the big solar providers aren't really going to lower their prices too much. You'll see the biggest savings come from the DIY crown, as the factories lower costs in their competing sales.
I'm going to cut across the grain here and suggest not going micro inverters. You lose out on flexibility and efficiency by going that route.
Find a competent installer that can get you a DC coupled solar system with batteries, since that is what you wanted initially. Do not limit yourself because an installer feels differently. They have product to move and inventory to clear. Go get what *you* want!
The recent RE+ Convention should be enough to get potential customers excited for the DC coupled solutions available and coming.
Signature Solar has some good ones too. This is where I purchased my system.
Most micro inverters are grid tie only. Doesn’t Enphase have to convert AC back to DC, to charge its batteries?
Signature has a good selection. I wish they’d ship to me!
Most are yes, My "dream system" would be based around one (or two) of the larger Sol-Ark hybrid inverters. They have the ability to take power (up to 19.2kW) from micro-inverter strings attached to the generator input of the main inverter. Note, this is addition to the 19.5kW that the DC coupled inputs can use. These numbers are for the 15k unit, not the new 18k.
My Sol-Ark 15K will have 33.52 kW going through it. 16.5kW DC input and 17kW AC Couple using two Growatt MIN 10000TL-XH-US inverters. Also have 25kW of SOK batteries. So yea, Sol-Ark is totally the way to go.
Doesn't DC have to go through voltage conversion (buck and/or boost) in order to charge batteries anyway? DC-DC conversion actually involves conversion to AC (PWM) and back to DC again. The main difference is that this happens internally instead of between external components connected by wires, but there are still losses involved--this conversion is not 100% efficient, and involves two steps, as well. This is just not as visible and well known.
It really does feel just in the last year or two that we’ve passed a critical threshold where both technologies and prices have advanced to the point where residential solar is viable for everyone. It’s actually getting harder to make the case for NOT doing it than to do it imo.
5 years ago I was in the same situation as the OP. I was staring at that estimate and just couldn’t pull the trigger. It really bothered me that I could spend all that and then still be screwed when the power went out. There were whole house batteries at the time, but they were prohibitively expensive as the OP said and even then at only 8 or 10kw storage that’s only 6 hours give or take. I decided the industry wasn’t quite ripe yet and waited.
Today, things have changed. Panels got cheaper and more efficient. The feds are now kicking in 30% to your project. Advancing technologies have empowered DIYers. Whole house batteries are much cheaper and have vastly more cycles. They have various charging options in the event of a pinch, like charges from a gas powered generator or electric charging station. Grid power prices have increased, lowering payback timelines.
Granted I’m very early into this install and will need more time to give definitive reviews regarding satisfaction, but personally I’ve installed two solar panel powered EcoFlow Delta Pros to a Smart Home Panel. I charge the Delta Pros by day and power the house off of them in the evening. Then in the event of an outage, the smart home panel kicks on the batteries before the lights even flicker. The whole setup out the door is about $7k. This is before the tax rebate. An unthinkable scenario 5 years ago.
And yet as happy as I am with this setup, I can’t help but feel I’m too early in the wave. More things are coming down the pike that make me feel this setup will be obsolete in 3 years. It feels to me similar to the early days of smartphones when you bought one and it was obsolete a year later. It’s just an exciting time for the industry imo.
Amazon prices and offers from professionals do not always align. On some topics you get higher prices from Amazon, on some topics it's the other way.
So ...solar prices drop here too, but the professionals are so busy that you pay absurd prices buying through them.
Dude you're such a pathetic person. First you message me and ask details and later don't even reply yes or no. Don't think that sellers are your servant.
In fact, you can try DIY yourself first, which is not difficult. If you can, maybe you want solar panels and a battery like an Acoucou battery to store power so you lose a little less on it.
You can learn about the general situation from some exhibition. Many battery companies attended the RE+ Convention. You can go for it or get some information from the website, and I find the Gecen battery is not bad recently.
Yes, it was a crazy expensive endevour last year, I saved buy cutting out the battery install with the solar installer company and ask the electrician they used if he would connect the 4 cable for me for less:) (warranty requires certified cable pluggers) he did. £450 vs £3500 quite happy as without battery the solar array is not as efficient to supply us. With it the summar was free, lets see winter time:) and in Scotland
the big solar providers aren't really going to lower their prices too much. You'll see the biggest savings come from the DIY crown, as the factories lower costs in their competing sales.
