You are probably weighing up 3 alternative approaches to your solar upgrade.
Adding more solar panels wa.
2 get a new bigger inverter and add more panels too.
Your charge controller has to be able to handle at least 10 more than this.
As they re accurately sized to the solar installation adding more panels will probably exceed the amount of electricity your inverter can process.
Bonus for modules solar panels made in wa.
3 get a whole new separate solar system installed next to the original.
Add together the wattage of the two solar panels.
As of september 2020 the average solar panel cost in washington is 2 75 w.
After accounting for the 26 federal investment tax credit itc and other state and local solar incentives the net price you ll pay for solar can fall by thousands of dollars.
In very general equations not specific to product selection additional capacity and installation specifics the cost to add more solar panels are often defined between the pricing guidelines from 50c to 1 50 per watt.
If you re adding quite a few panels and your entire solar panel system is much larger than the original size it may generate more electricity than your pre existing inverter can handle.
Since string inverters have an average lifespan of 10 years try to coincide the installation of your extra panels with replacing your inverter to save money.
Given a solar panel system size of 5 kilowatts kw an average solar installation in washington ranges in cost from 11 688 to 15 812 with the average gross price for solar in washington coming in at 13 750.
Washington state solar incentives 2020 when installing solar panels in washington homeowners are eligible to get 26 the cost of installing solar back in taxes using a federal solar tax credit while paying no local or state sales tax effective july 1st 2019.
If your municipality offers a solar renewable energy credit srec marketplace you have the option of selling your excess electricity back to the grid.
Add on projects are a bit easier if your original solar panel system uses microinverters as opposed to a power optimizer or string inverter system.
If your existing solar panel is 100 watts and you want to add a 50 watt solar panel you will need a charge controller that can handle 150 watts plus 10.
Adding more solar panels can minimize the financial sting of your home expansion.
According to the national renewable energy laboratory each 1 in energy savings from solar panels adds 20 to your home s total value.
And the more solar panels you have the more you ll save on your energy bill.
1 add more panels to your existing system using your original inverter.
You d like to take advantage of solar renewable energy credits.
Because microinverters are located at each individual panel you don t have to worry about inverter capacity issues and can just install additional.