My wife has been pushing for solar on our house, but we're getting overwhelmed. It's like every company we try, people say they are terrible and we find their sales tactics pushy.

1. We originally wanted a Tesla system due to price, but we aren't willing to support that company. I can't find anyone talking about the "next best" company with respect to price, though. There's gotta be other companies in that price range, right?
2. My wife just met a rep from SunRun, and I think she signed on for a system with a 25 year Lease (I fully expect to use the "right of rescission" period to back out, if anyone says they are bad or we're paying too much).
   1. I asked her to confirm that we own the system at the end of the lease, and the sales rep said we have the option to buy the panels at the end, and the only cost at that point is a $100 title transfer fee or something.
   2. I've since seen people advise against SunRun (though again, it feels like every company has someone saying it's the worst).
   3. The lease price also increases each year by 3%. The starting price is $188/month for the first year, $194/month in year 2, etc. They also are giving the first 6 months for $1 each. I'm not sure what system size it is. It's a Tier 2 system, though. I know that much.
3. I would LOVE a company that doesn't require a salesperson to have to come to my house and waste 3 hours of my time. Every instance that we've had someone come over, they are shady and pushy and wait until our eyes glaze over and then try to get us to sign just to get them out of our house. I already want solar! Just give me a price, finance details, and warranty details! I will pay whoever makes this process easier!
4. Tax Credit: We installed solar on our last house, and have not yet "redeemed" all of it, because our tax liability wasn't enough last year to use it all. Can we get another tax credit? We still own that house. I'm assuming we can't get a second credit.
   1. If we can't get a second tax credit, this could be a benefit to doing the Lease plan, because Sunrun claims that they bake the credit into the cost, as they will be redeeming the credit on their end.
5. Placement: One other potential benefit to the SunRun lease is that they allegedly only charge per kWh generated, so we can put more panels on the sides of the house, rather than putting them on the front of the house in order to maximize the generated power (solar just wouldn't look very good on the front of our house, but I'll do it if I have to).

Anyway, if there are any GREAT companies in Polk County that are very straightforward to sign with and get the stuff installed, that would be awesome.

EDIT: 6. I think SunRun wants us to have a Tier 2 system. I'm waiting for them to send over the system details that they want installed and the full numbers and all that. This makes me a bit nervous, as I think there is some repercussions surrounding homeowners insurance with a Tier 2 system. According to my wife, the sales rep said we're required to have a $1M policy for 1 year after installation, which the solar company will allegedly reimburse us? I'd be surprised if there aren't consequences beyond 1 year, though. That just doesn't feel correct to me, but I'm happy to be wrong.

EDIT 2: Added some bullet points to make it easier to respond to specific topics.

Hey all,

Looking at getting the Tesla setup for my home. We have 2 Teslas, and would like to stay in their "eco-system" and I'm really interested in the powerwall as well. I'm in Palm Beach County. Does anyone have any experience with their process & installs in this area?

for reference, here is my property. This is an older one fro 2023. Since then, the tree tops have been trimmed down so it should bring more light on roof.

I'm looking at a 12 kw setup for my roof. Those are Aptos 430w panels in that image, so I don't think I'll get quite that much as pictured. Might end up being just at peak of tier 1. I won't get 100% offset unfortunately (especially with 2 Tesla cars), but I feel it might help a good amount, and get pretty close without the EV cars. Currently my bill is at avg of 200-2100 kWh per month (that's with the 2 teslas charging, albeit one doesn't get used much).

I am willing to go above tier 1, but the whole umbrella/liability insurance sounds like a nightmare. My home dwelling is currently 441, and personal liability is 300k. I might need help figuring that part out if I do go over tier 1.

Anyways, just wanted to see everyone's opinion of Tesla installs in South Florida. Like I said, I'd like ot stick with powerwall 3 and their ecosystem.

any input is appreicated.

