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Hi All,
Just thought I would start off some stickies for this section with some basic info for the newbs.
Ok, so generally when someone asks "how much do solar panels cost" what they are really asking is "how much for a solar pv grid tied system for my house". There are many components that go into a grid tied pv system for you house: like;
1. Solar Panels, these generally come in mono crystalline or poly crystalline, the polys are generally slightly cheaper as they are slightly cheaper to produce and it doesn't matter what you choose they both make electricity.
2. Racking, this is the framework that enables you to attach your solar panels to your roof ( you can also opt for a ground mount system if you have the room but they are generally much more expensive) there are many different types of racking and your potential installer will generally have a favorite or your roof type will determine what type of racking you need.
3. Inverter, there are generally speaking 3 types of inverter, a) String Inverter the type of inverter that has been around for a long time now, is a single unit (you can use multiple inverters if required) usually mounted near your electricity meter. b) Micro-Inverters are a newer technology where each panel (some micro's do 2 panels) has its own micro-inverter mounted on the roof under the panel, this enables individual panel monitoring. c) Hybrid Inverters are used in grid-tied solar systems where batteries are also used, this means the inverter can determine whether to send the power generated from the panels to the load for the house or to charge the batteries or send excess power to the grid, this is a newer tech and is quite expensive.
4. Plans and permits, all grid tied solar power systems need to be approved for connection to the POCO's (power companies) grid. This means they will require a plan of your system to be submitted to them for approval, generally the city will also require the plan or other paperwork to be completed in order to approve the solar installation. These should be done by qualified people and need to comply with all electrical rules and regulations.
5. Sundry Electrical equipment, this covers things like electrical cabling (wire), circuit breakers, fasteners, labels and there could be other stuff depending on what your doing
6. How difficult is your install, from SunEagle;
"One other item to mention would be the complexity of the installation.
It might cost more on a 2 story home then a 1 story. Also if the array is pointed in multiple directions East, South & West that could add costs to the installation.
Finally if the system is a ground mounted then that usually includes concrete footings, fencing around the array as well as an underground trench for the wire from the array to the inverter. All that adds to the $/watt cost depending on the location and distance needed."
OK now that we understand there is a lot more to a solar system than just solar panels lets move on. When we in the solar industry talk about costs we talk about the per watt installed cost. So when someone gives you a quote (hypothetically) and say its for a 5kW system (kW = kilowatt, 1 kW = 1000 watts) consisting of 20 x 250 watt panels or 5000 watts or 5kW and all other equipment required, inverter and racking, labor. permits, everything for a total of say $15,000. You can then work out your per watt installed cost by taking the total out of pocket cost and divide by the total watt size of your system, so $15,000 divided by 5000watts = $3 dollars a watt installed price.
Ok now we understand the whole how much a watt business we can move on to, well how much does it cost already. In the USA at the moment it seems to range from $3 to $5 per watt installed. There are a few things to consider here, the first one is location, sometimes your location will effect the price of the system, for example in Arizona we have several members of this forum who can get solar installed for just under $3 per watt at the moment. The other thing to consider is brands of equipment, there are some brands that are a lot more expensive than others and a few manufacturers claiming all sorts of rubbish. You dont have to pay the most to get good equipment, there are a couple of manufactures that claim their product is worth a large premium over others and its seems to me that this is just plain not true.
So I hope that has thrown some light onto the subject, as this is a fresh post and I am going to make it a sticky please feel free to comment, or correct any mistakes I may have made or suggest adding anything I left out, cheers all
Just thought I would start off some stickies for this section with some basic info for the newbs.
Ok, so generally when someone asks "how much do solar panels cost" what they are really asking is "how much for a solar pv grid tied system for my house". There are many components that go into a grid tied pv system for you house: like;
1. Solar Panels, these generally come in mono crystalline or poly crystalline, the polys are generally slightly cheaper as they are slightly cheaper to produce and it doesn't matter what you choose they both make electricity.
2. Racking, this is the framework that enables you to attach your solar panels to your roof ( you can also opt for a ground mount system if you have the room but they are generally much more expensive) there are many different types of racking and your potential installer will generally have a favorite or your roof type will determine what type of racking you need.
3. Inverter, there are generally speaking 3 types of inverter, a) String Inverter the type of inverter that has been around for a long time now, is a single unit (you can use multiple inverters if required) usually mounted near your electricity meter. b) Micro-Inverters are a newer technology where each panel (some micro's do 2 panels) has its own micro-inverter mounted on the roof under the panel, this enables individual panel monitoring. c) Hybrid Inverters are used in grid-tied solar systems where batteries are also used, this means the inverter can determine whether to send the power generated from the panels to the load for the house or to charge the batteries or send excess power to the grid, this is a newer tech and is quite expensive.
4. Plans and permits, all grid tied solar power systems need to be approved for connection to the POCO's (power companies) grid. This means they will require a plan of your system to be submitted to them for approval, generally the city will also require the plan or other paperwork to be completed in order to approve the solar installation. These should be done by qualified people and need to comply with all electrical rules and regulations.
5. Sundry Electrical equipment, this covers things like electrical cabling (wire), circuit breakers, fasteners, labels and there could be other stuff depending on what your doing
6. How difficult is your install, from SunEagle;
"One other item to mention would be the complexity of the installation.
It might cost more on a 2 story home then a 1 story. Also if the array is pointed in multiple directions East, South & West that could add costs to the installation.
Finally if the system is a ground mounted then that usually includes concrete footings, fencing around the array as well as an underground trench for the wire from the array to the inverter. All that adds to the $/watt cost depending on the location and distance needed."
OK now that we understand there is a lot more to a solar system than just solar panels lets move on. When we in the solar industry talk about costs we talk about the per watt installed cost. So when someone gives you a quote (hypothetically) and say its for a 5kW system (kW = kilowatt, 1 kW = 1000 watts) consisting of 20 x 250 watt panels or 5000 watts or 5kW and all other equipment required, inverter and racking, labor. permits, everything for a total of say $15,000. You can then work out your per watt installed cost by taking the total out of pocket cost and divide by the total watt size of your system, so $15,000 divided by 5000watts = $3 dollars a watt installed price.
Ok now we understand the whole how much a watt business we can move on to, well how much does it cost already. In the USA at the moment it seems to range from $3 to $5 per watt installed. There are a few things to consider here, the first one is location, sometimes your location will effect the price of the system, for example in Arizona we have several members of this forum who can get solar installed for just under $3 per watt at the moment. The other thing to consider is brands of equipment, there are some brands that are a lot more expensive than others and a few manufacturers claiming all sorts of rubbish. You dont have to pay the most to get good equipment, there are a couple of manufactures that claim their product is worth a large premium over others and its seems to me that this is just plain not true.
So I hope that has thrown some light onto the subject, as this is a fresh post and I am going to make it a sticky please feel free to comment, or correct any mistakes I may have made or suggest adding anything I left out, cheers all
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