I watched Parts 1 and 2 and it is all good except mistake "# 2". If you have the room, it is way better in the long run to do a ground mount solar array rather than on the roof. For starters, you have to opportunity to optimize the both the direction ( true south!) and slope (dependent on your latitude) of your panels to maximize your panels electrical output. Maintenance, even if it a just a hose-down to wash the dust and bird poop ( snow !!!!) is doable without hiring people to go up on ladders once a year. You even have the ability to change the slope of your panels a couple of times a year to follow the suns declination over the seasons. Also you can create storage space underneath solar panel arrays. Ground mounted solar panels can also even take advantage of the "bi-facial" properties of many panels. IE reflected light from underneath shining on the back panel actually will add a bit of gain. Ground mount is more user friendly for the DYI crowd as handling the newer large panels is much much safer and easier than trying to manhandle them up a ladder.

According to the list the best mistakes I made was installing a 6.8kw roof mount myself this year. Roof mount saved me $$$, was easier to install, did not take up valuable ground space, did not require engineering calcs, does not get any shade... In Nor Cal home owners can install solar themselves. That being said, it takes a lot of research, time, and construction skills.

We put in a 16k grid tied ground mount turned on 9/20/22. The incentives were amazing and that fed tax credit will 0 our tax liability this year and have some left for next year's taxes. It's already paying back it's cost. I like the ground mount better than a roof installation but there has to be room for it. The only thing I would have done differently is getting a manually adjustable ground mount to change the angle to match the season.

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

Glad that it worked out for you! About adjustable ground mount: afaik, it's a thing but the bonus to production that you get from it is rather small. We actually dived into it here: a1solarstore.com/blog/best-angle-for-solar-panels-and-how-to-get-it-right.html There are solar trackers of course but last time I heard they don't pay for themselves in small installations

I like the bifacial panels for good power output, but they are heavy:)

6:33, please note that some of the panel suppliers like REC will only honor the warranty if it is installed by certified professionals.

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

True! thanks for pointing that out.

DIY is MUCH cheaper and you can do grid assist. have a separate sub panel to take over the smaller/parasite loads that add up over time (small electronics, fridge, lights, furnace fans etc). Ie, I have a lights/server/fan. ALWAYS do an energy audit, and get Energy Monitoring shunts installed on circuits on your home to find wasteful electronics, lights etc. I have LED lights that claim to be 9W but actually draw over 150 watts when metering the power lines.

At 3:40 you show a ground-mounted system. Could you please tell me what it is. It looks much better than a pole-mounted one. And, thank you for your great videos.

My system produces 80% - 90% less solar on cloudy days. I have 12 420w Jinko all black panels UK South facing which gives the optimal position for the UK. When it’s cloudy I average 500w on a winter cloudy day. In the Winter in full sun it still only produces around around 2.5kWh. I will wait to see what the summer brings. So far coupled with a 9.6kWh battery it’s reduced my bill by 80%.

Sage advice for us greenhorns!

Sounds good.

@6:10 "Labour makes up to 10% of the whole system cost" In what market? Clearly not North America or Europe. It more like 30% minimum.

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

I'll check it, maybe some old data from me. thanks.

I like poly crystalline panels I like modeling Crystal panels I mean the party crystals paneling they make power when it's cloudy out better than black solar panels yeah they don't make as much power as black ones but they start making part earlier in the morning and later at night and they still make a good amount of power you don't notice too much difference between monocrystalline solar panels in the poly crystalline solar panels but I do test them and they make maybe 2% less but all in all they make like 2% more because they work 2 hours before the black solar panels start working and they work 1 hour past when the Black solar panels stopped working and when it's cloudy out they make more power than the black solar panels all together or should say say when it's quite gray and it's snowing or raining outside the black ones are no longer working but the blue ones still make power.

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

Interesting, strange even. these must be very good polypanels or very bad monopanels. probably both.

Hi Jason, I am the Sales Director of Fortress Power, would you be interested in reviewing and testing our differentiated whole home energy solutions that have built in load shedding and EV charger integration?

@a1solarstore

2 ай бұрын

Good day, Please send us an email at andrei@a1solarstore.com

Well, looking at the specifications for a panel is only a good idea if you can trust the company that wrote those specifications....

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

True, I guess. better to do a background check on a company as well.

