That article really doesn't say much at all.  10% might be about right if I bought panels etc at a box store vs getting something installed, but it's really apples and oranges.  I saw $3/watt on sale at Canadian Tire recently.

Estragon said:

Home Depot also sells pv online.  $514CAD for a 150w panel.  $2770CAD for a 400w DIY kit.  Like CT, they don't install and mainly sell small 12v systems.  At those prices, installed prices from a solar specialist are likely close, but it's apples and oranges. 

I priced out gear locally from a specialist when I did my system about 3 years ago.  It was  nearly double (not including labour) versus what I paid NAWS.  CAD/USD is lower now, so I expect it's still roughly the same.  On top of the extra cost for the local specialist, I wouldn't have had to do all the reading and planning I did, so there would probably also have been the cost of murdering at least one battery bank in the learning curve.

The reading and planning is worth it though. If you are moderately sensible and practical, you don't need to leave yourself open to being ripped off by the 'experts'

You'll notice all the solar module connections are designed for a trained monkey to plug together.  As far as a DIY solar install on a roof 2 biggest requirements are enough knowledge not to fall off the roof and #2 find the roof joists so you can properly mount the rails. Everything else on a roof is plug and play and tighten nuts and bolts.
When you get to connecting them to the rest of the equipment, you'll notice that is always different crew/person that has enough electrical knowledge  to make the connections.

cow_rancher said:

It appears that Mother Earth News thinks the Solar installation industry does not add much to the cost of a solar system.
What are your thoughts?

https://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/diy-solar-with-a-solar-panel-kit-zbcz1601

10%    Really?

Rancher

DIY my costs look to be $9671 or $1.33/W. That's everything, drawings, permits, engineering, materials, yada yada yada. I've received online rough guess numbers between  $2.60/W up to $3.46/W.  Safe to say having someone install it adds a bit more than 10%

It took me 6 months of research/planning and 12 months installing. After a total of 18 months it finally  passed inspection and I’ve been tweaking/refining the settings ever since. I saved some money and had to make lots of mid-project changes but more importantly I learned a lot and now know every little detail of my system. However, DIY is not for the impatient nor for those who don’t like to solve complex puzzles.

There are plenty of guidance websites out there to help you. As long as you're handy it's not too hard. The biggest issue to resolve is the transition from the roof for rooftop installations. That's the one thing that will bite you if you don't do it right. Some states don't allow you to do your own electrical work. That's the other thing you need to know before you venture into DIY.

If you grid tie don't expect to make money. Design so you are producing not much more than using. With surpluses that put my meter negative, I have about 3 months where I have an electric bill. I don't have batteries. I might do a simple backup system for essential loads, but that won't allow for any solar production when the grid is down since I have IQ7s.i installed for less than about 14K, with tax break was dropping to 30% less of that. I'm sure an installer would have been 30K, about triple my end cost. 

Miller_Ranch said:

12 .6 KW   DYI

You have reason to smile. would you describe more of the components that you selected for the project?

Thank you and thank you,

You are correct Dave, the mounts are Wattsun manual trackers oriented East to West. I have 4 strings of 7 REC 450 watt panels in series for a total of 28. They feed directly into a Sol-Ark 12k. The 12k has four inputs so i did not need combiner boxes. The 12k also has the solar disconnect mounted on it too. Sol-Ark has a nice string sizing tool on there web site that made panel configuration easy.

I am totally off the grid so batteries are part of my system. I have 5 Powersync 51.2v 100ah batteries in closed loop with the Sol-Ark. As Dave has said many times closed loop is the way to go. I couldn't be happier with this set up.

Also Sol-Ark and Powersync customer support has been great, had a few glitches when I first commissioned the system but were sorted out quickly.

Miller_Ranch said:

Didn't mean to close this conversation down. I know its about DIY.

Hope this can stay open about those of us that that want to go this route. 

I was confused too. My hat is off to Miller_Ranch. All I can say is doing a great job with the selected equipment and install the journey is just beginning. Then you have to tune it to your situation. I'd hike to know more about his day to day adjustments and what he learned. He could write a book.

Edit: "I'd hike to know more" was a typo. But appropriate.