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Today I had a house inspected we are probably going to buy. It has an 11 year old 4.2kW grid tie solar system installed (found by searching county permit records online), but the shingles need to be replaced--the house is 34 years old. The current owner also inherited the system so she doesn't know how old the roof is. They should have re-roofed before putting on these panels. There is no lease on the panels; they are owned.
According to the permit, they paid $17K for the whole system which I'm guessing included labor. A comparable 4.2kW system now is about $6.5K. I'm sure the panels have gotten a lot cheaper in 11 years with some sources showing 2-3x cheaper.
Anyone know how much it would cost to have the panels removed and then re-installed? If the panels cost $13K, is it reasonable that the labor was $4K? That seems high to me, but I don't know. I'm waiting for the original installation company to call me back so I can get an estimate.
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What is the life expectancy of the panels? How good are they producing?
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(06-24-2020, 09:21 PM)toolmiser Wrote: What is the life expectancy of the panels? How good are they producing?
Most of these have a 25 year warranty and will produce at least 80% as they did on Day1. I couldn't make out the output from the LCD screen on the inverter, but the homeowner is going to get me 1 year of electric bills.
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(06-24-2020, 07:05 PM)atgcpaul Wrote: Today I had a house inspected we are probably going to buy. It has an 11 year old 4.2kW grid tie solar system installed (found by searching county permit records online), but the shingles need to be replaced--the house is 34 years old. The current owner also inherited the system so she doesn't know how old the roof is. They should have re-roofed before putting on these panels. There is no lease on the panels; they are owned.
According to the permit, they paid $17K for the whole system which I'm guessing included labor. A comparable 4.2kW system now is about $6.5K. I'm sure the panels have gotten a lot cheaper in 11 years with some sources showing 2-3x cheaper.
Anyone know how much it would cost to have the panels removed and then re-installed? If the panels cost $13K, is it reasonable that the labor was $4K? That seems high to me, but I don't know. I'm waiting for the original installation company to call me back so I can get an estimate.
When we put them on our house (Colonial, solar panels on the front side), the installer mentioned $2k to take them off/put them back on.
Dumber than I appear
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Looks like I need to call around. I talked to the original installation company and they want $4440 for take off and replacement (including new brackets).
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04-12-2022, 12:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-24-2022, 02:52 AM by iclark.)
1.) I've no experience or knowledge on cost of removal/reinstall of a PV system on a roof, but know that if you DIY it you'll most likely void any warranty you may have.
If someone says "no problem - DIY doesn't void warranty ", get it in writing from whoever you'd make a warranty claim to.
2.) If you contract it out which is, IMO only, probably the safer way to go, my SWAG is it won't be cheap. Solar installers reading your post most likely have a much better feel for cost than I might guess.
3.) In any case, I'd also think the all round best way to go would be to have the original installer to the PV removal/reinstall. I'd respectfully suggest you just don't leave them with the opinion that you think you have no choices on who does the work - prices go up more easily if they think you think they are the only option to doing the work.
4.) While you're having the PV work quoted - and I would get a few quotes, I'd make sure that both the roofer and PV contractor know you expect each one to stay out of the other's way and that, for example, the roofer doesn't touch, or need to move any stacked panels or that the PV contractor doesn't damage the new roof deck in any way during reinstall of the panels .
3.) FWIW, be prepared to act as your own project manager/coordinator. Don't expect either contractor to either look out for your best interests or the other contractor's foulups/shortcuts. I'd sit on the roof, out of the way with my mouth shut while any work of any sort was being done and take a lot of pictures. I did that w/my install on a concrete tile roof that included repapering and some other roof remediation.
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I'm glad I did.
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Spammer..................?
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04-14-2022, 08:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-14-2022, 08:48 PM by DaveParkis.)
Not to hijack this thread, but does taking the panels off leave the house with no power until they are reinstalled?
Currently a smarta$$ but hoping to one day graduate to wisea$$
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(04-12-2022, 06:49 AM)Snipe Hunter Wrote: Spammer..................?
They joined in January, so I doubt it unless they are playing a long game.
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(04-12-2022, 06:49 AM)Snipe Hunter Wrote: Spammer..................?
Definitely.
Rocket Science is more fun when you actually have rockets.
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