# New to Solar and diving head first



## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

I live in the Chicago land area and will be picking up my M3 this Monday. One thing lead to another and now I'm looking to get a solar setup as well. Hey, might as well take advantage of all the tax credits before they're gone.

I've got 4500 sq ft of finished space. I'm a nerd and have been documenting my power use since I moved into this home 4 years ago. My uses are:

2015: 13,611 kwH
2016: 14,277
2017: 13,555
2018: 11,793 (this is an off year as we left our home empty for a month and only had basic systems and no AC).

The first quote I got (will be looking for more) is $34k for an 10.54 kW system with an estimated annual production of 11,878 kWh. I'm having them adjust it according to account for the lower then average year.

My question is how much more do I add to cover the M3 (and we'll be looking to get a Y in 2020)? We average 10k mi per year per car. I wanted to be conservative and estimated 300w/mi, so was going to get the vendor to upsize the system by 6kW. Is this overkill, anything else I should be looking out for on these quotes?

Any and all comments are appreciated.


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

In general, you should install as large a system as you can. My car uses as much electricity as the whole house, and that's with a short commute. When we add the second, there will only be more demand. 
I'm in the process of getting a Tesla solar system, I should say I'm on my third design attempt because they keep missing details. But the big advantage to Tesla is their warranty includes labor, where others don't. That's a big deal if you are replacing panels on the roof or inverters in the basement.
In general I believe the numbers they ran, a ~6.5kW system would cover my home usage. I'm fighting for a 9.7kW design that they presented to me.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

3 kw/car, is about right, so yes I concur that 6 kw for 2 cars is a good estimate for your specifications. I don’t view that as overly conservative - probably right in line with realistic.

I got solar last year and my parameters are similar to most of yours. I live in Pittsburgh (northern solar!) with an 11.97 kW system that is estimated to produce 13,600 kWh per year. My estimated system production per kW is almost the same as yours, meaning our weather factors, angle of panels and roof pitch must come out equivalent. 

About 1/4 of our system is intended to charge our model 3 - about 3 kW... yep, right in line with your plans. I believe 300 Wh/mile for the car is a bit low to cover winter inefficiency, charging inefficiency, phantom drain and sometimes preconditioning from wall power... these bump my estimate up to about 330 Wh/mile. With the 3 kW solar producing about 3400 kWh for our conditions, that hits the goal of roughly 10,000 miles per year.

None of the above accounts for whether or not the system will actually meet the estimated output, and degradation of the solar output is expected over time. With only 8 months of experience in this, I don’t know how it will play out in the long run but actual production has been about 90% of estimated so far. We have truly had some awful weather, and one thing I’m more keenly aware of since getting the panels is how variable the weather can be.

Feel free to hit me up with any questions you have. I’m a data nerd too. 🤓


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

Use 400w/mi. (better safe than sorry)
Number of miles *400/1000 = kWh needed. 100 miles per day = 40 kWH per day.
10,000 miles per year = 4,000 kWh/year

If you can charge at work, that can save a lot. 

Don't forget that you'll need the batteries for this amount of additional capacity, since it probably all we be done at night.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

So just got off the phone with the rep. Looks like the largest they can size my roof (and still qualify for incentives) is 13kW. A bit disappointing as it would mean that I'd still be heavily reliant on the grid.

He started explaining that part of my incentives were based off of SREC and it was all gibberish to me. Gotta start researching what that is and how that can impact my costs.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

shareef777 said:


> So just got off the phone with the rep. Looks like the largest they can size my roof (and still qualify for incentives) is 13kW. A bit disappointing as it would mean that I'd still be heavily reliant on the grid.
> 
> He started explaining that part of my incentives were based off of SREC and it was all gibberish to me. Gotta start researching what that is and how that can impact my costs.


13 kW is all they can fit on your roof with good orientation (plausible), or, as you said, all that will qualify for incentives? That latter part doesn't make sense to me, although there could be something specific to your location/utility. I do know that the 30% federal tax credit is essentially limitless. I'm also curious because I've heard some people say that they couldn't get a quote for anything in excess of their last year's electricity usage. I didn't run into that - we had no resistance to up our system to plan for car charging.

