solar in downstate new york

anyone have experience with any of they new york state solar provicers?

met with plug pv today and liked them. trying to find others that are good to compare.

James Jackson wrote:anyone have experience with any of they new york state solar provicers?

met with plug pv today and liked them. trying to find others that are good to compare.

no, im at Michigan. After you talk to some salesmen, ask if you can go see one of their installs going on or ask to speak to the lead installer. If they wont let you talk to them or see the crew at work, find another company.

Many of these companies are 90 percent sales and  they really dont care about the installers or customers, its all about the sale.

If they come over and google map your house, show you a nice graphic of solar on your roof and shoot you a bid, run.! If they dont bother to get on the roof and measure, conduct shade analysis and get the specs from your electrical distribution and find the wiring path for the electrical, they couldnt care less about you or your system.

This type "site survey" produces a figure that they know will cover all possibilities and will be $10,000- $12,000 higher than the job could be done for if they actually did their work.

They will pay the installers near nothing and the office will get fat on your dreams. Just how its largely done.

If you find a company where the person who surveys also leads the install that will be a way better outfit, a true custom, custom, one off installer/proprietor will always produce a better system per dollar and most systems for a lower dollar if they are honest.

If a system is offered at 30k$ and the equipment cost 15k$ they are profiteering. Its why prices are so high. These companies never lowered their prices in response to modules costing half what they did 3 years ago.

You will have your equipment marked up 25 percent or more then the company might have 1500 into installers on a multi day install and another 1500 into electrician services. This is standard.

thanks frank, that's good advice. i'll get them to show me some installs they have in the area.

it was a two man team, one sales guy and one tech. tech guy did do electrical system inspection and measured inside attic.
they want a refundable deposit before they put a man on the roof to measure.

Sounds good already. And prudent, i get on alot of roofs for free when people are not serious and a deposit or fee helps seperate that out but in my case, it comes with being willing to help with DIY assistance and see all roofs!

You could look for energy fairs and renewable living expo shows in your area. Its a good ground to meet on. Many companies dont bother to go to the shows or network with other businesses of the type.
The ones that do will be easy to measure against each other for contrast and you will be able to find enthusiasts, which i recommend as long as they are serious.

Otherwise i would get 3 or 4 estimates and compare equipment offerings and integration options if any. How its done and with what equipment are the main criteria. Concealed wiring and conduit, nicely done monitor and comms, blacked out or skirted mounting, low mounting, good wire management, properly sized wire is way too often overlooked and is another reason to find an enthusiast.

These are all options and there is much detail in system integration which is not how many of what panel and inverter. When you see a plumbing vent roof boot with an LB conduit fitting or other common electrical enclosure or other ugly conduit gooped in as a passthrough scenario you will know what i am talking about.

Not that a version of this isnt used where appropriate, but younare likely paying for better.