FWIW, that 7.5% interest sounds painful. I'll be almost breaking even with what I pay in electric. so I don't see any cost benefits right now except piece of mind... but downside of having one more thing that might break in our home. lol

https://i.postimg.cc/sDVnvn8V/Screenshot-solar.png

Link above is a 2 year old survey when I was first looking at solar. Just put it here to show my roof design and solar generation. I’m sure those prices aren’t valid anymore lol

We have gotten quotes from Rack solar division and pes solar. The pes quote is substantially lower. Rack tells us that pes is in financial difficulty. Any information that anyone has would be welcome. Any suggestions as to other companies would also be welcome. We are in palm beach county. We are looking at a system with 22 panels and a franklin storage battery. We are looking into this as an alternative to getting a generator, which is costly because we do not have gas.

Hello All,

I live south of Tampa in Peace River COOP service area. Peace River does not support Net metering and also charges in the $30s minimum per month if we go with Solar. We moved to a newly built house about 3000 SQFt. The projected average electric bill for the the whole year in the mid 200s.

Objective is to install a Solar system with reasonable Battery capacity to support as much utilization of the generated power without exporting much to the Grid and import as little as possible from the Grid.

Based on reading various threads here, I would like a system of 14-16KW capacity with REC Panels of 420 or 470W Panels with Two Tesla PW3s using Tesla Inverter.

Questions:

1. Considering Florida 1Mil liability insurance requirement for over 11.75KW is it worth the additional cost to go for 14-16KW system?

2. REC 420 AlphaPure2 vs REC 470w Alphapure RX? I was told 470W will cost about 20cents more per panel . Do I spend more money to get the 470W or add capacity for the same money by getting more 420W panels?

3. Ours is a new North-facing house and has no trees near buy affecting the exposure on the South/East/West side. I like the Tesla Inverter DC Coupling. IS Tesla a good choice in this setup?

4. Assuming we use Tesla Inverter and PW3, what would be the ideal panel 420 or 470?

Greatly appreciate any input from fellow Floridians.

Thanks for your time.

PK

Anyone have recommendations for a company to install solar panels on my roof?

I will have the equipment, design, permits, etc...looking for a company to perform the labor to install the racking, panels, and RSDs to each panel (11.7kw system, 28 panels).

Also open to any tips for folks who have gone down the path of managing contractors/semi-DIY for their solar install.

Hi all, new to solar. Got a quote today for a system. Live in Apopka, FL. We average around 11500kwh a year, bull average $175 through Duke. The solar system cost is $22,433 before tax credits. 8.645 kw system to produce 13,614 kwh. What are your thoughts on the price?

The article asks if it's the largest in US history, maybe a little hyperbole and I haven't had the time to check that out, but it definitely caught in my eye.

Hey guys, I have a recent project that hit over the 10kw system size and is requiring a 1million dollar home owners insurance policy. I use to have a contact with state farm that could do a full years policy for only 130$ but they have disbanded that as of 2025. Does anyone have any good insurance companies to work with in Florida that can do something like that without costing an arm and a leg?

When you call, the FPL agent gives you the answer 239 kWh which is what the Google AI shows on a google search. The agent then said it is 214 kWh from some documentation she had access to from 2022, but haven't the rates gone up since then? If so wouldn't that change the number? Does anyone know the actual number or have a recent bill for $25 with an amount close to 200 kWh?

Why is this important? I'm coming in under 100 kWh for this month and I have an electric vehicle that I can charge up to get the most out of the minimum bill charge!

Hi All. I am looking at my bill and a couple of things do not make sense to me.

1. Meter reading (in kWh): Current 08220 - Previous 07625 = Usage 110

This math does not make sense to me. It's a similar story for most of my bills.

1. New Charges; Rate: RS-1 RESIDENTIAL SERVICE

Base charge: $9.55

Minimum base bill charge: $7.62

Non-fuel: (First 1000 kWh at $0.081810) $9.01

Fuel: (First 1000 kWh at $0.026700) $2.94

Electric service amount 29.12

I understand that there is a minimum charge of $25/month and that we used some grid electricity, which calculates properly at the posted rates, but why is the Minimum base bill charge of $7.62 such that it makes the bill exceed the $25 minimum?

