I have three quotes for three different solar installers with good reputations in my area. All are pretty outrageous, all came in at $40k for ~12kw, All said the issue was that I want a ground mount. 32 panels.
Quote 1 was $8400 extra for the ground mount.
Quote 2 was $8700 extra for the ground mount.
Quote 3 was $9000 extra for the ground mount.
You have to be kidding me. I live in a county with zero permitting or inspections required for a ground mount. I have a spot 95 feet from the breaker box that has 100% unobstructed southern exposure 365 days per year. There is absolutely nothing between where the panels would go, and the breaker box, so the trenching is no problem. The one issue with this area is that we do get high winds, it is not theoretical, we *will* get 80-100MPH gusts out of the northwest at least once per year. This is Colorado.
I have decided to go DIY for the entire project.
I looked at some of the DIY racking people have shown on here and a lot of them clearly aren't going to hold up to 100MPH.
Has anyone done a DIY install that has held up to these kinds of winds, and what did you use?
Quote 1 was $8400 extra for the ground mount.
Quote 2 was $8700 extra for the ground mount.
Quote 3 was $9000 extra for the ground mount.
You have to be kidding me. I live in a county with zero permitting or inspections required for a ground mount. I have a spot 95 feet from the breaker box that has 100% unobstructed southern exposure 365 days per year. There is absolutely nothing between where the panels would go, and the breaker box, so the trenching is no problem. The one issue with this area is that we do get high winds, it is not theoretical, we *will* get 80-100MPH gusts out of the northwest at least once per year. This is Colorado.
I have decided to go DIY for the entire project.
I looked at some of the DIY racking people have shown on here and a lot of them clearly aren't going to hold up to 100MPH.
Has anyone done a DIY install that has held up to these kinds of winds, and what did you use?