As pioneers leading the energy revolution, our goal at Unbound Solar is to share expert guidance and insights into considerations, installations, equipment and lessons -- along with providing you with a sense of confidence that you can do solar your way and live unbound.
Hello Schwa and Will! Good seeing you. Great working with you in the design process. After contacting 22 solar installers in the Western Washington region with NOBODY returning my calls I decided to do a DIY project. There have been many pitfalls along the way with unqualified designers leading me to spend a few thousand dollars on supplies I could not use. After contacting Unbound things finally came together. I did hire an electrician to finalize the install with me and my wife doing 90% of the work. Permits were a breeze, installation has it challenges but with average tools and DIY knowledge and Unbound answering questions along the way its really far less complicated than it looked going in. Anyone can do this. Lots of online content on the Unbound, Ironridge websites, along with RU-vid to help. Hint; The best supplier of solar parts is Unbound Solar AND Platt Electric. Get to know the staff at your local Platt and ask if they know of an electrician that does solar install. Wire is FAR cheaper at Platt than Home Depot. Don't spend hours calling around. Platt has a long list of contractors they serve. We did have to drive to to California to pickup the panels which is far cheaper than paying for shipping. Contact me with any DIY questions.
Say whatever you want,this is the best racking mount,dont use anything else,you will regret it,and you will leak eventually,this will outlast your roof. I know i have it. No i dont work for them
I'm the opposite, I like the trackers. They do optimize output in a smaller space. I'm a DIY, and like the optimal gain from bifacial plus the tracking. But like you said the trade off is the cost of the controllers, actuators, ..... and additional voltage to drive the system. Here we are 5 years after your video, and when you catch the trackers on sale, it is a heck of an investment for the gain.
Solar will save you about $100 a month. So in 20 yers you could save $24,000. If you don't plan on stayiong in your home for 20 years the numbers don't add up. That is assuming that the system you purchase is no more than $24,000. Also, if you put that money in an investment how much would you have at the end. The main thing that makes solar unaffordable is the installers charge, A nice solat kit can be purchased for about $16,000, 2 people can install it on a weekend but most companies are charging around $30,000 total installed. Must be nice to make $14,000 for a weekends work.
I wanted to let you know that stud finders often struggle with the additional layer of shingles on the roof. A more reliable method might be to gently tap on the roof with a hammer and listen for the solid sound that indicates a rafter underneath. Once you've located two rafters, you can generally use the same spacing to find the others across the rest of the roof.
It is depending on your needs, the lease could be a better option. For me the goods are (1) Production guarantee and (2) 100% cover for theft, loss and damage. I know that you could see your ROI much quicker with a purchase, but you take on a lot of risks. The first risk is production. For months that your production is low, you are back paying the high rate for energy. The second risk is warrantee and home insurance do not cover for theft and loss. It is true that you are paying a lot more for not having these risks. So, it is more of a personal choice.
So are all bigger panels, 300-400w the same size? Is there a cheaper way to attach rails to the roof? Also what about a demo for folks who have vaults ceilings with NO loft of direct access from the inside to the back of the outer part of the roof.
Dear manager , This is Vivian from Amoy Solar, an Aluminum factory professioned on all kinds of solar mounting systems in China, I saw that your company has a demand for solar brackets. Can you give us a chance to do business with you?
No one is talking about the additional cost to remove and replace the panels when the roof needs to be replaced do to age. 90% of people ditch the panels when the realize that they have to find a third party company (which don't exist ) to remove and replace the panels. The roofers won't touch them and the solar panel companies will only install new systems. That is the cold hard solar truth that no one want to talk about. Sorry.