SRECs are basically things you earn as a producer of solar energy, that companies can buy to take credit for your solar production in meeting their green energy regulations. Their value is very dependent on where you live. In PA it's just a small little bonus, not a substantial factor in my cost/benefit analysis. There is a choice to sign away the rights to the SRECs to reduce your upfront cost, but I kept the rights to mine so that I can sell them each year.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Bigriver said:


> 13 kW is all they can fit on your roof with good orientation (plausible), or, as you said, all that will qualify for incentives? That latter part doesn't make sense to me, although there could be something specific to your location/utility. I do know that the 30% federal tax credit is essentially limitless. I'm also curious because I've heard some people say that they couldn't get a quote for anything in excess of their last year's electricity usage. I didn't run into that - we had no resistance to up our system to plan for car charging.
> 
> SRECs are basically things you earn as a producer of solar energy, that companies can buy to take credit for your solar production in meeting their green energy regulations. Their value is very dependent on where you live. In PA it's just a small little bonus, not a substantial factor in my cost/benefit analysis. There is a choice to sign away the rights to the SRECs to reduce your upfront cost, but I kept the rights to mine so that I can sell them each year.


Yes, my utility provider is ComEd and they limit you to 110% of what you've produced in the last year (though the vendor has stated that he's had them successfully look at just the last 3mo). This hurts considering I'm getting my M3 Monday and that's not accounted for. My home was also empty for a little over a month last year as we were out of the country on vacation, so last years 11.8kW number is what's limiting me to 13kW. Seems my best bet is to wait till the end of the year so that I can better account for not being out of the country (as well as the increased utility use due to the new Tesla in house, which will be charged 100% from home). We're also looking to do a stay-cation this summer, which will also up our energy use at home. Ironically, I'm hoping that my average will increase enough this summer to push my 3mo average to over 1500kW so I can qualify for a larger system.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

Isn’t 2019 the last year for the 30% credit? It starts to phase out... down to 26% in 2020 I think. I would suggest to get as large of a system installed this year as they will allow. Can install an addendum to the system at some later time.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Bigriver said:


> Isn't 2019 the last year for the 30% credit? It starts to phase out... down to 26% in 2020 I think. I would suggest to get as large of a system installed this year as they will allow. Can install an addendum to the system at some later time.


My thoughts exactly. My ComEd is limiting people to just the past 12mo of past usage (or last 3). Not sure what the logic is behind that, but I'll be holding out till this summer so that I can get average out the highest peak months I've used (June/July/August). Adding in charging for my Model3 will also help increase that average to allow me to hopefully get a system as large as 15kW+


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

shareef777 said:


> My thoughts exactly. My ComEd is limiting people to just the past 12mo of past usage (or last 3). Not sure what the logic is behind that, but I'll be holding out till this summer so that I can get average out the highest peak months I've used (June/July/August). Adding in charging for my Model3 will also help increase that average to allow me to hopefully get a system as large as 15kW+


My only caution on that is that sometimes this whole process is painfully slow. I signed a contract in January 2018, panels installed May 2018 and we weren't given permission to energize them until July 2018. I don't understand all the hoops that have to be jumped through, but there was forever one more approval needed. Of course in the quoting stage it was always presented that it could move much faster. And as I'm not sure how much solar panel installation is active in Chicago in the latter months of the year, I don't know if you'll be able to push it to include much of the summer usage.

An electric car really can use a lot of energy fast. Go on lots of joy rides. Turn the heater up full blast on your car so you get awful efficiency. Invite all your Tesla friends over to charge at your house. I think you can manage to make that meter spin!


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Bigriver said:


> My only caution on that is that sometimes this whole process is painfully slow. I signed a contract in January 2018, panels installed May 2018 and we weren't given permission to energize them until July 2018. I don't understand all the hoops that have to be jumped through, but there was forever one more approval needed. Of course in the quoting stage it was always presented that it could move much faster. And as I'm not sure how much solar panel installation is active in Chicago in the latter months of the year, I don't know if you'll be able to push it to include much of the summer usage.
> 
> An electric car really can use a lot of energy fast. Go on lots of joy rides. Turn the heater up full blast on your car so you get awful efficiency. Invite all your Tesla friends over to charge at your house. I think you can manage to make that meter spin!


