Quotes in Philadelphia, PA USA Suburbs

Hi all,

I now have 3 quotes from independent installers. All 3 have good ratings and have been around for a while. Any thoughts or guidance greatly appreciated.

  1. 45 Sunpower A400-BLK with Enphase IQ7AS inverters. 18,000 kw at $48,200

  2. 46 Rec 360-380 with Enphase IQ7A inverters. (This one was a bit odd as he said which specific panel depends on availability at the time). 16560-17,480 kw at $48,300.

  3. 55 Axitec All Black 360W panels with SolarEdge inverter optimizers. 19.8 kW DC. $47,000. While this is the highest power at lowest cost, I have read that the Axitecs are inferior to the others and that you really want to stick with the Enphase inverters??

  4. I do not have price but Installer #2 also just told me he can get us a great deal on Certainteed 400W panels with Enphase inverters. I have not been able to find many reviews or people who have experience with the Certaineeds.

Thanks. I am trying to come up to speed but there are many options and a lot to learn.

Hi @Amphicar770

We don’t have Axitec or Certainteed panels over here, so I can’t comment on them. I think SolarEdge is a perfectly good alternative to Enphase though.

Sunpower, REC, Enphase and SolarEdge are all great products, I wouldn’t worry too much about splitting the difference between them.

18kW is a very large system by Australian standards, is that what you need to cover your household usage? If the upfront cost is an issue, it may be worth looking at your consumption to see if you can get that lower as a starting point.

Cheers
Marty

Thanks. Yes, large house with two big central HVAC units and a level 2 EV charger.

Okay we are installers herein VA and have been for 7 yrs Both REC and sun power are good products , the pricing is in the ball park. We do not use micro inverters, too many points of resistance and possible failure. We only use string inverters. If you have read my stuff on solar edge I have had 5 inverter failures and 18 optimizers and counting. To say their customer service is poor would be a compliment.

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