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Is "Project Solar" the cheapest solar out there? Are they any good?

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arnolddeleon

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Jul 21, 2012
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Anyone actually have experience with projectsolar.io? I'm immediately suspicious of anyone using a ".io" domain.

What they have on their website sounds pretty impressive. The way they answer questions on their social media also is pretty impressive. It looks to me like they are doing solar the way I imagined Tesla would do it if Tesla was executing it well.

I have an interesting dilemma. I have a 10 kW system that is turning 20 years old next month. While it still has plenty of useful life it might be subject to the solar tax that is coming in CA NEM 3.0. So it might be better for me to replace/renovate it with a new system that might restart the clock on my PTO. There are all kinds of complications with system so I might start a completely different thread on that.

For the purpose of this thread we should discuss Project Solar.
 
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I have never heard of this organization. Please let me know what you discover, the pricing is outstanding, I am not going to DIY my system, so I would love to understand who they contract with to install, and here the feedback that the company has received from customers on pricing and installs.
 
I've decided to risk $100 to find out more. Super easy to get a system quote either by bill or just specifying the size of the system.

They request photos of key things plus some questions needing to answered via a portal. Pretty much what I expect. So far so good.

Pricing is super transparent. You can see what DIY vs installed will cost. The parts costs are the same. They specify what they are using, for example Enphase micro inverters. They claim to partner with local installers. Again very clear on what additions would cost (e.g. attic wire run, new main panel).

Right now I need to interact with them. They sent me email and I responded. Then they tried to call me but I couldn't take the call at the time. They asked me to call back but I haven't done that yet.
 
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Communication continues, not surprisingly they don't have an option on how to deal with my old system or the any desire/ability to reuse things like mounts. It appears that would need to comply with with current rules for setback on the roof.

So I'm in contact with my roofer on the costs of restoring the roof (they are backlogged for weeks to just get an estimate). I'm also in contact the crew that helped me remove a PV system before. Basically I'm trying to figure out what my costs would be to make the roof ready.

So I continue to be impressed by them. The delay in NEM 3.0 is giving me some more time sort things out. If I had to make the decision today with the information I have I would likely not replace the system on this house. This is not because of Project Solar, in fact I'm looking now considering placing an order for a rental property once I work its roof situation.
 
Change in plans (a few months ago, forgot to post updates) instead of replacing the some old solar at the house I live in we pivoted the project adding solar a rental property that already had Tesla (Solar City) PV on it.

We are now in the city the permitting process. I also Docusigned the PG&E application already. Earlier in the process I signed paperwork with their partner installer.

The design process has been pretty good so far. Their design people seem to get backed up but I at least heard from my project manager. The fact that it was ballasted install on flat roof also seem to add delay.
 
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Project Solar is currently suggesting doing a penetrating "tilt mount". I'm trying to get more information. I also have asked more information about the rejection to see if there is an appeal path. I'm also looking into switching to earlier proposal which is a smaller system installed on the "standard" pitched shingle roof.
 
I tried to get a system from Project Solar. They were unwilling to sell me a fully installed system on my house that already has a small solar system and two Powerwalls. They said that they were not set up to do permitting for my situation.
 
I was able to get the objection from city of Sunnyvale, in short they wanted more space around install to allow for seismic movement. Unfortunately there isn't room to satisfy the need without shrinking things too much. So now we're moving onto a roof penetrating tilt mount.

The new project manager I have doesn't seem to be on top of things as much as the previous one. We shall see it goes from here.
 
They seem to have revamped their communications so their Project Managers don't do the communication anymore. You can contact customer care and/or just check their portal.

The good news is my project finally has permits approved after switching to a penetrating roof mount. Now I'm just waiting for install to be scheduled.
 
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The install date was moved to Dec 15th and it actually happened.

A recap of the background: I'm adding a roughly 4kW PV system on a rental property I own in Sunnyvale, CA. There is an existing PV system (from Solar City/Tesla). Part of the plan is lock in NEM 2.0 for another 20 years. I switched water heating and HVAC on this house to heat pumps. The additional PV will be installed on a flat roof.

