07/13/2011
Andrew Ditchfield
Typically the contractor will design a PV Solar system for a given house from which he generates the parts list. I had already ordered most of the components including the mounting hardware without knowing exactly how it would all go together. Therefore the contractor had to reverse engineer the design based on the parts I already had and make it all work. This caused a few glitches when some of the parts I ordered were not compatible or missing. I also had ordered one more panel than would fit on the roof. We agreed to a fixed labor cost to install the equipment that I had already bought and that I would buy any additional hardware needed. The contractor was able to locate the additional hardware at competitive prices.<br />My overall impression is that the contractor (Sam Garten) was motivated to put his full focus and energy into the job. He was flexible to work with the equipment I had already bought and communicated the status of the job well. He was focused on quality and getting every detail correct, which included the building/electrical code requirements. The end result was a clean, professional install that impressed the building/electrical inspectors and also passed the utilities inspection for connection to the grid.<br />I was planning to use the DTE Solar Currents program which pays about 1/3 of the project cost up front. That program was canceled during my install because I didn`t get my application in on time. Not sure if I would have done the install if I knew that was going to happen.