Lol, def want to get it up as I don't want to move forward on a 10kW system. Ideally the numbers for April/May/June are enough to allow a 15mW+ system. At which point I'd sign and hopefully get it installed by year end.


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## Smokey S (Sep 30, 2018)

Why don’t you wait 3 months and get some real data on yourr “at home” electricity usage with the model 3. Maybe eliminate the one month of empty house on the twelve monrhs of usage. I would ask how long from house inspection until installation/power on with system. As it gets later in the year you will run into availability of installation teams. I had a 11.3Mw installed and it took 4 months to complete the process (home inspection—design—approvals-panel/system install-net metering install-permission to operate)


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Smokey S said:


> Why don't you wait 3 months and get some real data on yourr "at home" electricity usage with the model 3. Maybe eliminate the one month of empty house on the twelve monrhs of usage. I would ask how long from house inspection until installation/power on with system. As it gets later in the year you will run into availability of installation teams. I had a 11.3Mw installed and it took 4 months to complete the process (home inspection-design-approvals-panel/system install-net metering install-permission to operate)


Definitely the plan. Getting some preliminary quotes to vet out an honest installer (or as close to honest as one can reasonably expect). Aiming for a minimum 11kW system but numbers will likely indicate a 15+ one is more ideal.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

Just curious about the orientation of your roof. Is it obvious where to put the panels and enough space for your dream of a very large size? For us, we have a complex roof and there were a lot of choices and trade offs on where to put them. At one point I had toyed with adding some more to a less than prime location and now I’m really glad I opted not to do that.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Smokey S said:


> Why don't you wait 3 months and get some real data on yourr "at home" electricity usage with the model 3.


And leave some hair dryers plugged in and running 24/7.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

A majority of m


Bigriver said:


> Just curious about the orientation of your roof. Is it obvious where to put the panels and enough space for your dream of a very large size? For us, we have a complex roof and there were a lot of choices and trade offs on where to put them. At one point I had toyed with adding some more to a less than prime location and now I'm really glad I opted not to do that.


A majority of my roof faces east that's about 600 sq ft of space. I can fit 35 panels on that alone, with an option for an additional 10 panels that face more south (which should still do well).


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

shareef777 said:


> A majority of my roof faces east that's about 600 sq ft of space. I can fit 35 panels on that alone, with an option for an additional 10 panels that face more south (which should still do well).


Wondering how you are doing with running up high electricity usage so you can get a larger system installed?! Also curious about your statement that most of your panels would face east, but that 10 panels on the south should still do well. South should be the better direction than east.... pitch of the roof and shading factors could alter things, but this statement puzzled me.



PA_Ray said:


> I was told that only the portion of the roof under the solar counts for the 30%. So the north facing portion of the roof would but the south facing, etc. wouldn't. I can't confirm that but that was what I was told.


Pulling this post from another thread, I'm similarly puzzled at the implication that solar is installed on the north side of a roof? Would seem that a north facing installation would be very inefficient. Low kWh produced per W panel. (But BTW I totally agree with your note about portion of new roofing that I would expect can be claimed as part of solar installation.)


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Bigriver said:


> Wondering how you are doing with running up high electricity usage so you can get a larger system installed?! Also curious about your statement that most of your panels would face east, but that 10 panels on the south should still do well. South should be the better direction than east.... pitch of the roof and shading factors could alter things, but this statement puzzled me.
> 
> Pulling this post from another thread, I'm similarly puzzled at the implication that solar is installed on the north side of a roof? Would seem that a north facing installation would be very inefficient. Low kWh produced per W panel. (But BTW I totally agree with your note about portion of new roofing that I would expect can be claimed as part of solar installation.)