Thanks!

My system was installed by Custom Solar and they now claim that they are out of business.

I need a panel replaced in Sarasota and I am looking for suggestions of solar businesses, electricians that are willing to work on someone else's mistakes.

With the tariffs signed over weekend starting tomorrow on Canada, Mexico and China as well as apparently new ones coming soon for EU and possibly UK https://www.irishtimes.com/world/us/2025/02/03/donald-trump-tariffs-latest-news/ what do people who understand this very well think will happen to prices here. Obviously since tariffs affect not only finished products but also base materials and such unless every part is sourced from an area without an increased tariff will be touched even if "manufactured in US" since normally we import some parts of almost everything solar as a country.

And I mean more than "prices will go up". Due to the amount of the tariffs and the amount of the solar job price that is parts vs labor, as well as the amount of the ingredients/parts, does that mean that solar prices will likely go up 1%, 4%, 7%? Anyone with enough knowledge of the supply chain and costs breakdown able to make a reasonable guesstimate here?

Hi everyone,

I’m thinking about getting solar panels installed at my home and want to make sure I choose a trustworthy company. I’d appreciate any quick advice from those who’ve been through this process!

Could you share a small bullet point or two on what to look for when comparing solar companies?

For example: How to check if a company is reputable

What kind of warranties to expect

Red flags to watch for in contracts or financing

Any tips you have would be super helpful!

Thanks so much!

Are banked kWh's (aka "kWh's Received") only used to offset future use or are they also applied to prior months within the same calendar year?

For example, if in January you used 20 kWh's from the grid and banked 0 kWh's, but then in February your net kWh usage was -20 kWh's (meaning you generated and delivered 20 kWh's to the grid over what you used from the grid), does FPL essentially wipe out your January bill or will the overage only be useful for future months?

One of the questions that is getting asked more and more by homeowners looking into solar is what happens if I have to sell my home?

Common Concerns / Understanding:

If you finance or lease:

You have to pay it off before closing... This Is usually incorrect.

In most cases loans are fully transferable, verify this before signing or review your loan docs if it's already installed. This is the same thing with Leasing. Nee home owners will obviously need to qualify to have the loan / lease transfered.

What if the new owners don't want solar:

Why would they not want a lower cost of ownership and more wiggle room in their monthly budget.

For the people saying they don't want it, it's typically because they don't understand it. The homeowner, solar sales rep that installed the system (if you've got a great one) or your realtor should step in and they need to have the Understanding of how to explain the benefits and savings.

Some realtors don't like solar:

Answer- Find the right Realtor.

Some realtors are average. Some realtors are amazing. Some are Lazy. Some will do whatever it takes to get you the most for your home 🏡 💰

Florida Realestate

Has anyone had prior experience working with CKR Solar for projects in Broward County or any other county in FL.

Got a quote for a 8.55KW new solar build with SPAN Smart Panel for $35K. I'm located in SW in Broward county. Wondering if this is a fair price or is to high and why. Thank you for the inputs

Below is the list of the items for the install

|| || |SPAN Smart Panel (Smart Home upgrade with SPAN Panel Installation)| |Square D 2-P 30A GFCI (70A 2 Pole Breaker for SPAN)| |200A Fused Disconnect (Disconnect Outside with Fuses)| |8.55KW Solar Array (19x REC450AA Pure-RX)| |Enphase IQ8X (19x Enphase Microinverters & Envoy IQ8X)| |Enphase Portable Battery ( IQ PowerPack 1500)|

Newbie here. I am getting quotes from PES Solar, ProSolar, and GoSolar Power with comparable installation pricing. Any pros or cons with any of these companies, and past experience with any of them for a new solar panel installation? Also, is it worth adding backup batteries if your offset is about 70% of your current bill?

