I didn’t get it installed yet. We’re waiting for permits from the city. Should have it install in the next couple of weeks though (hoping). So, I can’t speak about the installer’s quality. Although, they’re not your fly by night shop. They actually did large jobs for SDG&E and the city. So, I’m hoping they’ll be around. Their workmanship warranty is 10 years, while the manufacture warranty is 25 years. I pick brand name panels (Sharp), so, it’s not likely that Sharp will go out of business. They’re too diverse to sink like other solar only companies.
Their price is also the lowest, without ANY haggling. So, if you want this contact, I’d gladly give it to you. The system I got is 15 x 240W panels. So, it’s a 3.6kWh system. I would get bigger, but the way my roof is, I can only fit 15 panels. I went with the Enphase micro-inverter because if I don’t, then I won’t be able to have 15 panels. IIRC, the max I could have w/out micro-inverter is 12 (they go in sets of 4). Price wise, it will be around $10.8k after all the credits. It “should” produce about 430kWh a month. I’m currently using between 700-1100kWh a month, so it would put me mostly in tier 1 and 2 and during the summer months, tier 3. I did a rough estimate of how much my bill would be w/ solar and I’m seeing myself saving between 100-200/month. So, assuming SDG&E doesn’t increase their rates, my saving is ~$1800/year. So, it would take 6 years to break even. Then everything after that is gravy. Now, if SDG&E raise their rate, my break even will come even faster.
Due to my roof position and the max 15 panels, buying makes more sense. If, 10 years from now, they come up with panels that are 2x as efficient, then I can just buy the panel, have some electrician to come out and replace it. Then sell the old one. I wouldn’t really need to pull permits, since it’s just swapping one for another. That would allow solar to cover even more of my bills. Leasing would not give me that option.
