How much do solar panels cost

You are welcome.

Anyone interested in sharing prices? Please indicate when the quote was received and what area.
I will start. Quotes received in June 2016 for a 2- story install in Bay Area.

24 LG320W with Tigo Optimizers (maximizers) – 7.68kW system.
ABB PowerOne 7kW inverter to allow for system size increases if needed (upsized inverter at no extra cost)
QuickMount premium flushing solution (at no extra cost)
Monitoring hardware and software included. Sample here: http://www.tigoenergy.com/site.php?donnelly_residence (at no extra cost)
25-year Performance Guarantee: Parts, Workmanship, Output (included)
Indemnification clause (included)
$5MM coverage on the work performed on your roof

Gross system investment: $26,380
Federal tax credits: ($7,914)
Net Investment: $18,406

Payback period with permanent electric consumption offset = Year 5…$0 electric consumption bill with PG&E.
Expected output Y1 for net metering = 12,442 kWh’s
Guaranteed output Y1 for net metering = 11,059 kWh’s
25-year Guaranteed output for net metering = 259,891 kWh’s (A)
After Tax Credit Investment = $18,406 (B)
Effective SolarUnion rate with ownership under our 25-year Performance Guarantee= (B/A) = $18,406 / 259,891 kWh’s = $0.07 / kWh (locked)

……………….

SunPower 335W solution (Black on Black panels….see attached datasheet)
7680W
Module calculation: 7680W / 335W = 22.9 ~ 23

See attached proposal
23 SPWR335W with Tigo Optimizers (maximizers) – 7.71kW system.
ABB PowerOne 7kW inverter to allow for system size increases if needed (upsized inverter at no extra cost)
QuickMount premium flushing solution (at no extra cost)
Monitoring hardware and software included. Sample here: http://www.tigoenergy.com/site.php?donnelly_residence
25-year Performance Guarantee: Parts, Workmanship, Output (included)
Indemnification clause (included)
$5MM coverage on the work performed on your roof

Gross system investment: $33,513
Federal tax credits: ($10,053)
Net Investment: $23,460

Payback period with permanent electric consumption offset = Year 6…$0 electric consumption bill with PG&E.
Expected output Y1 for net metering = 12,482 kWh’s
Guaranteed output Y1 for net metering = 11,095 kWh’s
25-year Guaranteed output for net metering = 260,737 kWh’s (A)
After Tax Credit Investment = $23,460 (B)
Effective SolarUnion rate with ownership under our 25-year Performance Guarantee= (B/A) = $23,460 / 260,737 kWh’s = $0.09 / kWh (locked)

Those prices seem about in line, including Sunpower stuff being about a buck/Watt higher than other stuff for about equal output, quality, serviceability and service life.

Expect performance to decrease ~~ 0.4 - 0.5 %/yr. with either panel.

I'd not pay much attention to those total production/after rebate cost beyond comparison of one system to the other. The LCOE or life cycle cost/kWh will be different. than those #'s. Don't think they have much meaning in terms of actual costs - too many considerations left out.

How many quotes have you solicited ? If only one, get more.

Hey guys just joined and am super excited about Solar power! From this site I was able to find two installers to give me quotes at my home in Dale City Virginia. Not many people here have solar panels around here and the guy who just came by today says he would use my home as a Case study for the neighborhood so he gave me a "great" price, sales trick I know. I wanted to see if you experts here could help me decipher my quotes to leymans terms as I am definitely a beginner in Solar and anything I know is from watching videos on Tesla and their Powerwall and Solar City lol.

As an FYI I just moved into this house three months ago and ever since I moved my electric bill has been about $200/month

The first quote I received aka the "case study" one was as follows:
3.3kw system (12 Panels, made in USA and 25yr warranty on everything, Micro inverter)
System price: $18,000
Federal tax credits: -$5436
Rebate: -$1000
SREC at $50/each sold to DE state as DC and MD dont accept any anymore according to him so I would have 6 totaling -$300 in one year.
1st year return would be about $6800 Price for system comes out to about $11k and some change
He said energy savings would be about $130/month


The second quote I received was from a guy who just sent me an email and never bothered coming out to the house but has been emailing me back and fourth and is very nice and knowledgeable but is saying the quote from the first guy is off as the monthly savings are too high on his end, sent me a picture of my house from Google Earth with how the panels would look on the front of my roof.