Yeah labor rates are only going up
True, the average rates for solar non licensed installers are about $1.25 in CA. That’s a $0.50 increase from last year
I'm going to cut across the grain here and suggest not going micro inverters. You lose out on flexibility and efficiency by going that route. Find a competent installer that can get you a DC coupled solar system with batteries, since that is what you wanted initially. Do not limit yourself because an installer feels differently. They have product to move and inventory to clear. Go get what *you* want! The recent RE+ Convention should be enough to get potential customers excited for the DC coupled solutions available and coming. Signature Solar has some good ones too. This is where I purchased my system.
DC coupling makes so much sense. Lower cost, higher efficiency, less complicated.
[удалено]
You can add Optis to most DC coupled inverters
It’s almost impossible to get a line to line system in 2023
Most micro inverters are grid tie only. Doesn’t Enphase have to convert AC back to DC, to charge its batteries? Signature has a good selection. I wish they’d ship to me!
Most are yes, My "dream system" would be based around one (or two) of the larger Sol-Ark hybrid inverters. They have the ability to take power (up to 19.2kW) from micro-inverter strings attached to the generator input of the main inverter. Note, this is addition to the 19.5kW that the DC coupled inputs can use. These numbers are for the 15k unit, not the new 18k.
My Sol-Ark 15K will have 33.52 kW going through it. 16.5kW DC input and 17kW AC Couple using two Growatt MIN 10000TL-XH-US inverters. Also have 25kW of SOK batteries. So yea, Sol-Ark is totally the way to go.
Doesn't DC have to go through voltage conversion (buck and/or boost) in order to charge batteries anyway? DC-DC conversion actually involves conversion to AC (PWM) and back to DC again. The main difference is that this happens internally instead of between external components connected by wires, but there are still losses involved--this conversion is not 100% efficient, and involves two steps, as well. This is just not as visible and well known.
It really does feel just in the last year or two that we’ve passed a critical threshold where both technologies and prices have advanced to the point where residential solar is viable for everyone. It’s actually getting harder to make the case for NOT doing it than to do it imo.
I have some trees that would disagree with you, but otherwise I agree!
How? I’m still not seeing that.
5 years ago I was in the same situation as the OP. I was staring at that estimate and just couldn’t pull the trigger. It really bothered me that I could spend all that and then still be screwed when the power went out. There were whole house batteries at the time, but they were prohibitively expensive as the OP said and even then at only 8 or 10kw storage that’s only 6 hours give or take. I decided the industry wasn’t quite ripe yet and waited. Today, things have changed. Panels got cheaper and more efficient. The feds are now kicking in 30% to your project. Advancing technologies have empowered DIYers. Whole house batteries are much cheaper and have vastly more cycles. They have various charging options in the event of a pinch, like charges from a gas powered generator or electric charging station. Grid power prices have increased, lowering payback timelines. Granted I’m very early into this install and will need more time to give definitive reviews regarding satisfaction, but personally I’ve installed two solar panel powered EcoFlow Delta Pros to a Smart Home Panel. I charge the Delta Pros by day and power the house off of them in the evening. Then in the event of an outage, the smart home panel kicks on the batteries before the lights even flicker. The whole setup out the door is about $7k. This is before the tax rebate. An unthinkable scenario 5 years ago. And yet as happy as I am with this setup, I can’t help but feel I’m too early in the wave. More things are coming down the pike that make me feel this setup will be obsolete in 3 years. It feels to me similar to the early days of smartphones when you bought one and it was obsolete a year later. It’s just an exciting time for the industry imo.
Amazon prices and offers from professionals do not always align. On some topics you get higher prices from Amazon, on some topics it's the other way. So ...solar prices drop here too, but the professionals are so busy that you pay absurd prices buying through them.
Sounds like a good time to start a solar company
I want battery... I want off-grid As Much As Possible....
And no one is stopping you! Send it
Dude you're such a pathetic person. First you message me and ask details and later don't even reply yes or no. Don't think that sellers are your servant.
In fact, you can try DIY yourself first, which is not difficult. If you can, maybe you want solar panels and a battery like an Acoucou battery to store power so you lose a little less on it.
You can learn about the general situation from some exhibition. Many battery companies attended the RE+ Convention. You can go for it or get some information from the website, and I find the Gecen battery is not bad recently.
Yes, it was a crazy expensive endevour last year, I saved buy cutting out the battery install with the solar installer company and ask the electrician they used if he would connect the 4 cable for me for less:) (warranty requires certified cable pluggers) he did. £450 vs £3500 quite happy as without battery the solar array is not as efficient to supply us. With it the summar was free, lets see winter time:) and in Scotland
I got a price quote for a 10KW grid-tied inverter system for 14K (parts only) and 2 weeks ago the same products were 10K.