Install story:

The equipment was dropped at the property, amusingly enough I was not told in advance this happening. This being a rental, I was not home. They just delivered the pallet of equipment in the driveway. It sat there for a couple days without me knowing about it.

On the day of the install (yesterday) I was surprised to find the install crew at the house I live in. They were apparently given the wrong address. Fortunately my rental was only 6 miles away.

I found out that the installing crew had travelled from Southern California. It was three person crew, the lead was clearly the electrician, there was the former roofer and the young apprentice. A pretty good mix in my opinion. The junior guy spent an hour or two chasing down a sub-panel that needed to sourced locally. Basically they started around 10:00 am and finished around 6:00 pm with a lunch break inside of that. The crew was great in opinion. They offered to do removal of the old satellite dish that I started removing. They consulted me on placement of equipment, penetrations for conduits. They were also slowed slightly by a little of ice/water on the roof.

The next step is for the inspection which will be done with a different person. This is the same pattern that I had with Tesla installs.

I was required to pay for the equipment prior to the install. My installation costs are due after PTO.

Additional note:

Multiple PV systems were required to collected into a sub panel. Don't know if this new NEC rule or some local requirement.

I'll post photos post inspection
 
Just received PTO!

The short version is I would do business with Project Solar again.

The long version is they are far from perfect, but we got there.

So, after the last update I posted the inspection was scheduled but it failed because the person that was supposed to meet the inspector was 10 minutes late. The next inspection took another two weeks to schedule, likely because they had group all of their installs together and schedule resources for that. That also failed because the City of Sunnyvale now requires two grounds from the main service panel.

The Project Solar installer likely missed this because there was a ground rod nearby and they assumed it was connected but it was not. Funny back story there is I had a service upgrade (new main panel, etc.) a couple of years ago. My electrician installed a new ground. Apparently, the inspectors were "asking" for two grounds, but the city had not actually included it in their code yet. As a matter of principal, he didn't connect the second ground and system did pass inspection.

During this inspection I was there, and the City of Sunnyvale inspector basically said everything passed except for the ground. If the Project Solar person had the parts in his truck, he would accept a photo to final. Unfortunately, he didn't so it was back to scheduling. This time they needed schedule someone to literally install ground wire to a ground rod that already was there last than 8' away. I decided to do it myself, sent them photos and were able to schedule an inspection quickly and it passed.

Then another couple of weeks had to pass for PG&E and PTO (which just happened today).

Basically, if you want a price that is similar to Tesla and have the patience then Project Solar can work for you. I'll eventually get around to posting photos.

This install was with Enphase inverter, Canadian Solar panels on flat roof. The house already has an existing Tesla/Solar City system (Trina Solar Panels and Solar Edge inverters).
 
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I recommended Project Solar to some friends and I did the supervision of that install. They had a different contracted installer than I did. The results were very similar. Project Solar's installation partners seem pretty good. The designers somehow missed some skylights in the layout and the project manager didn't respond to the query. Fortunately the installers adjusted to the situation and it was easily remedied. The installer also was able to relocate the batteries closer to the panel. This was a win for them because it saved them from a very long conduit run. These low cost solar companies and Tesla should offer the option do a hour discussion for an extra fee, say $200. What is ironic is that likely would have saved them time and money.

Here is the crazy part of the story. That system had the city inspection this morning (and it passed) and by this afternoon PG&E had already given the PTO.

Here are the system particulars:

PV Panels: 31x CSI Solar Co., Ltd. - CS3N-395MS [Blk]
Inverter - External: 31x Enphase Energy Inc. - IQ8PLUS-72-2-US [240V] [SI1-SB]
Inverter - Incorporated: 1x Enphase Energy Inc. - ENCHARGE-10-1P-NA [240V] [SI1-SB] + EP200G101-M240US01 + IQ Combiner X-IQ-AM1-240-4 [CRD-PCS NEM]

This install made it under NEM 2.0 (California). I recommended a minimum battery size since they were able to get NEM 2.0. It was important to have more PV since the house is now all electric. Heat pump HVAC, water heater and clothes dryer and induction cooking. I think their future storage capacity will come from vehicle to house products. Enphase has already demonstrated a product.
 
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