5.5kw Grid Tier PV system (22 Axitec Panels, Made in Germany, 10 yr warranty, string inverter)

System price is $16,000
Federal tax credits: $4793
Price for system comes out to about $11k and some change as well
He said energy savings would be about $98/month

Since both prices are right on par with one another my questions are as follows:

The guy who came over says the string inverters are not as efficient as the newer micro ones, is this true? The guy who emailed me has said that his string inverter is 98% efficient and is the only one who is compatible with Tesla and their Power wall (HUGE bonus for me as I love Tesla)
Is the difference in panels from the countries that much of a main difference? The email guy said he can use the USA ones but will cost 15% more bringing his total up to close to 12k
I dont understand how the guy who is offering me a lower kw system is saving me more than the one offering me a higher kw system that will save me less, can anyone clarify this for me?
At the end of the day I want to save the most on my bill while at the same time doing it as efficiently as possible!

Thanks for any responses!

Your second one is most likely not a string inverter if it is 98% efficient and compatible with Powerwall, it is SolarEdge optimized system.
They are more efficient than micros.
NOTE that the only one that is upgradable to powerwall is the SE7600 but they would likely put on the SE5000 with your 5.5kw system, so if you want powerwall, make sure they use the larger inverter.

I doubt you would get 6 SRECs a year on a 3.3kw system as well, and I don't think you can sell in the DE market from VA. You can sell in PA and OH markets from some regions in VA, depending on your power company. The going rate is currently under $50 an SREC, check out : https://www.srectrade.com/

You want the larger system.

Thank you so much for such a fast response and all of that helped immensely! Gonna dedicate todays work day to learning more and seeing if I can get a couple more quotes.

Wow those prices are up there. I have about 7k into my system. 16 Candian Solar 235watt panels, M215 inverters, Orion racking. I did the install though. Was quite simple. I was the first in the borough to get it all approved with the power company too. Now that was in 2012 and all the stuff shipped to AK (about $1200 shipping) I'd imagine the prices have gone down.

So you spent $1.85/W before rebates etc. for a DIY system?

Even now that's a pretty good price.

It's possible to get a little cheaper - especially if you find a good sale on modules.
But $.75/W for the module itself is pretty good. And $1/W for all the racking, inverters, conduit, wire, etc etc. is pretty good.

7k after tax credit.

So $2.65/W? Or more?
I think $2/W is probably an average DIY install now.
Less is possible with sales and/or no "extra" things that need to happen.
Often there are little things that do show up - like needing to have more racking because of shape/positioning on the roof. Or needing to run wire a longish distance. Or needing to replace a subpanel. Or needing to pay someone for some stucco work. Or need to deal with tile roof. Or ...

There was one poster that claimed he was under $1/W - but his actual cost was $2.20/W and had a bunch of incentives that got him down to under $1.

My own was also over $2/W - but I had to install new electrical panels, and had to do extra feet, and stucco repair that I hired out, and other stuff I hired out.
But I can see getting under $2/W if you find the right sale (ie. $.50/W modules) and have an easy roof and easy electrical situation.

All said and done was a bit under 7k my ending cost including pizza and beer for friends to help put the up. The .gov gave me 30% back, so about 3k.

I forget what the actual max output is of the panels. There are 16 and I think 225 or 235 watt. M215 Enphase inverters.

In my opinion if you want to get a rough estimate of a solar panel cost it might be depend upon your location or the avg. electrical consumption in your area. If you want to know the accurate cost then have a look to your power bills and find the avg. kWh per month of your house uses.

Solar panel cost is depends that on how much electric power you need. According to your need you can install solar panels. For solar inverters and charge controllers prices must visit .......... Here you can get best option as well price list

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Here's my dumb question for the year. When doing the price comparison computing the $ /per Watt and posting on this board, are people using the DC or AC rating of the system ? or the annual output ? One gets a very different number depending on which is used.... often vendors will give you only the DC rating...

In my opinion that matter isn't entirely settled. But I see it as the peak AC power the system can deliver under
best conditions, whatever the limiting factors may be. This doesn't say anything about energy over time. The
simple case is PV panels with a peak rating equal to the AC inverter under a cloudless sky. Reality may be
much different. Most venders, of many products, are not inclined to give out more than the minimum technical
details, which they would then need to explain and justify. Bruce Roe