I've been traveling a lot so haven't put much miles on the 3. 600mi in just over a month. Half of those miles were power from when I got the car home from Tesla or at a supercharger, so I've basically only drawn 75kW at home. That's a 10% bump.

As for the panels. I meant 10 would face west, and my roof is evenly split half east and half west.


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

I am seriously looking at solar. My utility has a 10 KW limit which apparently translates to a 12KW (DC) solar array. Initial estimates are that I will get about 50 KWH during the summer which should be enough even with two Model 3's. My house is about 2700 sq. ft. not counting the basement. I was presently surprised to see the 3X array(12 KW) Tesla estimate at around $25K. I have two other companies I am talking to. I am a bit nervous about Tesla since it is all online and $99 before they talk to you. I worry about Tesla taking months to do anything.


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## ajdelange (Jun 26, 2019)

shareef777 said:


> We average 10k mi per year per car. I wanted to be conservative and estimated 300w/mi, so was going to get the vendor to upsize the system by 6kW. Is this overkill, anything else I should be looking out for on these quotes?


You are confusing kW (power) and kWh (energy). Two cars doing 10,000 mi and consuming 300 Wh/mi implies an energy demand of 6 MWh. Averaged out over the 365.25*24 hours of a year that means that your AVERAGE consumption will increase by 6000000/(365.25*24) = 684 watts. To this you should probably add 100 watts for each car for vampire drain making a total of 884 watts average. This means that total increase in demand for the two cars (traction and vampire) will be about 0.884*365.25*24 = 7749 kWh. This means, in effect, that your electric usage is going up by about 50% to around 22 MWh. At this point you must decide what percentage of your annual use you want to cover with the solar system. I assume net metering is available so that a kWh you send to the utility in June means a free kWh when you need it in Jan. Assuming, to give you an idea, 300 W (DC) panels with a 1 amp microinverter on each one comes up with a spreadsheet like this one:









The other piece of key information here is that you have, on average over the year, 4.2 kWh/da/square meter insolation which is the approximate NREL number for your area. The spreadsheet shows that, for example, a 41 panel installation which is rated at just under 10 kW, would provide 68.6% of your annual demand. Most people seem to shoot for something like this. In fact you will get a bit less than this because your available roof probably does not face true south and is probably not at the optimum inclination. But a well designed system shouldn't lose more than a few percent relative to the numbers here. I note that you are thinking of about 45 panels. That would get you about 75% of your total demand.

I mentioned a system under 10 kW because in Virginia, the utility penalizes you for installing a system larger than 10 kW though what they call "standby charges". If you don't have those in your area don't worry about this but if you do be sure you understand the implications of going over 10kW. Make sure that your installer explains this to you.

As to the 110% limitation: Note that 110% of your 14 MWh consumption works out to an average of 1757 W and that a 41 panel system is rated for an average (see spreadsheet) of 1806W - just over that.I expect your installer can work something out. Do keep in mind that your utility is less than enthusiastic about being forced to buy your electricity at retail at a time of day when they don't need it and so what ultimately comes to pass will depend on how recalcitrant they are. Investor owned utilities tend to be the worst but even they have to smile and pretend to be "green" sometimes so I immagine you'll be able to do something. Perhaps install 40 panels now, get everything checked out and get your PTO, then slip in a couple of extras. See what your installer has to say.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

So at this point I've abandoned all my solar plans. It simply wasn't cost effective. Most systems were in the $35k price, and even after accounting for federal/state incentives they'd have an ROI of 15 years. I don't plan on staying in my home for that long, and even then new panels will only become more efficient while mine would degrade. I did switch over to hourly billing with ComEd and that's saved me already. I'm now down to $.084 per kWh which is cheaper then any Solar provider.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

shareef777 said:


> So at this point I've abandoned all my solar plans. It simply wasn't cost effective. Most systems were in the $35k price, and even after accounting for federal/state incentives they'd have an ROI of 15 years. I don't plan on staying in my home for that long, and even then new panels will only become more efficient while mine would degrade. I did switch over to hourly billing with ComEd and that's saved me already. I'm now down to $.084 per kWh which is cheaper then any Solar provider.


