So I'm stalling out, right? I could afford the proposed system (lucky) and I happened to have the cash at the time (way lucky - we'll take up this "financial-ization" of the solar biz later I promise.) But my side questions were getting in the way of, "yes."
I also hate waste of all sorts. The idea of surface area that could be used being left out worried me. As does not getting the most out of a visit to the roof. Cranking up a project on the roof is dangerous and expensive (relative to doing nothing - which is an option.) Also, so much of the cost is labor and just getting folks to the site. Add to that the fixed project management costs and it seems a waste to install anything less than the maximum system. If we get the maximum system we can spread those costs across the most productive system. Seen from this perspective the roof needs the maximal coverage to get the costs down.
But this is not how the estimators see it. And they are right. Back then (and this is a moving target) the goal was not to put the maximal system in but instead to ride the cost curves accurately by not over building. The big cost factor that is not addressed in my little optimizing discussion in the preceding paragraph is "Tiered Billing." I have a fairly thrifty lifestyle relative to most Americans and live in a mild climate (lucky again) and this has particular impacts on my electricity bill. But the biggest impact comes from the tiered system of billing. The idea of the regulation is (I surmise) to keep the cost of electrification low for the modest users and charge more for customers who use more (and can afford it more easily.) So the first few thousand watts usage a month are cheaper than the subsequent thousands. In California it is based on a fairly complex system of average daily use for your zone (mostly about climate) for a home of your size and kind. If you like rabbit holes of regulatory complexity... take a look at how this sausage is made. Yikes.
The boil-down (you are welcome) is this: Solar panels, cheap as they were, were still, all told, unable to match the price of the first couple of tiers of electrical pricing. So the smart estimators instead plan to offer you a system geared to replace your later, more expensive tiers of electricity. Those later tiers solar can compete with... So you get a lower electricity bill and a solar system.
One more complexity is the crazy shifting incentives program. I say crazy but it does have a logic. The state of California has a per thousand watt incentive program that phases out slowly as a way to wean the market from the subsidy. Smart. It provides some urgency and motivates folks. At the same time the cost of panels and other elements have been dropping so figuring out the way prices are going is tricky work.
But back to our story. The salesperson proposed a layout based on the system suggested and had no provisions for adding more later. This is, again, reasonable from the most common perspective which boils down to return on investment (setting aside all other concerns.) But I, of course, have other concerns. Like keeping room for thermal somewhere and future expansion and denying bankers a cut. I know we pay them great sums of money as a society because the work is so hazardous and unpleasant. But we have established that I am a jerk in some contexts and here is one: I don't like bankers and the outsized role they've taken in the economy.
Looking at the plan I suggested a different orientation for the panels and some racks that would be installed and not used, yet. The idea being to not waste space by inefficient tiling of the panels and toe not waste trips by workers to the roof by getting the maximal amount of racking installed as one project and the maximum number of panels I could afford today. Then as my electrical savings change the cash flow story and as panel prices come down (which they did) I could add more panels. This did require using different inverters (so called mini-inverters.) My theory was I could offer the installer a deal: Fill in the remaining spots in the rack a couple at a time every quarter at your leisure. Get a spare half day with a crew or need to do some training or want to push some panel order up to the next price break level... add mine and keep your savings on all of them. I'm in no rush. The longer I wait the better the panels and the lower the price.
Now there are plenty of fine reasons to say, "no" to my plan (even "don't wanna" is a fine reason.) But my salesperson thought I was trying to work the subsidy program. The assumption was that I was trying to maximize that end of things. It would not surprise me if that was the primary motivating factor in many customer's reasoning. But not mine. I was told, "If you want to fool around with the rebate calculator I can point you to it online, but I can't go back and forth on this, it takes too much of my time." (That is a paraphrase - I just reread the email to check my understanding, that was a mistake - I was offended all over again.) I wrote back trying to clarify that mine was a "yes and" rather than a "why can't I?" exchange, but I never got a response.
So, I'm one that got away. The solar business is going gang busters so frustrating folks like me is not a problem for the industry... But these issues started me on the path I'm now on and I am trying to keep fresh the memory of my "novice mind," which should come in handy soon.... more on that later.
Next up. Lazy roofs!
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