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Most solar installers charge by the watt capacity of your system and the parts and labor to get it onto your roof. This is a fairly fixed cost, the estimate normally is around what the final cost will be, but there are things that can increase the cost:

1) Old Roof, if your roof is old it may need to be replaced.  You should consult with your service professional if your roof has not been replaced in the last 15 years. It does not make sense to put a system that will last for 35 years on a roof that has 10 good years left.

2) Problems roofs, a flat roof needs to have structure to mount the solar panels on an angle in the direction of the sun.  If your roof lacks a frame structure, is difficult to find studs or doesn’t seal properly, this could ad costs.

3) Non-Traditional Mounts, most photovoltaic systems go on your garage or homes roof, but if you have a big backyard or a structure in your backyard, additional equipment may be necessary, such as ground mounts to elevate and tilt the panels.  Putting panels on a non-traditional area comes with the benefit of pinpointing the perfect alignment toward the sun to harness the most energy possible.  When you ground mount, often you need to trench, or run wire conduit from the panels to your meter underground.

4) Building permits, solar permits are a bit more complicated than most, but a solar professional should be experienced enough to handle it.

5) Upgraded Inverter, the inverter converts DC (unusable) current into AC current (usable).  If you foresee increasing the amount of solar energy you want to produce or plan on adding additional panels at a different location on your property, then you would want to alert your solar contractor to this as an inverter with a larger capacity would be necessary.

6) Extras, such as a monitoring system that can upload data to a personal computer on how your system is performing.

There will always be the potential for additional expenses, but solar installers are typically right on the money with their estimates.  The biggest factor in avoiding additional expenses is having these conversations with solar contractors prior to signing a contract.  I recommend speaking to at least three or four contractors and getting a feel for which one meshes well with your project and personality.

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