Thanks for the update. I had been wondering how your plans were going. Yes, the rate that you otherwise have to pay for electricity can make all the difference. I'm drooling over the night time 1 cent per kWh in Georgia recently discussed in another thread.

What future electric rates will do is an unknown and in 10-20 years I could say that solar wasn't the best financial choice for me either. But no regrets as now I'm simply diversified and immune to whatever kWh prices do. I've also had 12 grid outages in the past 3 months (since the powerwalls were installed) and I'm loving the uninterrupted life! So still real happy to be a solar+powerwall household here.


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## ajdelange (Jun 26, 2019)

One doesn't install solar to save money. He does it because he cannot resist the urges caused by what my old boss used to call "techno-lust" IOW for the same reason he bought his BEV. The money saving aspect is only used to justify this foolishness to the spouse.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

ajdelange said:


> The money saving aspect is only used to justify this foolishness to the spouse.


Except there was no money saving aspect for me. If I had $35k laying around burning a whole in my pocket I'd of thought about it. But then again, I could find other "techno-lust" to mess with for significantly cheaper. I find solar to be best suited for those that are focused on the environment are supplied by a coal powered utility.


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## ymilord (Mar 31, 2017)

We bought a home in Central IL last year about 2 hours from Chicago. Our annual usage is 15,154kW. We have a 13.5kW (43 REC315NP /w optimizers and SolarEdge 10kW Inverter) system with two Powerwalls with the goal of 100% offset for just over 39k. The SREC (15yrs of production) and the Tax incentive (30%) brings it down to 9700k. With Ameren (DS-1) we get 1:1 ratio on whats generated and whats used And we can 'bank' for up to a year. (which I think that's an IL thing?) We have a Model 3 & and Model X. We have to limit the HPWC down to 42A vs. 48A to keep the inverter happy. We were lucky to get in on the Block 1 Group A for the SREC which made it possible to pull the trigger.

Our usage


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

ymilord said:


> We bought a home in Central IL last year about 2 hours from Chicago. Our annual usage is 15,154kW. We have a 13.5kW (43 REC315NP /w optimizers and SolarEdge 10kW Inverter) system with two Powerwalls with the goal of 100% offset for just over 39k. The SREC (15yrs of production) and the Tax incentive (30%) brings it down to 9700k. With Ameren (DS-1) we get 1:1 ratio on whats generated and whats used And we can 'bank' for up to a year. (which I think that's an IL thing?) We have a Model 3 & and Model X. We have to limit the HPWC down to 42A vs. 48A to keep the inverter happy. We were lucky to get in on the Block 1 Group A for the SREC which made it possible to pull the trigger.
> 
> Our usage
> 
> View attachment 28375


I'm working with SunRun right now to lease a system, but I'm still having difficulty having them size one large enough for me. I've averaged 14kW annual usage before getting my 3, and we plan on getting a Y next year. Their system is closer to 12kW, so I'd still be heavily reliant on the grid. I was told the SREC credits for systems over 12kW are all gone :-(


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## NJturtlePower (Dec 19, 2017)

ymilord said:


> We bought a home in Central IL last year about 2 hours from Chicago. Our annual usage is 15,154kW. We have a 13.5kW (43 REC315NP /w optimizers and SolarEdge 10kW Inverter) system with two Powerwalls with the goal of 100% offset for just over 39k. The SREC (15yrs of production) and the Tax incentive (30%) brings it down to 9700k. With Ameren (DS-1) we get 1:1 ratio on whats generated and whats used And we can 'bank' for up to a year. (which I think that's an IL thing?) We have a Model 3 & and Model X. We have to limit the HPWC down to 42A vs. 48A to keep the inverter happy. We were lucky to get in on the Block 1 Group A for the SREC which made it possible to pull the trigger.


You are not seeing any clipping (peak loss) on good days with that 10kW inverter on a 13.5kW system?

Our system is 38 panels (325w) rated at 12.35kW and paired with the SolarEdge 11.4kW inverter which should be just about maxed, but being that we have arrays facing three directions they'll almost never be at full production at once.

