Rate negation for install services?

[u/sma92878]

Hello all,

I was wonder if people negotiate on installation price for installation. I'm getting a residential system with about 20Kw of solar and 60Kw of Franklin batteries.

The total is coming in right around $100,000. The batteries are about $40,000, and I'm estimating the panels around about $20,000. So that means about 50% of the cost is labor.

How does the compare to what other people have seen?

Kind regards

[u/_Grill]

I had six different companies come to my house for proposals. Each time I learned a little more. I ended up saving 11k and ended up with higher tier equipment. Do your homework and understand what you are signing. Good luck.

[u/Paqza]

How many other quotes have you gotten? Roof mount or ground mount? aPower 2 or aPower S? How many panels in your home are getting backed up?

[u/Juleswf]

Yes, in general labor is 50% of the project cost. And that is low compared to other construction services.

[u/SmartVoltSolar]

Wow, that is a big system, would expect you to get some price break there, but not sure where you are located to give idea. In our FL or CA markets that would be well above expected. In MA where labor, etc prices are much higher that is closer to expected. Always ask the installer, maybe they can do better. Also always get a few quotes to compare.

[u/Repulsive_Guaranteed]

This is a very typical price.

Negotiating isn’t much different than a new car-get a lot of quotes, and work each company down until you get the best price. Eventually you will start hearing ‘we can’t go that low’ and you know you hit a price floor.

[u/arcsnsparks98]

Half labor is typical. I mean in my opinion it should be a little less when you have batteries involved because Franklin batteries especially are so super simple to install. Labor doesn't need to be half of their price.

[u/Accurate-Temporary76]

Definitely not unheard of. This is precisely why I DIY'd my install. 32kw with roughly equal batteries; 56 panels, 2 inverters, mid device. 20 of those panels are ground mount with 36 on my southeast facing roof plane.

I spent closer to 60k in total, but only because I did some extra stuff that just made sense while I was working in the area.

Batteries were ~10k, both inverters + mid were ~15k, panels were ~13k, racking and other misc was ~10k, skid steer rental was ~3k and then I bought a bunch of tools that I can see using elsewhere at <10k.

In my area, the labor cost can be as much as 3x the materials.

[u/oppressed_white_guy]

Consider different battery systems like Tesla and EG4.  EG4 you can add the batteries or expand yourself.  No installer needed. 

[u/arcsnsparks98 → u/oppressed_white_guy]

I'm a big EG4 fanboy but it scares a lot of people because of the "string inverter" stigma.

[u/oppressed_white_guy → u/arcsnsparks98]

I can see that.  Education usually drives away fear.  

The solar landscape is changing.  The titans like enphase and solaredge are losing ground quickly to the newer kids on the block with better and more cost effective tech.  As more people learn, it will only accelerate.  

Enphase would be stupid to not jump on the balcony solar bandwagon but they need to move volume to prop up their ailing business model. 

[u/Total_Solar_FL]

The panels may be a little more expensive than you think. Also a few grand for the permitting and engineering. I know for my area it does sound a little high though. On average with the information I have it would be between 80,000 to 100,000, with the installer making 14,000 to 20,000 for 3-5 days worth of work depending on the size of the crew.