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diy solar

DIY in Boston Massachusetts

lm22

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Joined
Aug 17, 2021
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2
Location
Boston, MA
Has someone in MA or local to Greater Boston area done a comparison of going with a professional install vs the DIY option?

I got a quote from Boston solar for (28) LG 375 Q1C and Enphase IQ 7+ Inverter for $36.8K with install.

Solar production would be 12,698 kWh/Yr1 which falls short of my estimated 13219 annual kwh use.

Appreciate any guidance on pricing the DIY option or if it's DYI tiered grid is allowed in MA

Would federal tax credit be applicable on the DIY route?



Designs includes a total of 38 panels, but they only quoted me 28 panels.
Some stats from Solmetric
Rear roof facing 231 degrees
Tilt -35 degree
skylineheading - 181 deress
solar access: Annual 100%
TSRF -90%
TOF 90%

shade 3.png
 
Last edited:
Has someone in MA or local to Greater Boston area done a comparison of going with a professional install vs the DIY option?

I got a quote from Boston solar for (28) LG 375 Q1C and Enphase IQ 7+ Inverter for $36.8K with install.

Solar production would be 12,698 kWh/Yr1 which falls short of my estimated 13219 annual kwh use.

Appreciate any guidance on pricing the DIY option or if it's DYI tiered grid is allowed in MA

Would federal tax credit be applicable on the DIY route?



Designs includes a total of 38 panels, but they only quoted me 28 panels.
Some stats from Solmetric
Rear roof facing 231 degrees
Tilt -35 degree
skylineheading - 181 deress
solar access: Annual 100%
TSRF -90%
TOF 90%

View attachment 60755

Not from the area :)
What type of system do you want ? Grid-tie (sell to grid), Off-grid (store in battery), or Hybrid (both) ?
10,5 kWp solar (28) panels (that area, that orientation) can produce 12,7 MWh a year (just checked)
Max 1,4 MWh, min 0,6MWh in a month:
Boston_solar.png

So off-grid (separated from grid) would not be enough.

Grid-tie I do not know the change rates there. So you buy power at a price and you sell power on a (much lower) price.
This will not zero your power bill too.

Off-grid (with grid support) or hybrid you can store and use solar and have a backup grid line (also sell power with hybrid)

So I am only just curious :)
 
Not from the area :)
What type of system do you want ? Grid-tie (sell to grid), Off-grid (store in battery), or Hybrid (both) ?
10,5 kWp solar (28) panels (that area, that orientation) can produce 12,7 MWh a year (just checked)
Max 1,4 MWh, min 0,6MWh in a month:
View attachment 60761

So off-grid (separated from grid) would not be enough.

Grid-tie I do not know the change rates there. So you buy power at a price and you sell power on a (much lower) price.
This will not zero your power bill too.

Off-grid (with grid support) or hybrid you can store and use solar and have a backup grid line (also sell power with hybrid)

So I am only just curious :)
I'm following up on this since I finally have my monthly usage. The 28 panels seems to be on point in terms of total usage but I'm running on a huge deficit in the winter months and extra production in the summer without battery or some kind of storage. Off-grid (store in battery), and Hybrid (both) would be the best for us in the case. Do you have any thoughts on this.

1646341459098.png
 
Hey,
I found this through a search and I'm in a very similar situation.
I am in Massachusetts (National Grid is my electric company) and have similar numbers for annual usage (about 13,000 kWh last year.)

I'm trying to figure out the process for applying for the net meter, SMART, interconnection, permits, etc.
MA has a limit, where you can't have net metering if you're above 10 kW AC (after inverters). Net metering and storing the power in the grid seems to be the best option. I'm going to keep my existing generator for emergency backup.

28 iQ7+ at 295 watts each put you at 8.2 kW, which should be good.

I thought you got a net meter by applying at http://massaca.org/, but that's a red herring and it's says I don't need a ACA application for the net metering, but now I'm not sure how to get that started.
 
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