Utilities & Mobile Solar

If your post is for me and my 3000 watt up grade. I will not be hiring it out, I will be doing it myself with my handy man doing the grunt work. When I saw that bunch of clown putting that mag. starter in (backwards) I whispered to my handy man it was not needed and that they were trying to use it for the wrong application and that it was not going to work because they were installing it backwards. I told him not to say anything because I wanted to see how it was going to turn out. After they pulled it out and reinstalled it THREE times the electoral engineer condemned it and took it back to Polaris. Polaris tested it and said that there was nothing wrong with it, gave it back to them. They installed it one more time, (helper and I were grinning), the whole time. It was this time that they did not tighten down the hot lead from the solar panels and fried the starter. It was installed backwards this time also, it was not needed in the first place. After the handy man and I finished this (TURN KEY INSTALL) I gave the mag starter back to Jeff and told him to return it to Polaris for a refund because it was burnedout, fat chance. I have another story about Polaris, I'll save it for another time.

 

Thanks for all the info. I will avoid the "solar guy". I guess I will just stick with the generator I have.

 

Actually, this expat doesn't work for Polaris, merely using Perry for importing etc and has a lot more experience/knowledge than Ken Scales(RIP) or Jeff put together, concerning solar. He works a lot for the larger Chinese families here, e.g. Rusi, beach resorts e.g. Eden in Santander are some of the larger projects he has done here etc. I'm sorry that you've been ripped off by people who didn't know what they were doing, but I guess that's all part of the learning(painful) experiences here.

 

Since I know all the parties mentioned in this thread I will add my $.02.

Two years ago we engineered and metal-roofed a large South East facing garage area with the intent to then add a grid-tied solar array. We spoke with Bryan Pine( Polaris Perry Loos' partner), then The Solar Guy Jeff Davis, and finally with Ken Scales RIP.

I found all 3 to be professional, likable, and informative. I took the time to tour previous installations performed by all 3. I spoke to some of their previous customers.

Since our roof has a single "all day" unshaded face we decided upon the efficient "string inverters" rather than the slightly more expensive "micro inverters" then offered by Bryan Pine. If we had shady areas, or a multi-angled roof we would likely have used the microinverters and had Bryan do the job. Each type of system has it's advantages and disadvantages.

Once the deal with Jeff was agreed on, the panels, inverters, and associated hardware were here( Dauin) the NEXT DAY. We used 66 Seraphim 260watt Poly panels. That's a total of 17.1 kw which we feed into 3 x 5kw inverters.

I wanted to learn as much as I could so I was up on the roof asking alot of questions. Jeff, and most contractors will likely be using subcontractors to do the actual installation work. Some of the workers are great and some are still learning - I don't have a problem with that. I found errors and sloppy work. No surprises there - it's more fun in the Philippines. But realistically that's the case anywhere. To his credit Jeff promptly corrected the problems to my satisfaction. The installation didn't take long.

Getting the permits went quickly. However dealing w/ Noreco took a while plus some creative lubrication.

Over the last 2 yrs various parts of the system have failed. One of the 3 Zever 5kw inverters blew. Jeff replaced it with a new one for free under warrantee. However it took a few weeks to get the replacement part and the tech contractor back here to Negros. They travel all around the country to do installations as needed. There have been a few other less critical items that he swapped out as well (breakers etc) but that's to be expected I guess. There have been no issues whatsoever over the last 5 months.

All things considered:

I would use Jeff "The Solar Guy" again for an installation for an unshaded single faced roof.

I would not hesitate to use Bryan Pine if I had partial shading, different roof angles, or I wanted to individually monitor the output of every solar panel.

I live abroad and did not know Ken Scales had passed away until reading this thread.

I currently use Polaris Power Engineering for misc electrical work at our property. I have never been unhappy with them over 10 yrs.



Notes:

1. The photo shows the roof w/ a few more panels left to install. 22 panels feed into each of the 3 inverters.

2. The cost of solar panels has fallen quite a bit over the last 2 years. The cost of power purchased from Noreco has remained constant at 11p/kwh here in Dauin.

3. Our Southeast facing roof has a 12 degree pitch as recommended for this lattitude. 66 x 260 watt panels fed into 3 x 5kw inverters offset approx 17,000 pesos/month of Noreco bills. Our monthly bills went from 24,000 p to 7,000 p on average.

 

A very detailed and informative post... did you leave out the total cost on purpose or would you be willing to share

 

Thanks for your post.

Presently I am thinking to install solar panels and try to pick up as much knowledge as possible.

Still undecided whether I should go for a grit - tied system or not. Or maybe to install a generator to cover brown outs.

I spoke to one of the experts you were mentioning and got a good impression.

 

Dan;

I left out the price on purpose since there has been such a huge decrease in the costs over the past 2 yrs.

Our system was then quoted at 80 pesos/ kw of rated panel capacity:

So;

17,100 kw x 80p/kw = 1,368,000 pesos total cost. Therefore payback period would be 6.5 yrs if Noreco prices remain constant. As mentioned, the panel purchase prices are quite a bit lower now. Therefore the payback period of a newly installed system today will be shorter.

There is nothing preventing a hands-on homeowner from buying the hardware, obtaining permits, and performing a system installation themselves and saving $. The electrical tie-in must be done by Noreco.

We chose to pay a bit more to have our fairly large ( 4x typical US Home) system installed professionally.


There is one MAJOR benefit that is seldom mentioned in the PV decision making decision process;

The panels also shield your roof from the hot sun. Any rooms below that roof are substantially cooler during the day and into the evening.

 

I was quoted this by Solar Philippines.

1.3kWp = 128k
2 kWp = 178k
4 kWp = 348k