You are so full of s....t !!! Solar tracking system costs around 100$ to put together, without the actuators, which are individuals components that everyone can buy. So are the frame materials. The only reason they cost that much is because crapy companies like the one you advocate for, that are charging a leg and an arm for those trackers. Why ?? Well, it's simple, so you can sell more solar panels, of course. 6 panels of 600 W each, bring 3,6 Kw of power. Multiply by at least 7 hours of light, bring the total production to 25.2 Kw of power. And the daytime is never only 7 hours short. How much panels one need to put to produce the same amount ??? Here's a video that show the night and day difference. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2XC5JtzsYuI.html
On limited space solar tracker is the only solution,is not like you have a choice. Today 2nd hand solar panels are very cheap,but very low in power so to put them on a solid stand will cost you more than buying new ones that will take less space, less materials and less maintenance.
Seems like the bottom fastener could to to the eaves instead of drilling holes in the room. The top will have to be drilled but seems like the rail could wrap around or something like that.
Not necessarily true. If your already at Max PV wattage with your panels you should NOT add more panels as it will increae your Max VOC and harm your system. Instead a tracker will help you maximize the wattage you already have without risking going over your Max rating for your inverter.
Several variables are involved in the decision to use solar tracking versus fixed. In addition, the pricing for all the solar components is also changing. Everyone needs to look at their specific requirements and evaluate all the tradeoffs. There is no particular response.
Hey Josh,i have 12 batteries but there are gel just replace them for the one with acid .How can i put the charge from acid to charge for gel batteries ?
While I agree that the cost of a tracking system can be offset by additional panels, I disagree with the percentage gain with a tracker. I built a small, two panel, grid tied system from scrap lumber and mounted it to a lawn cart. I left it in position all day for a sunny week, checking the output with a plug-in watt meter. Then I adjusted the cart every hour for a week to simulate the trackers motion and, at the end of that week compaired the production figures. Tracking produced 45% more power than a stationary position. To offset the tracking gain, I would need to DOUBLE the number of panels! For a small system, this is no big deal but for large arrays, the difference is significant.
In nyc my solar would cost $60,000. 1 to 2% a yr which is about what con Ed would charge about $50 a month cheaper then present there may be negatives but the solar co own that responsibility …
Real world experience here: I started a solar PPA in August '17 with Vivint Solar (now Sunrun), and right from the start everything I experienced was exactly what I expected. I was set up with my panels and even all-new electricity coming from the street to my house to a new circuit breaker panel box, upping my amps from 60 to 100, all at zero cost to me. My 20 year contract started at 15.9 per kWh with a contracted 2.9% annual increase. One year they didn't even increase it. I only ever paid the price per kWh according to how much production was made and not a penny more. I was told that in year 6, I would get a one-time offer to buy out the system, based on current FMV. Earlier this month my 6-year anniversary arrived, and I contacted them because I had a number in mind to be comfortable buying it out, being responsible for any issues that may come up. I'm good at simple math. I calculated the amount I would pay through years 7-20, factoring in the 2.9% annual increases, and came up with $16K over the next 14 years. My comfort zone was $11K, giving me $5K leeway in case something comes up (inverter failure, most probability) within those 14 years. They quoted me $8,700 to buy it out. Bonus!! That's $7K leeway. I signed all the necessary papers, mailed the check in full and am just waiting for everything to be finalized and I will get the warranties for the panels and inverter transferred to me. Here's where I surprisingly did very well: I lamented not buying the system myself, just paying the money upfront and never paying anybody for anything after. I could've. I have the funds. If it would've cost $20K, and then a 30% tax credit the first year, that brings it down to $14K total. In years 1-6, I paid $5K. Buyout was just under $9K. That's the same $14K that I would've paid if I did pay upfront. But where I think I really made out was that if I did just have panels installed, it wouldn't have come with the electricity upgrade that I got for free. So, just waiting for the cancellation of my contract to be finalized and have the warranties turned over to me, did I do alright?
I am trying to add a tracker. I have a morning and afternoon string. A single axis tracker would allow almost double power for early morning and late afternoon. It would generate more mid day also. I am expecting at least 50% more on average. I am upgrading panels soon so that is the time.
