2 Other notes. Rooftop panels have more heat than ground mounted. It will wear on the panels faster. Second, find out the manufacturer of the panels. I have LGs. There are 2-3 higher end manufacturers. Their stuff will hold up longer. The first year or two doesn't make a whole lot of difference, but in 10 years when high quality is pumping 95-96% of original and cheaper stuff is pushing 90-92%, it will make a difference.
I kind of wanted ground mount, for the efficiency and future maintenance ease, but the install would have been a LOT more expensive (more conduit and wire which is super expensive right now) and most of the installers preferred to do the roof.
My conduit? Were they wrapping the buried cable?I kind of wanted ground mount, for the efficiency and future maintenance ease, but the install would have been a LOT more expensive (more conduit and wire which is super expensive right now) and most of the installers preferred to do the roof.
Also the gf didn't want the ground mount, since it would block the view that direction
Not 100% sure but yes - whether underground, thru the attic, or both, I think.
A lot of buried cable is not in anything so that is odd. Maybe they were going shallow, and in those few instances, the electricians I know will use a 2" tile or something like that to incase it because it is much cheaper and a little easier to work with.
Not really. There are huge tax incentives to put your own up. Many of the solar fields that I have investigated, don't allow you to claim depreciation and they keep the green stamps that could be very valuable in the future. The other factor is, many people do this to actually provide electricity so in times of outages and other things, they aren't waiting on a guy to show up and fix the lines, they have some basic power still. There are also grants available to help pay for a large chunk depending on your situation. Another factor is, the solar field will either rent the ground or have to buy it, you most likely own it. They also will charge for maintenance (which typically consists of spraying it with a garden hose, I think most of us can do this for a couple nickel worths of water), have insurance charges for workers and other situations instead of just the value of the property like an individual owner has.
Buying used panels is like marrying a person with 5 kids under the age of 8 and they are raising them with no help.
If that is what you got out of that, it shows your thought process more than anything.
