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Solar in San Diego experience?

wet hull

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Getting serious about going solar. Yes it will be Palomar Solar that does our job if we pull the trigger. We will purchase system. Few questions for people that have it in San Diego and deal with SDGE. Background is my house is 1800 sq ft electric only. No gas or propane. Adding a 1200 sq ft ADU that is in engineering currently. Plan is to keep that on electric as well. City wants a metric ton of cash to tie into gas. We currently average $.38 per kilo watt with bill about $430 month range. Will increase with ADU.

Are you happy with your system?
What would you change or add?
Average kilo watt per month usage and rate you pay?
Any issues with SDGE? Are they adjusting your peak hours and scewing you when you purchase electricity from them offsetting any savings?

My biggest concern is I drop $50k and dont end up saving much money to offset the purchse price. Any input is appreciated.
 

Done-it-again

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I’m glad we did it and it’s worked out well. It’s been 3-4 years or so and are locked at the better rates and the better time frame with time of use. Not sure how the current saving are. But I’m with SCE.

I just wish now I would have expanded the enlighten system to show my usage with the power it’s generating.
 

Ace in the Hole

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Getting serious about going solar. Yes it will be Palomar Solar that does our job if we pull the trigger. We will purchase system. Few questions for people that have it in San Diego and deal with SDGE. Background is my house is 1800 sq ft electric only. No gas or propane. Adding a 1200 sq ft ADU that is in engineering currently. Plan is to keep that on electric as well. City wants a metric ton of cash to tie into gas. We currently average $.38 per kilo watt with bill about $430 month range. Will increase with ADU.

Are you happy with your system?
What would you change or add?
Average kilo watt per month usage and rate you pay?
Any issues with SDGE? Are they adjusting your peak hours and scewing you when you purchase electricity from them offsetting any savings?

My biggest concern is I drop $50k and dont end up saving much money to offset the purchse price. Any input is appreciated.

Are you financing..if so..make sure you are told the EXACT finance fees added to principle..that shit gets crazy.. EZsolarloan.com is who I refer most customers to at this point..no contractor fee, and pretty good rates. Do NOT lease. Get an enphase based system..and don't entertain panels under 400w. Palomar has a solid reputation..ive referred friends in the area to them.

Do you have room for a ground mount or can you pre-plan to install it on the ADU as well? You have another year and a half to get the 26% credit on ITC FYI..
 

wet hull

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Are you financing..if so..make sure you are told the EXACT finance fees added to principle..that shit gets crazy.. EZsolarloan.com is who I refer most customers to at this point..no contractor fee, and pretty good rates. Do NOT lease. Get an enphase based system..and don't entertain panels under 400w. Palomar has a solid reputation..ive referred friends in the area to them.

Do you have room for a ground mount or can you pre-plan to install it on the ADU as well? You have another year and a half to get the 26% credit on ITC FYI..
The plan is about 38 panels on main house and rest on ADU roof. The financing is where it gets weird. We don't want to but they, not Palomar make it sound like you only get the monitoring of system if financed. If I pay cash only get the 25 year warranty but need to self monitor. I will not be a good self monitor 😪. Any input there? I agree on panel concerns. I want good panels with the enphase on each so I dont lose whole system or run if a panel goes out.
 

Ace in the Hole

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The plan is about 38 panels on main house and rest on ADU roof. The financing is where it gets weird. We don't want to but they, not Palomar make it sound like you only get the monitoring of system if financed. If I pay cash only get the 25 year warranty but need to self monitor. I will not be a good self monitor 😪. Any input there? I agree on panel concerns. I want good panels with the enphase on each so I dont lose whole system or run if a panel goes out.

shoot me a pm and I'll dump a bunch of info on you. You get monitoring regardless.. you don't need to finance it to get it with enphase..its part of it. I don't work out there so whatever I give you info wise is just my experience and knowledge in the industry. Finance companies can require monitoring, but it's rare for the installer not to do an envoy/enlighten system. It's not an expensive option. I need to crash out, but can give you a call tomorrow...been doing this nearly 15 years.
 

