Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...

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  • newenergy
    newenergy Solar Expert Posts: 291 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...
    mike90045 wrote: »
    Lay the cash out while they are hungry, but follow a progress payment schedule,
    10% down.
    30% on material delivery
    20% racks installed
    20% PV installed
    20% inspection & utility signoff
    or make your own schedule
    get lien releases at each payment.

    You don't want to pay a bunch up front, and then have them bail, leaving your roof all torn up.

    That's all fine and usually works out to most of the money to the contractor pretty quickly as the installation doesn't take very long, but PV is a different than most contracting. The cost of materials runs like 70%-80% of the total price of the job, so when materials are delivered it certainly would not be unfair to pay the contractor more.

    It means you can get a bigger lien release at that time as well.

    If the contractor bails, you can find someone else to install those materials for $1/watt or so.
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...
    mike90045 wrote: »
    Lay the cash out while they are hungry, but follow a progress payment schedule,
    10% down.
    30% on material delivery
    20% racks installed
    20% PV installed
    20% inspection & utility signoff
    or make your own schedule
    get lien releases at each payment.

    You don't want to pay a bunch up front, and then have them bail, leaving your roof all torn up.

    Since REC solar carries the rebate, the full payment is due on the first day of installation. Ultimately I was fine with this because the full payment is about $5000 less than the best mail order price I could get on just the panels and inverter if I ended up buying the materials myself. And that doesn't include the wiring and racking which is also coming on the same day. If they left without finishing everything, I'd have quite a discount on materials. In addition, I'm assuming that I could change the reservation application to make the check payable to the new installer, me.

    The must be getting some special deal on those Mitsubishi panels if they're going to be making a proffit.

    These panels range in price quite a bit on the internet. Low price I've found is $833. High is $1020. Several source priced in between. Assuming I'm using the $833, the lowest I could find, all the materials would cost me about $35K. If I take the next lowest price, probably more realistic, it would be closer to $37K. Not including shipping. Who know how much that would be.

    Now if they left me in a lurch and I wasn't able to redirect the rebate, then I'd be at a disadvantage compared to doing my own self install from the start where I buy B panels and a refurbed Xantrex.

    REC solar is a big corporation though, I doubt they're going to leave me in a lurch.
  • autoxsteve
    autoxsteve Solar Expert Posts: 114 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...

    any progress on your install?
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...

    Still scheduled for July 8th.
  • jza80
    jza80 Registered Users Posts: 13
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...
    https://csi.powerclerk.com/Default.aspx

    If you go here you can look up installation costs. Your price is lower than anything I found including other REC Solar projects.

    That's an interesting site. I found my install, but there were a bunch of errors on the panel #'s, inverter, etc. The cost and dates were correct though. Makes me wonder what, exactly, my installer reported to CSI.
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...

    The total system cost is now in the system at $39700. The rebate amount is listed at $8940. Interesting is that those were the preliminary estimates before the site eval. The EPBB estimate after the the numbers from the site eval are plugged in are $9365. Should I call REC solar up and ask what's up with that? Does the rebate change if the values are more favorable even though what's reserved is the $8940?

    So with the current numbers listed, it's $39700 - $8940 - $2000 = $28760.

    Is this still cheaper than anyone has seen?
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...

    Looking through the spreadsheet, mine is certainly one of the lower cost per watt, but it isn't the lowest. There are several in the same size range that are cheaper per what. The typical for my system size ranges from about $42 to $45K. With a few lower and a few higher. Some as high as $48K. One was as low as $36K for the same sized system.

    These are before the rebates.
  • autoxsteve
    autoxsteve Solar Expert Posts: 114 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Signed contract on 6KW system last week. Had site eval today...

    How did the install go?