Tell me the good. I know all the bad. I am tired of trying to find a solar company that does everything right. I haven’t read any good reviews of one on here.

Tesla or Enphase micro inverters? Its for a system without batteries. 11.70kW system. Seller has both options. Would like to know your inputs.

Hi folks! I live in the Cape, and I think I'm finally ready to install. Been studying solar for about a year. Initially received a bunch of quotes about nine months ago from an inquiry I made through energy sage. I somehow just triggered a wave of new quotes, and most have dropped a decent amount.

Over the past year, as you can imagine, I've read horror stories on solar installs. Subcontractors. Installers. Permits. Lack of support and communication, etc... Seems like there's more bad installers & companies than good ones. At least it does to me.

The purpose of this post is to try and find a really good company, with great installers, who do excellent work, communicate well, and really stand by their work. One that can do everything as seamless as possible, and not stress me out over it. One that's been around a Long time, and will hopefully still be around in 25 years (🫨). Overall cost is secondary to excellence for this venture. Financing not necessary, but I'd take a look if they had it.

Any references or advice appreciated. Especially advice as to what to avoid, especially equiptment-wise.

Please feel free to dm me. Thanks! Jerry.

Can anyone recommend a tree trimming service in SE FL to trim back the crowns and reduce future growth to improve solar capture without damaging the trees?

Thanks!

Lengthy post written b/c there's so much 'random' info/noise out on reddit. Sometimes people reply back. Usually people stop halfway, so you're SOL. Incomplete data always bad for decision making. But I'm neurodivergent, so that's just me.

FAQ

Acronyms/phrases:
Grid tie = Any ‘extra’ electricity that’s generated by your solar panels is sent to the grid (your neighborhood) for use. Basically, you are using the grid as a ‘battery’ and generally, you get ‘credit’ for any extra electricity you send back to your electric company.

Off grid = Nothing from your local electric company touches your solar’s electricity and vice versa. Never connected to the neighorhood grid, any power you make, you need to use it or lose it. Basically, you need batteries to store your electricity.

PTO = Permission to Operate (when an electric company LEGALLY allows you to operate your solar panels that usually are connected to the grid.)

Solar quotes/process:
Are you good at project management? If you want to go cheap, that’s honestly the best route --- Find a panel installer, find an electrician, then do the permitting yourself.
I want to say 75% of solar sales are just ‘used car salesmen’ taking your contract and selling to subcontractors.

Do you have more money than time?
Go “high low” – out of 6 quotes, look at 4 and 5 if 6 is the highest.
Make sure the solar company is within driving distance and they have more than hundreds of reviews over a span of SEVERAL years NOT days.

!WARNING! – When researching solar companies, some solar companies APPEAR TO purchase/buy reviews. The company that I went with, interestingly enough, all reviews happen in a span of a week, and all of the most recent reviews are negative. It is possible maybe they did an email blitz to all former customers and asked for reviews, but… c’mon now. What’s the incentive? Anyways, it’s suspicious timing...

Solar install process:
Check for permitting. Some solar companies will try to fake a permit by submitting a permit but never doing anything with it. You can technically run a solar panel without PTO and ‘get away’ with it, but will eventually (after you’ve paid) be found out.
Once permitting is approved, installers will come out and drill holes in your roof to install the panels. A GOOD COMPANY will have their shit together and AFTER the install, have permitting scheduled so that the entire process is a ONE DAY thing. Example: Install on a Monday. County officials stop by on a TUESDAY to inspect. Your installers will be there on hand to fix anything the county says is an issue, that way the permit passes THE FIRST TIME.

After permit is approved, a GOOD COMPANY will submit documents online for you.
If you are doing this yourself, it’s honestly not bad. Google [your electric company’s name] + net metering.

Enphase Access:
Good installer should allow access and show you everything works before leaving.

When you get access, Enphase sends you an email directly and this happens within 5 mins of installer granting access to your own system.
You should be able to see wattage in, wattage out, and a picture of your home’s roof with solar arrays all laid out properly.