What are you basing your 15-year SREC credits on? Current values/pricing?

I wouldn't really call SREC's a reduction to the system cost, but rather a shortening of timeline to Return on Investment (ROI) considering SREC value is not guaranteed (at least not in NJ) unlike the FTC 30% which is an immediate return the following tax year.

NJ is 1:1 as far as generation crediting as well with our supplier JCP&L. Powerwalls don't / can't make you any money here either since there is no peak pricing/usage rates...yet, but they are still nice as a stand alone backup option.

Lastly, what's with the monthly $17 charge?



shareef777 said:


> I'm working with SunRun right now to lease a system, but I'm still having difficulty having them size one large enough for me. I've averaged 14kW annual usage before getting my 3, and we plan on getting a Y next year. Their system is closer to 12kW, so I'd still be heavily reliant on the grid. I was told the SREC credits for systems over 12kW are all gone :-(


In my experience and research don't use SunRun and NEVER lease solar! Use a local company which will likely have better pricing and you can trust...start here: https://www.energysage.com/

I know nothing about sizing restriction in states other than NJ where they allow a small margin above typical use, but #1 rule of any home improvement project...don't trust salesmen, do your own homework, and confirm EVERYTHING in writing.

Again IL may be different, but in NJ IF you lease you lose the rights to your SREC's...they are property of the solar leasing company, and all you get is a reduced fixed or variable rate for hosting the panels on your roof. This is the biggest downfall in states where the SREC market is strong like NJ (1 x SREC = $220).

During my time exploring different installer options Tesla Solar offered an SREC buyout as a "discount" on their proposals... in my case this was an up front reduction of $6k which might sound OK until you do the math.

The current NJ SREC program is set at 10-years, a system like mine should make at LEAST 14 SREC's per year currently priced at $220 each. So even assuming value falling to $150 that $6k buyout is only about the value of 3-years of production, meaning Tesla would keep the other 7-years of SRECS FREE  Insulting at best considering at the same $150 value we'll conservatively earn $21k over the full 10 year program.

Without the strong SREC program in NJ solar would be MUCH less attractive with ROI of 12+ years due to higher labor/install rates than most states, but with it I'm looking at about 5.5 years. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*See my system details below:*

*Energy Usage:*

Utility Provider: JCP&L
Current Utility Rate: $0.1506 per kWh ****UPDATED June 19' rate****
Pre-EV Charging Annual Usage / July 2018 Data: 9,385 kWh
Current Annual Energy Usage (Estimate): 13,850 kWh (EV charging for about 10-months via NEMA 14-50 outlet / Approx 10K miles driven per year)
*Solar Design, Details & Specs**:*

Nameplate: 12.350 DC kW (STC)
First Year System Output (Estimate): 14,354 kWh
Lifetime System Output (Estimate): 273,850 kWh
Solar Panels: 38 X Hanwha Q-CELLS Q.PEAK DUO-G5 325w Modules
Optimizers: 38 X SolarEdge P400
Panel Layout: 3 Arrays - 20 Panel (South) / 12 Panel (East) / 6 Panel (West) _*See Attached/Below_
String Layout: 3 Strings of 13/13/12 _*See Attached/Below_
Inverter: 1 X SolarEdge SE11400H-US
Mounting/Flashing Hardware: IronRidge XR10 Rail / Quick Mount PV (QMLM/QMLM-2)
*SOLAR ONLY - System Cost & Financing*:

Total System Cost: $36,590
Price Per Watt (Pre-Incentives): $2.96
Financing Partner: Sungage Financial
Financing Terms: 18-Month 0% APR for FTC Portion / 2.99% APR for 60-Months on Loan Balance
Monthly Payment: $460.01
Return on Investment (ROI) Estimate: Less than 6-Years


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## ymilord (Mar 31, 2017)

