I have been looking at installing Solar PV for a while, and I recently came across the Seminole County Solar Co-op, organized by FL SUN (Florida Solar United Neighborhoods). It is an organization that gets homeowners together, by geographic location, to do a group buy by soliciting proposals from local companies. Currently, it looks like they have efforts going in Alachua County, North Maimi, South Miami, and Seminole County, which is the one I joined.
Seminole County Solar Co-op
The advantage of a co-op like this is that a panel of homeowners, guided by the organization, picks an installer and negotiates the prices. Based on my personal experience, the hardest part of getting solar installed is vetting all the different installers, talking to their sales people, etc.
The Seminole County Co-op started the process back in May, and picked a local installer, Superior Solar, just a few weeks ago. The company seems solid, large by local installer standards, with 33 employees, no subcontractors. Once you join the co-op online (free), they will send you all the information, including negotiated prices. Everything is priced per Watt, and you have a choice of upgrades over the basic set of panels and inverters, again all priced per Watt. I don't want to publish any of the numbers I was given, as I don't know what the agreement is between the co-op and installer, but the prices were much lower than I have seen myself.
Once you sign up for the co-op, the installer will reach out to you. I met with the representative and got a custom quote for my house, which I think I will accept. The system will be 14.8 kW and will cover about 60% of my electric usage. I plan to put some effort into reducing usage to get closer to Net Zero. If there is interest, I can document the installation of the system in this thread.
I would encourage anyone looking for Solar PV in these areas to look at the co-op, the prices really good and you have an assurance that fellow homeowners have shopped around for the best installer.
Seminole County Solar Co-op
The advantage of a co-op like this is that a panel of homeowners, guided by the organization, picks an installer and negotiates the prices. Based on my personal experience, the hardest part of getting solar installed is vetting all the different installers, talking to their sales people, etc.
The Seminole County Co-op started the process back in May, and picked a local installer, Superior Solar, just a few weeks ago. The company seems solid, large by local installer standards, with 33 employees, no subcontractors. Once you join the co-op online (free), they will send you all the information, including negotiated prices. Everything is priced per Watt, and you have a choice of upgrades over the basic set of panels and inverters, again all priced per Watt. I don't want to publish any of the numbers I was given, as I don't know what the agreement is between the co-op and installer, but the prices were much lower than I have seen myself.
Once you sign up for the co-op, the installer will reach out to you. I met with the representative and got a custom quote for my house, which I think I will accept. The system will be 14.8 kW and will cover about 60% of my electric usage. I plan to put some effort into reducing usage to get closer to Net Zero. If there is interest, I can document the installation of the system in this thread.
I would encourage anyone looking for Solar PV in these areas to look at the co-op, the prices really good and you have an assurance that fellow homeowners have shopped around for the best installer.