Done-it-again

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I had financed ours through Palomar's credit union they were using. Financed it for 2 yrs then paid it off. Shouldn’t matter how you pay it’s being monitored.
 

BasilHayden

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Getting serious about going solar. Yes it will be Palomar Solar that does our job if we pull the trigger. We will purchase system. Few questions for people that have it in San Diego and deal with SDGE. Background is my house is 1800 sq ft electric only. No gas or propane. Adding a 1200 sq ft ADU that is in engineering currently. Plan is to keep that on electric as well. City wants a metric ton of cash to tie into gas. We currently average $.38 per kilo watt with bill about $430 month range. Will increase with ADU.

Are you happy with your system?
What would you change or add?
Average kilo watt per month usage and rate you pay?
Any issues with SDGE? Are they adjusting your peak hours and scewing you when you purchase electricity from them offsetting any savings?

My biggest concern is I drop $50k and dont end up saving much money to offset the purchse price. Any input is appreciated.

You will definately save with solar on that usage. Please contact me asap so I can help with the electric design on the Addition, now is the time to fix it, not after they install your new service that isnt engineered for solar. Please understand most electricians do not understand solar and you will end up with an electric system designed for your home but unable to take the backfeed needed for your needed solar system, you then end up paying me to throw away what you just paid for. Costs a couple hundred today to upgrade, or it costs thousands tomorrow.

Yes SDGE is going to try to screw you, thats why we need to design the system to over produce, providing you a buffer against their fuckery.

Financing through the credit union has nothing to do with monitoring, this truly sounds like a lease conversation. All of my systems come with complete per panel monitoring as part of the system, there is no extra charge and all monitoring is turned on for you to see. Also I will not allow my sales team to use the "buydown" rates where you add as much as 20% to your loan amount in order to get a lower rate. These make you think you are getting a better deal but when you go to pay it off early you find out you financed 60k not 50k, those who are offering anything less than 5.5% rates are doing this. Do not fall for it.

Sorry but I disagree on the 400w panel issue. Depending on your roof space it can be much less expensive to use a lower wattage panel and a lower cost inverter and in the end even get a larger overall system size. It is not uncommon to confuse size with quality.

Here is a standard comparision on a 200 watt main service panel

I could sell you 26 LG 380 panels (all black) with the appropriate enphase inverter for a total DC system size of 9,880 watts, these panels cost 30% more than the LG330
or sell you 32 LG 330 panels (also all black) with the appropriate enphase inverter for a total DC system size of 10,560 watts, These panels have the same warranty at less cost
Currently 400 watt panels are going to be either commercial panels in which case you lose the warranty if used on a residence unless you get a waiver from the manufacturer in advance, or Sunpower panels in which case you are buying a good panel made in China from a company that may or may not be in business to honor a warranty down the road. Look it up but Sunpower sold their technology to Maxion (chinese company) Now the quality isnt my concern as they have been making Sunpowers panels for years, but the financial stability of Sunpower is of concern as they have nothing left to sell to raise cash if they once again need to.

I sent you a DM, please call so I can help with any confusion.

Have a great day
 

wet hull

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You will definately save with solar on that usage. Please contact me asap so I can help with the electric design on the Addition, now is the time to fix it, not after they install your new service that isnt engineered for solar. Please understand most electricians do not understand solar and you will end up with an electric system designed for your home but unable to take the backfeed needed for your needed solar system, you then end up paying me to throw away what you just paid for. Costs a couple hundred today to upgrade, or it costs thousands tomorrow.

Yes SDGE is going to try to screw you, thats why we need to design the system to over produce, providing you a buffer against their fuckery.

Financing through the credit union has nothing to do with monitoring, this truly sounds like a lease conversation. All of my systems come with complete per panel monitoring as part of the system, there is no extra charge and all monitoring is turned on for you to see. Also I will not allow my sales team to use the "buydown" rates where you add as much as 20% to your loan amount in order to get a lower rate. These make you think you are getting a better deal but when you go to pay it off early you find out you financed 60k not 50k, those who are offering anything less than 5.5% rates are doing this. Do not fall for it.