The SREC & Inverter size is tied together in the case of Ameren. In order to get the max SREC after the first 1kW produced vs over the next 4 years at a lower rate. The inverter has to be 10kW or under. As for clipping- no. We have panels in two directions. The large part of the array is designed to grab morning/afternoon sun and the last bit is designed to snag the 5~7pm sun. (Man, I love the SolarEdge monitoring portal and the fact you can see what each panel is doing.) From yesterday, the main array started to get light at about 7:04AM and peaked at 1:07PM (10.012kW) then about 4:12PM to about 5:39PM the main array dropped off as the sun is not pointing directly at them and the smaller array started to 'come online' since the PM sun is now facing them and was getting 3.301kW.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

NJturtlePower said:


> You are not seeing any clipping (peak loss) on good days with that 10kW inverter on a 13.5kW system?
> 
> Our system is 38 panels (325w) rated at 12.35kW and paired with the SolarEdge 11.4kW inverter which should be just about maxed, but being that we have arrays facing three directions they'll almost never be at full production at once.
> 
> ...


Great information. Thanks.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

ymilord said:


> Man, I love the SolarEdge monitoring portal and the fact you can see what each panel is doing.


I have SolarEdge inverters and would also love to see per panel production info. I had tried to create an account with them, but concluded I was unable to do so due to how Tesla has my account set up. (Its been a number of months since I tried it, so not remembering the detail of what error messages I got.) Did you have a non-Tesla/SolarCity installer and/or do you have any knowledge of whether anyone with a SolarEdge inverter should be able to tap into that info?


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## NJturtlePower (Dec 19, 2017)

Bigriver said:


> I have SolarEdge inverters and would also love to see per panel production info. I had tried to create an account with them, but concluded I was unable to do so due to how Tesla has my account set up. (Its been a number of months since I tried it, so not remembering the detail of what error messages I got.) Did you have a non-Tesla/SolarCity installer and/or do you have any knowledge of whether anyone with a SolarEdge inverter should be able to tap into that info?


If you own the system you should be able to request full "Owner Access" direct from SolarEdge. Many solar companies seem to default installs to a basic "Guest" access initially.

I believe there is a Live Chat available via the SolarEdge website that should be able to take care of your request.


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## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

NJturtlePower said:


> If you own the system you should be able to request full "Owner Access" direct from SolarEdge. Many solar companies seem to default installs to a basic "Guest" access initially.
> 
> I believe there is a Live Chat available via the SolarEdge website that should be able to take care of your request.


SolarEdge told me that they couldn't grant access, but confirmed that there is an account for my installation and guided me to contact Tesla. After waiting over an hour on hold, I got to talk to someone at Tesla. He immediately understood my request but pushed back ever so slightly about why I would think I need access to the SolarEdge site. I managed to answer his questions sufficiently, and he said he'd put in a request to grant me access. 24 hours later, I'm in!! Now in a state of data overload while I pour over the detailed per panel info. I have panels in 4 different locations on my roof with some having unique shading issues (like from the chimney for part of the day), so it is particularly interesting to see the actual hit that causes.
Thanks for the info that allowed me to pursue this. I had always wanted this info but had specifically been told by someone at SolarCity that it wasn't available. So glad to find out otherwise!


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## ChristianZ (Nov 10, 2018)

NJturtlePower said:


> You are not seeing any clipping (peak loss) on good days with that 10kW inverter on a 13.5kW system?
> 
> Our system is 38 panels (325w) rated at 12.35kW and paired with the SolarEdge 11.4kW inverter which should be just about maxed, but being that we have arrays facing three directions they'll almost never be at full production at once.
> 
> ...


Did you get a quote from Tesla to buy? Sunrun had a quote to lease higher than Tesla to buy.

Can you explain the financing regarding the FTC Portion?

Financing Terms: 18-Month 0% APR for FTC Portion / 2.99% APR for 60-Months on Loan Balance
Monthly Payment: $460.01


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

I'm about to pull the trigger on solar. What should I expect to pay (pre tax credit) per rated Watt (DC) for either Hanwha or for Solaria panels? I am being told the Solaria carry a 50 cent per watt premium over Hanwha. Is that reasonable. Pricing is around $3.20/watt for the Hanwha Q-cells (G4). This seems high compared to some things I have seen. Thoughts...


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