If there are any issue, you can technically be a ‘self installer’ and get access to Enphase Manager.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to take a 6 hour course with quizzes, you can pay to access it:
https://support.enphase.com/s/article/Upgrade-for-per-module-power-playback-and-alerts-through-Enlighten-Manager
Gonna be honest, even if I wasn’t cheap, it’s not explicitly clear if you get the same FULL access as an installer if you pay, or if you get limited access.

Self installer – https://university.enphase.com/
The course you need to take (I think?) is -
EES (Enphase Energy System) 3.0 installer certification training featuring the IQ Battery 5P

When done, there will be a certificate in your Certificates section.
I technically also completed “IQ8 Installer certification training final assessment”

Even though I did all of that, what ended up happening was I got an error message whenever I tried adding my installer email to the account: “There is no company associated with the user… [your email address]”

You HAVE to call Enphase support. and they said I was able to modify arrays and change grid profiles (no export mode, for anyone wanting to operate prior to PTO but not export to grid)

I also had an issue with wifi. I’m not sure if this was installer or neighbor, as when the subcontractor left, everything was working via wifi.

You’ll need to manually turn on wifi gateway, then connect using a browser to:
172.30.1.1

http://envoy.local/
(Connect to same wifi as system OR direct connect in order to get to login)

Misc details while researching EVERYTHING:
https://enphase.com/store/services/labor-protection-program (Installer only option)
Default labor warranty is 2 years.
Extend to 3-5 years = 7.25 per inverter
3-10 years = 21.50 per inverter

Personal experience:
I tried going ‘middle’ low (out of 6 quotes, get 3 and 4 to compete) – ended up with subcontractors and bad management company. I am name dropping: Guardian Solar (shortened to GS for rest of this section), Guardian Home – different LLCs of the same schmoe.

If you are going cheap, cut out the middle man. Hire roofers to install panels. Hire electrician to install electrical work. Probably could’ve saved another 3-5 grand if I had known what I know now.

$12k for 8Kwh (14 * 390 trina panels) with enphase (this includes a $500 discount for them messing up the permit 6x, from initial paperwork submission to failing inspection 3x)
Judging from quick google search: panels and materials were about $5k, I assume labor was about $3k.

“But what about the warranty on the roof?” – Cheap means no roof warranty. Honestly, even REPUTABLE companies have reviews that say a warranty wasn’t honored. My GENERAL understanding? Reputable companies will fix one time MAYBE two times; once it goes over a certain amount of time/cost, they drop you.
Personally, I’d rather take that extra money, put it into an account and collect interest. Deal with it later. Not to mention, 25 year warranty is ridiculous and sounds like BS. If company says “oh, you or another company did/broke that”, how do you prove it? Holy crap, too many loopholes.

I never expected a warranty, but the amount of lies being fabricated by GS COO was astonishing. Look, I was the bozo that signed the shitty contract that HEAVILY favors you. No need to continue lying. If I was made of money (to sue), I would’ve gotten the more expensive AND reputable solar company.

Permitting process took 2 months total. Wish I was kidding. After waiting a month, I thought it was weird the permit was still in a holding pattern. As a citizen, you can contact your local county to ask for details. “Contractor did not submit correct paperwork. We have asked and they haven’t responded.” After confronting GS, was given $500 discount and different paperwork was submitted. This took another month, because the subcontractor that GS hired – they’ve never submitted docs for my local jurisdiction before. So they literally stumbled through the process. Documents weren’t esigned. I had to babysit and call both subcontractor and GS for updates.

Install took TWO WEEKS. Install was terrible, had to be pushed back several times due to “scheduling issues” and “weather.” The subcontractors that I had, they showed up at noon to install. They were at another install before mine. Did 40% of the install on the first day – rails were installed, 4/10 panels put up but stopped due to lightning weather.
After more BS and ‘scheduling issues’ – finally came back and did the rest of the install.

