?? (Two Solar Installers, one says yes, other says no)

jon k
jon k Registered Users Posts: 8 ✭
in Solar Product Reviews & Opinions #1
i'v talked with 2 solar power companies about getting panels. i said I was good to go and get almost 70% annual power needs from solar. other company took 1 look via satilite and said "we will not work with you due to the degree my house is at"

whats the deal?
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Comments

  • FL SUN
    FL SUN Solar Expert Posts: 94 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: ??

    Sounds like one company is interested in your money, and the other is interested in covering their butt.

    Need more info. How many KWh's do you use a month, and how many KW is the pv system? House roof construction, solar coverage (trees, chimney, etc). Pics of proposed location would be great.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: ??

    you may not have a good view of the southern sky or may be too restrictive on the total solar exposure i think is what they are referring to. in simpler terms they don't want you coming back on them because you aren't getting much from solar power due to limited exposures. the other doesn't care and will take your $.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: ??

    Find someone to do a on site analysis. In short if the location where you are proposing to put Pv is not in full sun, free of shadows from trees, wires, buildings etc for at LEAST 4-6 hours a day, 10-12 months a year, it probably isn't going to be cost effective. Look at your own site through out the day. How much sun does it get.

    Us a PV watts calculator, plugging in your own numbers to see what you get.http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/codes_algs/PVWATTS/version2/

    If some installer's numbers vary considerably from your own, ask them why. Perhaps they are seeing site conditions that you aren't.

    Good luck,

    Tony
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  • JeffreyDV
    JeffreyDV Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭
    #5
    Re: ?? (Two Solar Installers, one says yes, other says no)

    I had a few rejections based on sat photos myself. 3 installers actually came here and I got 3 different proposals. One installer said no good, one said he could do about 2kW and the 3rd said he could do 9.7kW. I went with the 9.7 and I am very happy with the results. My site has no south facing roof. I have one east facing array, 3500 watt inverter and one west facing array, 4800 watt inverter. Certainly not ideal and I realize I will never have the same output as I would if I had a southern exposure. My best output so far was 44kWh on a very sunny day. My point is, get as many opinions as you can and have an actual site analysis done including a visit to the roof.
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  • jon k
    jon k Registered Users Posts: 8 ✭
    #6
    Re: ?? (Two Solar Installers, one says yes, other says no)

    thank you for you answers. i will follow what you all said.

    thanks again. i'm still new to this holw subject
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: ?? (Two Solar Installers, one says yes, other says no)

    Just an observation:

    Not everyone, including professional installers, understands that due South or Solar South is not necessarily the best direction to aim panels. The best direction is whichever gives the most insolation for a particular site. There is a slight preference towards South-Easterly directions, because you want to get the charge cycle started as early in the day as possible and, if it's a particularly hot climate, morning is cooler so the panels will be more efficient.

    Just my two cents (CDN - 1 3/4 US). :p
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