Solar Journey to Renewable Energy
Journey through solar transformation: Explore panel efficiency, incentives, & top installers for your sustainable energy shift. Get insights now!
HOMETECH
Illuminating the Path to Solar: My Journey to Renewable Energy
I've had a lot of people ask me for details about my journey to solar. I decided to compile all the information in one place. This is my personal experience and I hope to share what I learned.
After looking at my electric bill and determined I would need to produce about 800 kWh of electricity per month. I received quotes for 7 kWp systems in order to produce about 10,000 kW/year.
I called on about 20 companies and spoke with about 10 on the phone. I had a few come out and provide proposals. Here is a summary of what I learned after going through this entire process:
About 10 years ago, solar panels were rated at around 185 watts. Today (2017), 280 watts is standard. On the higher end, the most efficient panels are rated at 305 watts, 315 watts, and even 335 watts while still maintaining the same exterior dimensions. The benefit of more efficient panels is you can purchase fewer panels to achieve the same amount of wattage as a lower-rated panel. This is especially beneficial if you have limited space on your roof.
Currently (as of November 2017), the Feds are offering a 30% tax credit for your entire system (consult your tax professional). You can either keep the tax credit, apply it towards your loan to lower your payments or apply it towards the principal of your loan to pay the loan off sooner.
BUYING VS LEASING
I read about 15 articles on buying vs leasing. In summary, I couldn't find one article which made leasing sound like a better option. If you lease, you're typically committed to making 25 years' worth of payments. If you sell your house during the solar lease term, the number of buyers who are willing to assume a solar lease in addition to purchasing a house is limited. If you choose to move the solar with you, there were fees associated with the company moving the solar from one house to another. While in escrow, the solar panels had to be physically stored at a facility but no longer became warranted against damage. However, with a purchase, you can pay it off and it becomes an asset to the house, much like a pool.
There are 2 types of inverters (and one power-optimizer): string line inverters and micro-inverters. A string-line inverter uses 1 inverter for all the panels (22 panels for all my proposals). The upside to string-line inverters is they have been around a long time and are less costly. The downside to a string-line inverter is that all the panels act like 1 large panel. If you get partial shading on 1 panel, this can cause your solar production to drop significantly, causing your system to become inefficient during those hours. Another downside to string-line inverters is they typically come with a 12-year warranty.
The alternative to a string-line inverter is a micro-inverter by a company called Enphase. With a micro-inverter, you essentially have a small inverter under each panel, which makes them much more efficient. The downside is they are more costly. Enphase had financial troubles in 2016-2017 but has since turned things around. Enphase micro-inverters come with a 25-year warranty.
The last type of inverter is by a company called Solar Edge. They manufacture string-line inverters but created something called a power optimizer which is placed under each panel. It is designed to operate almost as efficiently as the micro-inverter but at a cost closer to a typical string-line inverter. According to some installers I spoke to, an advantage of Solar Edge is it's the easiest to add a wall-mounted battery in the future.
I do not know of any manufacturers of solar equipment who install their own equipment. There are dozens of companies that only install solar but I've noticed most of them haven't been around for more than a few years. The solar industry doesn’t operate on high-profit margins. The companies that've been around the longest are home improvement companies that create revenue in other ways besides installing solar (roofers, general contractors, electricians, etc).
COMPANIES
I emailed West Coast Solar, NRG Solar, and Xoom Solar but never heard from any of those companies.
The First appointment was with Jeanette Coffey at Sunrun. They are the ones inside Costco. They sell REC TwinPeak solar panels. I never heard of the panels and could not find any information on them. They recommended a Solis string-line inverter. The Sunrun quote for 25 REC TwinPeak 290-watt panels (7.25 kW) and Solis inverter came to $26,008 before rebates. They did offer an upgrade from a string-line inverter, to the Solar Edge inverter with power optimizers for an extra $1500. They spoke very poorly about the Enphase micro-inverter which they don't offer for sale.
Next, a friend had his solar installed years ago with a company called Advanced Improvements. I told the sales rep that I was interested in the best quality. He told me that LG solar panels were the best on the market. He said SunPower was the only other company that made a slightly better panel with a black frame but it was nearly double the cost. I wanted black frame panels since they were more aesthetically pleasing and blended in with my asphalt shingle roof. He did offer cost-saving panels made in China called Allmax. These were very cheap and the company is having financial troubles but panels are static since they don't have moving parts. (Everything he said was true up until this point). The second-panel alternative was TSec which he claimed is who makes their panels for Solar City. Neither of these two alternatives was available in a black frame. Both alternatives were only available at 270-295 watts also. Advanced Improvements quoted me 23 LG panels (7.705 kW) with Enphase micro-inverters for $26,967 before rebates. He wasn't interested in selling me the Solar Edge inverter. Once David Johnson found out I decided to go with another company, he became rather abrasive and argumentative.