Sorry but I disagree on the 400w panel issue. Depending on your roof space it can be much less expensive to use a lower wattage panel and a lower cost inverter and in the end even get a larger overall system size. It is not uncommon to confuse size with quality.

Here is a standard comparision on a 200 watt main service panel

I could sell you 26 LG 380 panels (all black) with the appropriate enphase inverter for a total DC system size of 9,880 watts, these panels cost 30% more than the LG330
or sell you 32 LG 330 panels (also all black) with the appropriate enphase inverter for a total DC system size of 10,560 watts, These panels have the same warranty at less cost
Currently 400 watt panels are going to be either commercial panels in which case you lose the warranty if used on a residence unless you get a waiver from the manufacturer in advance, or Sunpower panels in which case you are buying a good panel made in China from a company that may or may not be in business to honor a warranty down the road. Look it up but Sunpower sold their technology to Maxion (chinese company) Now the quality isnt my concern as they have been making Sunpowers panels for years, but the financial stability of Sunpower is of concern as they have nothing left to sell to raise cash if they once again need to.

I sent you a DM, please call so I can help with any confusion.

Have a great day
Thanks for info. DM didn't go through. My number is 760-458-0464. Would love to hear more.
 

Ace in the Hole

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You will definately save with solar on that usage. Please contact me asap so I can help with the electric design on the Addition, now is the time to fix it, not after they install your new service that isnt engineered for solar. Please understand most electricians do not understand solar and you will end up with an electric system designed for your home but unable to take the backfeed needed for your needed solar system, you then end up paying me to throw away what you just paid for. Costs a couple hundred today to upgrade, or it costs thousands tomorrow.

Yes SDGE is going to try to screw you, thats why we need to design the system to over produce, providing you a buffer against their fuckery.

Financing through the credit union has nothing to do with monitoring, this truly sounds like a lease conversation. All of my systems come with complete per panel monitoring as part of the system, there is no extra charge and all monitoring is turned on for you to see. Also I will not allow my sales team to use the "buydown" rates where you add as much as 20% to your loan amount in order to get a lower rate. These make you think you are getting a better deal but when you go to pay it off early you find out you financed 60k not 50k, those who are offering anything less than 5.5% rates are doing this. Do not fall for it.

Sorry but I disagree on the 400w panel issue. Depending on your roof space it can be much less expensive to use a lower wattage panel and a lower cost inverter and in the end even get a larger overall system size. It is not uncommon to confuse size with quality.

Here is a standard comparision on a 200 watt main service panel

I could sell you 26 LG 380 panels (all black) with the appropriate enphase inverter for a total DC system size of 9,880 watts, these panels cost 30% more than the LG330
or sell you 32 LG 330 panels (also all black) with the appropriate enphase inverter for a total DC system size of 10,560 watts, These panels have the same warranty at less cost
Currently 400 watt panels are going to be either commercial panels in which case you lose the warranty if used on a residence unless you get a waiver from the manufacturer in advance, or Sunpower panels in which case you are buying a good panel made in China from a company that may or may not be in business to honor a warranty down the road. Look it up but Sunpower sold their technology to Maxion (chinese company) Now the quality isnt my concern as they have been making Sunpowers panels for years, but the financial stability of Sunpower is of concern as they have nothing left to sell to raise cash if they once again need to.

I sent you a DM, please call so I can help with any confusion.

Have a great day

Sold a lot of Sunpower over the years, and 100% understand where you are coming from about their stability. We have LG 370's on our townhouse back home w enphase. We have some cheap q-cells I got a deal on at our house in TX. 72cell panels are VERY common here in TX, not so much other places. OP you can't go wrong with LG..my in-laws company sells a ton of them, and LG isn't going anywhere.

On the rate deal I'm going to PM you the contact card for the credit union we use (west coast. No fees to the contractor or customer) Notes are based on credit but can be lower than 5.5%. Its worth checking into and we exclusively use them now. The whole buy down and dealer fee crap from the big lenders drives me insane...especially the one who starts robo-calling to convert you to a mortgage with them.
 
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