes of LG and Panasonic. I wouldn't pay a 30% premium for an additional 1% of efficiency gain.
I second this. Sun Power panels are great. Probably even the best on the market. But why pay a premium when LG and Panasonic offer panels just a step below Sun Power.
We received quotes from Sun Power but just couldn’t justify them charging 8k -10K more for a product that was only better by a slim margin. One or two grand more, sure maybe, but not anymore than that.
Does your system produce the electricity that it was designed in the proposal, or more/less? Who did you use, and how was the installation? Any issues since the installation?
DM me if you don't want to post the vendor name here.
Last year I only hit 8595 kWh total, this year I'm at 7821 kwh with less than 3 months to go. Most likely not gonna beat it. My system is a a 7.4 kwh system
104 panels of the SunPower 335 watt option will be enough to cover your bill near 99%.
The system size is 34.84 kW
The production is 29,348 kWh/yr
There are 2 main incentives
26% federal tax credit able to be claimed first year after install
TRECs – this is a production based incentive. Every 1,000 kWh you generate off your panels, you’ll receive 1 transitional renewable energy certificate. These are tradable on a platform we set up for you.
$109,746 Project Cost
-$28,533 Tax Credit
$81,212 Net Cost
We offer a 10 year loan at 3.99%. However, our loan has a cap at $100k. So in this instance you would need to come out of pocket $9,746.
The loan payment on the $100k would be $780/month – with the expectation the federal tax amount, $28,533 be returned to the lender at the 18 month mark after loan close. I have attached sheet explaining the loan.
The solar system will generate 29,000 kWh a year worth $4,060 (29000 x $0.14/kwh) this is how much you’ll save from the utility company, JCPL.
Additionally, every 1,000 kWh of solar generated a TREC is created worth $93 each or $2,697 a year for 15 years.
Combined this is $6,757 annually or averaged monthly at $563.
The loan payment is $780 – but the average monthly back is the $563 making your net cost $217/month for 10 years. On the proposal the state incentive amount shown is the TRECs over 15 years.
AND, on the top of page 4 where it shows the savings as a -0.003/kWh – This doesn’t not factor the TREC value
that's because you were quoted $3.15/watt which is higher than what I'd personally be comfortable paying. this is before calculating the loan; obviously at 4%, your breakeven will take even longer.
additionally, I'm not sure why they would quote you only $0.14 per kwh price from JCPL. is that just supply or supply + delivery?
if it's the latter, then it makes more sense, but at $0.14, that seems more inline with supply only charges.
supply + delivery should be closer to $0.175/kwh. they're not including the additional savings of of 4c per kwh for delivery. maybe JCPL operates differently or they're cheaper, but PSEG does not charge you for delivery until you are net negative.
sunpower is known for having the most efficient panels, but I'm not sure if that justifies the huge premium in pricing when compared to LG or panasonic panels.
Last edited by blahblahyoutoo; 10-12-2020 at 05:06 PM..
that's because you were quoted $3.15/watt which is higher than what I'd personally be comfortable paying. this is before calculating the loan; obviously at 4%, your breakeven will take even longer.
additionally, I'm not sure why they would quote you only $0.14 per kwh price from JCPL. is that just supply or supply + delivery?
if it's the latter, then it makes more sense, but at $0.14, that seems more inline with supply only charges.
supply + delivery should be closer to $0.175/kwh. they're not including the additional savings of of 4c per kwh for delivery. maybe JCPL operates differently or they're cheaper, but PSEG does not charge you for delivery until you are net negative.
sunpower is known for having the most efficient panels, but I'm not sure if that justifies the huge premium in pricing when compared to LG or panasonic panels.
looking at my current bill, total price per kw is 15.7 cents.
it doesnt seem like the huge premium is justified.
now that you mention it, i was noticing the other day that i have three rates each for supply and delivery. anyone know why?
Does your system produce the electricity that it was designed in the proposal, or more/less? Who did you use, and how was the installation? Any issues since the installation?
DM me if you don't want to post the vendor name here.
Unfortunately I will not be of specific help for you or CaptainNJ when it comes to installers in the New Jersey area because I live in California. The installer I used is local to the Bakersfield area. They are Impact Energy and Solar Inc. you can google them if you would like to check them out. That said, I can give you more details from my experience.
We actually just passed the one year mark from initial install and power up early this month. Our actual generation vs. estimated generation was very close, within 96% of estimate. Estimate was 21,476 kWh for a 13.69 kW system. Actual was 20,681. And actually, if it were not for the worst fire year on record in California this summer I believe we easily would have generated the additional 800 kWh or even more to meet or exceed the estimate. The smoke started to partially block out the sun around the middle of August and just looking at our generation history in the three previous months I can tell that the panels would have generated at least 800kWh more under normal conditions. Of course unfortunately out here in California normal conditions seem to now include massive wild fires every year. But to answer your question I would say the estimate provided by the installer was accurate to a T.
The install was quick. No real big issues but there were a couple of things that I needed to make clear or have re-done.
1. It was a two person crew installing the panels. The plan from talking with the owner was to not do a tetris looking install. All vents that would be in the way would be moved or modified to allow for a clean look installing the panels. On the day of install i spoke with the foreman of the two person crew and he said he was going to do a tetris install. I called the owner right away and the owner was able to instruct his crew to install it the way we had originally planned.
2. One of the existing vents was extremely close to a panel. I didn't like the look plus the vent would have partially shaded the panel just a bit for portion of the day. The owner had his guy comeback out and install a flat vent in-place of the raised arch vent.
So my advice would be to talk with the crew that is doing the install and make sure they are on the same page regarding anything you may have been quoted or told by the salesman or owner.
From the 25 year material and labor warranty (on panels and micro inverters) coverage perspective, how crucial is the selection of the installer? Does one select an installer assuming he would service the PV system for next 20-25 years, or does one go with the lowest installed cost, and rely on the panel & micro-inverter manufacturer to replace it using one of their authorized vendors, whenever it needs service?
I am not so concerned about the LG panels I plan to use, I am more concerned about the Enphase micro inverters. From what I understand, it would last 10-12 years and need replacement at least once during its 25 years warranty period.
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