Next, I called Solar City (Tesla Solar). After knowing what I wanted, I asked to get a quote. The rep I spoke with was only interested in getting my social security number. I told him I knew what parts I wanted, I just needed a price. There's no point in providing a social security number if they don't sell what I'm looking to buy. The rep admitted that he didn't know anything about solar and he was only responsible for filling out an application. I spoke with a friend who was a big Solar City fanboy. He gave a deposit and tried to have solar installed but was so frustrated with customer support and the execution of installation that he ultimately received a refund and went with another company. After lots of research, I found that Solar City doesn't use their own in-house installers, they use contractors. The unfortunate thing with contractors is you don't know what quality of work you're getting. I read that Solar City was sending inexperienced new hires through basic training and having them install solar on homes weeks later. After the last heavy rains, we experienced (late 2017), lots of Solar City customers experienced leaky roofs! I didn't continue with a quote.
I called ASI Hastings Solar and spoke with Nate Jordan. I emailed him 3 times trying to get a quote but he never responded so I moved on...
I then researched Vivint Solar, since they had great reviews with home security. One of my close friends told me to, "Avoid Vivint Solar like the black plague." He told me they had horrible customer service and wish he never had them. I did more research and found that Vivint Solar had the lowest reviews across California and Nevada. There were dozens of examples of customers who were making payments to Vivint but didn't have working solar systems for months and even years. I also came to realize Vivint Solar only offered lease options so I opted to move on.
Next, I searched Yelp. I found LA Solar had the highest reviews in the LA market. I spoke with James McCann. They quoted me for 21 LG 335-watt panels (7 kW) and Solar Edge 7.6 kW inverter with power optimizers for $22,516. Bottom line, they were the 2nd lowest price, 2nd highest reviews overall, and the highest reviews in the LA market. James decided to get into an argument with me. When he was at my house going over the plumbing plan, he and I disagreed on how the lines should be run. He wanted the conduit to run on the exterior of the house to lower the cost. I wanted to pay more to have the conduit run inside my house to keep the exterior looking better. I'm not sure why he argued with me over something that I was paying for but it was enough for me to not choose LA Solar and go with Sunline instead. I got a call from the owner of LA Solar about a month later and he apologized for James's behavior and informed me that he was let go due to other similar complaints. This company was my #2 choice.
On Yelp I found SolarMax out of Diamond Bar. They had the highest reviews in the East LA/Inland Empire. Their prices were on-par with LA Solar but they didn't have as many reviews. This was my #3 choice.
On Yelp I also found Sunline which had the highest reviews in the San Diego market. Sunline quoted me 21 LG 335 panels (7.035 kW) and Solar Edge 7.6 kW inverter with power optimizers for $21,989.57. Sunline had the highest reviews overall and the lowest price overall. I spoke with Gerry Ebert. In the end, the project took a bit longer than I originally anticipated. I signed my contract on July 21, 2017, and we were cleared with the City of Mission Viejo and powered our solar on November 7, 2017. This seems to be about average in the industry. It would have been a few weeks quicker but halfway through I decided to upgrade our service panel from 125 amps to 200 amps. Sunline did all the work and their installers were absolutely amazing! The quality of work was top-notch. I spoke with each of the installers and they were all experts in their fields (roofers, electricians, general contractors, etc). The system came out looking way better than I could have ever imagined. I was very happy with Sunline thus far and the entire financing process was easy.
If you want a FREE quote from Sunline, please reach out to me first. Sunline recently (2019) created a referral program where I can get you an additional $500 off* in addition to their already low prices. (*$250 discount for a system under 5KW and $500 discount for a system over 5KW). Send me your name, email, and phone number for your $500* discount. If you reach out to Sunline directly, you will NOT be eligible for this discount.
Another nice thing about using a home-improvement company is they can also do other upgrades like a new roof at the same time as your installation and wrap it all into the same loan. This should allow everything to also become part of the 30% tax credit (consult your tax advisor).
FINANCING
Regarding financing. Most companies offer 8-year or 12-year financing options. We chose a 12-year loan. We put $1,000 down to get started and that could have been refunded to us and wrapped into our loan once funded. We chose to just apply the $1,000 towards the loan. When we filed our taxes, we had the option to either keep the 30% tax credit that came back to us or apply the tax credit towards the loan. If you want the lowest payments, they can re-amortize the loan when you apply the 30% tax credit and your payment would drop significantly. We applied for the full tax credit and choose to NOT have our loan re-amortized. We continued making a larger payment (close to what we paid already to SDGE). Using a simple calculation, we will have the entire solar loan paid in full in 66 months (5 years and 6 months).
It is common for companies to warranty workmanship for 25 years, roof penetrations for 10 years, and the inverter for 12 years (Solar Edge) or 25 years (Enphase).
If you live in Southern California and want a FREE quote from Sunline, please reach out to me first. Sunline recently created a referral program where I can get you an additional $500 off* in addition to their already low prices. Send me your name, email, and phone number for your $500* discount. If you reach out to Sunline directly, you will NOT be eligible for this discount.
I hope you found this insightful. If you want a FREE quote from Sunline, please reach out to me first. Sunline recently created a referral program where I can get you an additional $500 off* in addition to their already low prices. (*$250 discount for a system under 5 kW and $500 discount for a system over 5 kW). Send me your name, email, and phone number for your $500* discount. If you reach out to Sunline directly, you will NOT be eligible for this discount.