Solar Panels - Need Suggestions,advice And Any Infos Related To Sp

[Dave Hounddriver]

8 minutes ago, Steve GCC said:

1 unit      SMA Sunny Boy 3000 inverter Made in Germany with 5 years warranty with an option to buy extended warranty up to 20years.

I used to be very interested in installing Solar until I had a good talk with Brian, an installer in Dumaguete who is very knowledgeable.

I came away from that conversation with 3 things sticking in my mind. First, I came to realize that there are a lot of people getting into the solar installation business because there is some big money in it and they can BS their way into making a small fortune.  I would be very wary who is installing any system I wanted to buy.

Second, I now realize the reason for a series of micro-inverters rather than one large inverter where the solar panels are all in series connected to one unit, (as you seem to be suggesting here).  I kind of understand the reasoning, but not well enough to explain it.  Suffice it to say that some people with the single inverter kind of system are not getting permission to tie into the grid.  Brian explains it better.

The third and main reason for me not getting solar is Brian's explanation of cost vs return.  As I understand it, he recommends solar power systems for people who have an electric bill of 8,000 pesos a month or more.  He then recommends that the goal of the system is to reduce power usage by half.  This gives a return on investment in about 6 years.  Anything outside that framework and he suggests the return on investment is not worth it.

I may have misunderstood some of this but the bottom line is a salesman/installer of solar systems talked me out of buying one from him.  That's special so he is worth talking to.  That's Brian who owns Finish Line Cafe at the Dumaguete Airport.

 

NOTE:  In earlier posts I mentioned a friend who had a solar system installed by Brian.  The system works great and my friend is very happy with it.  Rather than saving a lot of money with his solar system, it seems to me he just enjoys being able to buy a lot of electric toys and run them for free off the sun.  I don't see him getting a great return on investment but he is definitely having a lot of fun with it.  Shame he cannot use the solar power when the grid goes down but thats how solar systems tied to the grid are designed to work.