About Chester County PA Solar System Installers Interview several solar system installation companies before you make any decisions about who will install your solar system. We have interviewed five most popular Chester County PA area solar system installation companies to find an honest and fair solar system installer. We know the sales pitch, equipment, and materials are all basically the same. All of the solar companies were offering the same equipment (solar panels, inverters, charge controllers, and battery options) and materials for residential solar systems. The main difference in each estimate is what they charge for their labor. There are some important factors that could affect their labor estimates such as distance from their place of business and warehouse to your home or location and unfortunately some greed. Like some companies we all know are big spenders on themselves and pass that extra cost onto you. Therefore, invite several solar system companies for a bid on your solar project.
Cost For Materials, Equipment, Labor Hours And Hourly Rates Like most construction companies, solar system installers can and do buy their materials and equipment in bulk by the pallet or pay a lower price for the equipment based on quantity purchased over a given amount of time which means they can pay much less for the equipment than you might find for the same equipment on the internet. Some solar system installers will share this savings with you while others will actually charge you more. Only one of the companies we interviewed offered to pass those savings on to us. Get an itemized invoice bid showing line items for all equipment and materials including brand, sizes, cost, and estimated labor hours and hourly rate. Then browse the internet for your cost for the same brand and size equipment. The solar system installer's price for equipment on the invoice should be significantly lower. The solar system installer's profit should be primarily from installation of the solar system, so compare the labor hours and hourly rate very carefully, very significant. The labor hours x hourly rate charge is where you might find the most cost differences in your bids. How To Find An Honest And Fair Solar System Installer Ask for a detailed quote showing the main hardware components, labor hours and hourly rates, and other charges and the rates and prices charged to you. If the solar company's sales person becomes defensive or rude, you just weeded out one of the undesirables. From the quote or invoice, google search the hardware and see the actual price. A less than honest and fair solar system installer will not provide such information or could disguise the hardware description. Ask for an actual description so that you can review the hardware. Compare the quotes line by line and see exactly what each solar system installer is charging you for equipment. Ask about "miscellaneous" charges. Then, look at the labor hours and hourly rate estimated to do the same job by another solar company. A solar system installer who can estimate the labor hours with confidence is likely a well experienced and quality solar system installer that has installed many similar solar systems... if his hours are comparable to other solar system installers and not over estimated. You will quickly see who is over charging on labor hours and who is uncertain how many hours to charge. The labor hourly rate is significant. Some solar system installers will load up labor hours. Keep track of the hours worked per person during the solar system installation process in the event the labor hours are significantly less than quoted or disputed. Understanding the solar system installer deserves to be paid fairly, so does the consumer deserve to be charged fairly. An agreement and understanding where both parties are winners will offer your solar system installer your continued service or improvements or upgrades on your solar system. You want to create a long term relationship with the right solar system installation company. Trust me. There are far many more fair and honest solar system installers. Many of the quotes will come back similar in value. This is where you determine which company best represented themselves to you and you like the most to work with you now and in the unforeseen future. PECO Utility Company Requires Dual (2) Dented Meters Since none of the quality and experienced solar system installers are Chester County PA based or know much about how PECO net-metering actually works, we took this project upon ourself to clarify exactly how PECO net-metering actually works. PECO is the only known utility company that requires dual (2) dented meters to monitor your solar energy generation opposed to all other utility companies that offer one (1) meter that spins in reverse when you generate solar energy. PECO meters do not spin in reverse. You can apply for net metering by using the PECO interconnection application. An application fee is charged for each interconnection application submitted. Although we are not absolutely certain that we initially selected the absolute best solar company for the cost of equipment and labor hours of our solar project, we are definitely convinced that we did decide on a solar system installation company for quality workmanship and materials used on the job and superb choice of solar panels, inverters, charge controllers, batteries, and other materials. Thereafter that learning curve and taking our own advice after the fact, we hired a second solar system installation company to expand on our solar project to increase capacity with much better cost results for workmanship, labor, and equipment, and is now our prefered solar system installation company. Our advice paid off, we are now convinced that we selected the absolute best solar company in our area. Knowing this valuable information, we can help you make a same or better decision and explain why. Belmont Solar located in Gordonville, PA. About Chester County PA Solar System Installers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
