[RE-wrenches] Home Depot solar?

Jason Szumlanski Jason at fafcosolar.com
Mon Oct 3 13:32:42 PDT 2011


Probably not DQ, but I’d be happy to buy a PV customer a Banana Split ™.  J

 

We are getting more and more calls about people who think they can just hook a few panels up to their RV/Boat/Car and have everything work. News of PV getting below $2/w, then $1.50/w has people with the wrong impression. It’s tough to explain the reality to them, now that modules are around 25% of the typical installed cost!

 

Jason Szumlanski

Fafco Solar 

 

 

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Yago
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 4:27 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Home Depot solar?

 

Along the same subject I was in Sams Club last month and they had a whole stack of  24 volt 200 watt Grape Solar grid-tie modules for sale at a really low price.  However, these were pigtail connectors and there was no documentation, no inverters, no combiners, no nothing to tell customers anything about these modules or that you will need to buy many more components before you will have a working system.  I was wondering how long it would take everyone who bought 2 or 3 modules thinking they could charge up a RV or car battery to start calling.  It didn't take long. 

 

Sure enough, we are getting all kinds of calls asking how they can connect one or two 24 volt modules they bought to charge a 12 volt battery and how to power a cheap 12 volt inverter.   These were not happy campers when they found out they now need to buy an expensive charge controller to handle the voltage mis-match, and cannot use the low amp-hour car batteries they planned to use.  Many of these customers spent up to $2,000 for solar modules only to find out they will ned to spend thousands more to assemble a working system.

 

Home Depot, Sams, who is next, I guess it won't be long before Dairy Queen will be selling inverters with a large shake.

  Jeffrey Yago, pres.
    DTI Solar Inc.
  (p) 804-457-9566
  (f) 815 846-0677
email -  jryago at dtisolar.com
on the web - www.pvforyou.com


 

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