40-50% labor is California 10% is not in any Part of America

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

Might be off on that, thanks for pointing that out.

@jepito29

Жыл бұрын

I was about to type the same thing

@rytiskalade7491

Жыл бұрын

Yep this wideo is far from reality...

Of course if you get a loan to buy solar panels and they give you an option to pay back in 18 to 24 or 36 months it might not be so bad if you're getting a 5 kilowatt system and your payments are only 134 bucks a month and that's just to buy a little system that's not too bad especially when you're making two 300 bucks a month for selling solar panels to the electric company for how much solar panels you're getting and that's if you only putting up yourself and you already have the ground mounds and you know. There's only some cases I would get a loan to get a solar system and it's kind of for what it is but it depends on the cost of it cuz I wouldn't go and get a great big loan for solar but if I could buy 20 440 watts of solar panels for $4,000 yeah I loan won't be so bad on that especially if you're paying it back in a year's time.

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

The loan by itself is not bad, but paying upfront is better, that's all I'm saying

Not every utility allows you to sell electricity back to the grid.

And most places you need a permit but if you put solar panels on the ground and on the ground Mount you don't necessarily need permit but you will need a permit and electric electrical permit from the electric company as well to be able to sell it to electric company and they got a better coming over and inspect it so you need an electrician from the county and electric company come and check over things that say it's good so that you could sell electric to the electric company electrician come over to hook it up for you too unless you're on electrician but not everybody went to electric school to become an electrician either.

@evil17

Жыл бұрын

In Australia a ground mount will still generally require engineering approval, so it doesn’t blow away in a storm/cyclone.

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

True.

First mistake you make if you use 30 kilowatts a day best off just to get 30 kilowatts of solar panels that's the best way to figure out how much solar panels you're going to use are you going to need then get an inverter that will work with it so you don't lose power then turn around and get a battery system that harnesses some of the power so you got power at night and in cloudy days and make sure it's all certified with electric company in the states so you can actually sell leftovers electricity to the electric company and when you can't sell electric company and you can't make power of the batteries will burn your house just make sure it's all certified with electric company so you might need a certain inverter and a certain batteries good thing you can watch videos something like this to find out which is what certified and what's not certified what's a u l certified.

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

There is no way I'm getting 30 kw system to get 30 kwh for one day, that's not how the math works)

I disagree with #5 completely. I installed the system myself and got it right the first time. Labor also makes up closer to 30%+ of the system cost. I did a 3.1kw grid tie system at the cabin for 6k after the tax credit in 2021. Even if it delays you a month or two because you had to redo some stuff, you are still saving thousands compared to the tens to hundreds of dollars of lost solar production. I had no electrical, or solar installation experience either. I watched a lot of youtube videos, and Solar Wholesale makes a kick ass DIY kit.

What a joke, system calculator! My average monthly usage is 1,300kWh and recommends a medium system of 7.3kWh, are you KIDDING ME! NOT even taking NEM 3.0 into consideration🤷🏻🤦🏻 Won't be taking any advice from your channel...

It’s all a flexible scam. Rules change , proportional savings change, deterioration is a factor and many others. The great technology of today will soon be obsolete and replaced with superior technology in the future. Imagine trying to sell a house with fifteen year old panels that have twenty year old shingles buried under them. Instantly devalue the house by $40,000 .

biggest mistake in going solar is GOING SOLAR.. their will be times of good...there will be times of bad.. the bad out weighs to good 40 to 1.. heavy cloud cover,snow and ice on panels,broken panels,batteries need upkeep...replacing from time to time...and nothing solar is cheap

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

Panels break when they are low quality, and all panels are different when it comes to clouds. snow can be problematic, that's true. as for batteries - get lithium-ion batteries, they are fine without maintenance. or don't get batteries at all - it's cheaper this way.

@paulmcgown7504

Жыл бұрын

I have been using solar since 1996 and I know you are quite wrong. My worst hassle is having to hose squeegee bird poop once a year. As snow risk is at higher latitudes you will have sloped you panels at a steeper pitch anyway; the snow will slide off. Panels rarely break, most new ones are guaranteed to maintain a minimum of 80% of their face-plate value for 25 years. Do you actually own any panels and batteries? .

i came to learn more .. instead of this .. edward norton apears!!! just kidding keep up

@a1solarstore

Жыл бұрын

lol. thanks man