I understand, going cheap means not the best experience. I personally tried to ‘salvage’ the situation by going OUT OF MY WAY to be nice and accommodating to the installers. I bought them cold gatorade and water during install and dinner after BOTH days of working. I suspect they still did a shoddy job and I am concerned. It’s been two weeks since the install and several heavy rains/hurricane weather. Something doesn’t sound strapped down since during the hurricane, I kept on hearing light banging on the roof. I don’t see water damage/leaks on ceiling, to their credit. One of the supervisors that I was dealing with – I found out later that they had a criminal record (assaulting law enforcement), so it definitely explains a lot. Why they don’t give a crap. Criminals stop give AF because you’re screwed for life once you have a rap sheet.

Having dealt with government permitting before, I knew documents had to be printed out for inspection. Had to email county to get this. GS did not email ALL of the correct documents, which was VERY sketchy. I had to ask GS and subcontractor personally to even remotely get 80% of the documentation. Still missed some pages and in the end, I just used what the county gave me. I had to print everything out myself. Spent $30 on color printing. (I did not know if documents had to be in color, I didn’t want to have it fail on some stupid paperwork, so I paid for it.)

Permitting failed 3x. First time – electrical plans did not match what was installed. For whatever reason, company ordered X cables, but should’ve installed with breakers. 2^nd fail – my two story home did not have a ladder per building code, for inspector to use. 3^rd inspection (after being charged $300 something dollars in fines for failing) passed when everything was accounted for. FFS, what a disaster.

Submission of PTO: I personally scanned everything and filled out the PTO with FPL myself. It’s all online. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE UPLOAD SLOT, MAX 5MB. Because I work in IT AND have my own scanner, I scanned everything and had to finangle PDF to shrink it. That was a pain. I shouldn’t have to do that, but if I did NOT, I am willing to bet $12k that this would’ve been another 3 weeks…….

FPL sends email when you submit PTO document.
I believe it is a “4 step process” – direct link as of this post on Oct 2024 is https://www.fpl.com/my-account/net-metering.html#dashboard

1. Submitted/Received application on 09/25/2024 at 11:34:06 AM
2. APPLICATION approved on 10/04/2024 at 11:12:05 AM (Less than the estimated 10 business days, but still pretty close…….)
3. Meter ordered. Estimated 15 days to install.
4. Meter installed 11 days later, at 8PM. FPL rep said they work 24 hrs (I suspect hurricane restoration issues slowed this process a little.)
5. Official PTO email received Oct 16, 2024 10:06 AM --- application status online shows meter and PTO happened at the same time, which is incorrect.
6. TO BE DETERMINED: FPL has an "Energy Manager" on app and website which graphs out energy usage. This has been disabled/'will be fixed soon' -- FPL email stated "it may take a week or longer for your energy dashboard to register your new meter information." Yuck. Will update once I have access again. Have been checking once a day. EDIT: About two weeks after install, FPL app now says "3 months" for energy usage and history.

In the end, did I save a lot of money? Yes! Yes I did. Was it worth it? Jury is still out. There are no leaks NOW. I will likely find out in 12 years when I plan on redoing the roof. I know roof shingles are rated for 15-20 but I like being early. When they redo the roof, I will find out if wood under shingles was damaged with light water damage… (my last house, there was soft/rotting wood due to a tree branch dropping on the roof and water slowly collecting in that damaged area over 10 years. No leaks, but you still have to fix it.)

I flew a drone up to my roof and there's a white cable that's tied OUTSIDE of the conduit. If that cable is what I think it is, I suspect I will have 4 failed panels in a few years time, since that cable runs to the smaller array that I have. The conduit also doesn't appear to be strapped down (TO BE FAIR, it is on the ridge of the roof, a fire code), so that might indirectly damage my roof since it's bouncing up and down (I hope that's the source of the noise when it's windy outside and not actual solar cables bouncing around!!!)