Thinking of self installing a 5kW solution onto a South facing garage. DIY solution appears to be 60% cheaper than hiring a local installer (Ohio)
Thinking of self installing a 5kW solution onto a South facing garage. DIY solution appears to be 60% cheaper than hiring a local installer (Ohio)
I’m an electrical engineer who designs commercial and Utility Scale PV systems (i.e. Multi acre solar power plants), though I’ve done a couple dozen residential systems as well.
@[email protected] chimed in with some really good advice, but I wanted to add a few things.
If I were to do my own system I’d go with micro inverters, enphase IQ8 most likely, as they can be setup to operate during a grid outage, either with a battery backup, or with a load balancing panel.
Careful of the downfalls of going the DIY route, not sure how it is in your state, but in some states I’ve worked in you will forfeit incentives if you don’t use a qualified installer.
Get familiar with your utilities net metering policies, if they don’t net meter power at or near retail rates then you’ll end up giving them your power for free/cheap whenever you overgenerate. Some utilities will also make it difficult if you’re not going through a qualified installer.
Lastly, and this is coming from someone who understands the industry intimately, really take a look at the numbers and decide if this makes sense for you. Most residential solar will take 5-10 years to pay for itself (after incentives) and start to generate a profit. Compare that with the same sum invested in a general s&p500 index fund which would likely have doubled in value during that time.
Ultimately I decided not to install solar on my home, despite the ability to 100% DIY the whole thing and get parts at steep discounts, and instead installed a backup generator and signed up with a local community solar array (which is not something that all states/utilities allow).
Happy to answer any questions you may have!
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Thanks for this reply! I put off the professional install of panels as the ROI was just too far out. Self install did come up as I’m fairly competent but your points still highlight the problems. Sometimes the numbers just don’t work, even if you can do it cheap
You pretty much covered that accurately. I also install commercially occasionally and even with the best prices on materials and my cost to install, I can not come close to a decent ROI in Canada. Is far worse if I install batteries to make it a non grid tie system and still work in the event of a power failure. Also the specifications and published returns most companies will give you are out to lunch in real environment. You will never achieve the full output of the panels and you will on average only produce power around half the time they predict.
The only place I could justify a system was in Mexico where my power was around 40c US a KWh, we have sun 300 days of the year and grid feed pays us the full 40c rate. I am still looking at a 7 year return and that is at their cheap labor to install on a 5kw system grid tied. (BTW grid tied in my city in Mexico is causing havec on the grid for complex reasons I won’t go into here.)
I look at it this way. Batteries and their respective systems are a no go from the start. Just too expensive and limited lifespan. This a grid tie system if you really want to tie in. But that will disconnect in the event of power failure. If dependable is the ultimate requirement, just install a power failure generator. For the few times a year it operates, will be far cheaper, can actually power the entire house typically and it can power indefinitely. An expensive battery system might get you half a day if you spent a great deal on batteries while being power wise at the same time.