I don't disagree, but that's really absurd. Installation is not particularly difficult. There are dangers, but It's not significantly challenging. The market requires it - because all those solar companies wouldn't exist if it wasn't profitable. Still... every time I see an installation quote I'm blown away by how much people pay. People don't seem to care about numbers once they have to get financed for a few years.

You should check out the planet money podcast on this topic. Turns out a big part of (consumer?) solar getting cheaper was the invention of a new tool, some kind of wrench I believe.

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/04/10/398811199/episo...

> GOLDSTEIN: But again, just in the past few years, installation has actually gotten a lot cheaper. As a way it's gotten cheaper is it's gotten faster. You don't have to pay those guys to be out at your house for as long. And when I was out at John's, I actually saw some of the reasons it has gotten faster.

> RYAN BARNETT: This is the Zep Tool. This is the end-all be-all of tools.

> GOLDSTEIN: The Zep Tool? Led Zep Tool?

> BARNETT: Yeah, exactly. (Laughter). One tool to rule them all. Yep.

> GOLDSTEIN: That's a guy named Ryan Barnett (ph).

> What's a Zep Tool? I mean, it's a wrench. It's basically a wrench. It's got these little marks on it or whatever, but the key thing is it's part of this whole installation system they use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtiKyp12ej0

I think it's much more accurate to call it an installation platform/system, as the wrench is fairly incidental. The hardware is the innovation. Pretty cool overall.

Since owning a house I am no longer surprised when seeing high costs for quotes of solar installs. Pretty much everything from a simple plumbing job to getting a window fixed has gotten very expensive.

I'm sure the costs for a contractor doing solar panels on a complete new build "cookie-cutter" subdivision could be quite reasonable but anytime it's a one off, with every house having its own unique quirks, it becomes expensive. It's also one of those things where I assume liability for the contractor can get quite high. Panel falling off the roof, or causing issues with standing ice or roof leaks, etc. Additionally it requires expertise in not only roofing but also electrical circuits (so a qualified electrician).

Installation is labor-intensive custom work. Panel manufacture is a high-volume production process.

And skilled labor at that. You don't want your roof leaking (if that's where it's installed), nor do you want an electrical fire.

I also presume the current installation prices might include some sort of maintenance guarantee. That adds to cost as well.

According to this [1], installation costs are way less than half of solar panel costs in 2016 US$. Looks like 10% - 15% depending on the installation case. See Figure ES-1.

[1] http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy17osti/67474.pdf

Look at page viii on your link. "Hardware costs constitute about half the total price of our small-battery systems. The largest single hardware cost for these systems is the 6-kW battery-based inverter ($3,596), followed by the PV array ($3,584) and the lithium-ion battery ($3,000)."

PV only is the orange box at the bottom. The cheapest option is 3,584 for the panels and total cost of 15,581. The most expensive option is still just 3,584$ for panels and a total installed cost of 47,171$. Trying to drop that 3,584$ portion is not going to make much difference a this point. But, needing to install more panels would significantly increase other costs.

Agreed, and thanks. It's clear that dropping panel costs really wouldn't affect the installed bottom line much.

I just focused on installation costs, which in all cases seem far less than 50% of the overall system cost. This suggests that there isn't much economic leverage in reducing (or preventing growth of) installation cost, either. Only in the large battery cases is there a single component (the battery) that dominates other cost components.

Also notice that this is for solar with energy storage. If you want to tap into the grid then you need a permit and an electrician in addition to an emergency cut off for firemen. That ends up being $Ks which are related to installation (not panel/inverter/mounting) rather than a battery.

Check Project Sunroof for a quote: https://www.google.com/get/sunroof

It's not uncommon for installation costs to be over 30% (especially for smaller installations and depending on roof conditions), and when you only get the Fed subsidy when you pay taxes that number ends up looking bigger (even if it's the same % in the end).

Inverters are improving too. New semiconductors are being developed and improved.

Half the cost of solar panels was not installation for my system. Care to provide figures?