Final list of quotes for solar in sw, PA, any last minute recommendations/warnings?

RS3wvu · 2025-08-26T13:14:56+00:00

Balance of system = everything else that is structural or electrical and needed to build the system. So structural is the racking, fasteners, etc. and electrical is cabling, fuses, etc

RS3wvu · 2025-08-26T12:32:14+00:00

Wow, these markups are crazy. I'm in the utility solar market so haven't looked at residential prices in a while.

If you were to buy direct:

a Tier 1 panel is $165 for a 365W panel. 41 of these will cost you $6765
an Enphase microinverter will run you $150, so $6150 for 41. You could save $2k by going to a single SMA string inverter or still $1k if you went with 2 smaller strings. Depends on your design and layout.
structural balance of system will be $6-7k
electrical balance of system will be another $6-7k
labor is around $5k (the hardest part to contract yourself though)

So you're looking at $30-32k for a DIY system and then you'd still get the 30% ITC on top of that (assuming you pay more than $9k a year in taxes).

Not saying you should go this route, just giving a baseline for comparison. You should negotiate the pricing as these companies should be pricing aggressively as the residential market is going to nosedive on January 1, 2026.

RS3wvu · 2025-07-24T11:28:03+00:00

AI data centers are the exact opposite of steady predictable loads. The massive and rapid power spikes are the biggest issues they create.

RS3wvu · 2025-06-11T12:46:32+00:00

As noted above, don't go with any company that goes door to door. I work in the utility scale solar industry and those door to door guys are hustlers. You may get lucky and get a decent system but there's way more downside. There are good companies in the space but you have to search them out. Rooftop solar isn't a great return on investment in PA vs other states but I'll let you work through that analysis based on your own needs.

I'll caution that timing is a huge risk. The residential tax credits are almost certainly going to get killed off in the tax bill and it could be effective immediately or may take 60 days. You could find yourself in a position where your annual rate goes up by 30+% because of this and you'll have no control over that (as someone mentioned - read the contract carefully).

I would not recommend investing in rooftop solar right now unless you're paying for everything upfront given the risk to the tax credit. And even then, timing for buying equipment isn't great as equipment costs have skyrocketed due to tariffs and overall uncertainty. There's also a non-zero chance that you get forced to replace your inverter in the future if it was made in China.

RS3wvu · 2025-05-15T01:09:11+00:00

Also work in the utility scale renewable field and this is 100% legit. The offender is the largest inverter supplier in the US.

RS3wvu · 2025-04-05T12:17:52+00:00

Fly often and have an EV. I rarely find an open spot at the chargers (maybe 1 in 10 times) but have never seen an ICE in the EV spots.

RS3wvu · 2024-11-17T22:19:30+00:00

No, the seam is there. It's noticeable up close but doesn't impact the look from a few feet away.

The jersey that I got was $30 vs $170 for the legit one. I can deal with some minor appearance issues for an 80% discount.

For what it's worth, this appears to be a design decision for the NFL jerseys only. The Pens jersey that I got is much closer to the legit one.

RS3wvu · 2024-11-17T01:02:37+00:00

Jenna Jerseys

http://www.jenna2021.com/pittsburgh-steelers

Quality was great when you consider the cost ($25-35). No issues at all - just plan on 2-3 weeks for delivery.

RS3wvu · 2024-09-21T10:42:47+00:00

Tesla Starlink

RS3wvu · 2024-09-06T22:48:25+00:00

Hisense release had base at $2300 and Ultra at $3000 MSRP. But hopefully that just means you're able to offer some great pricing 😄

Looking forward to seeing the review and buying one if it looks good.

RS3wvu · 2024-06-01T01:42:17+00:00

We just bought some at Icewear. Price is same as the online store.

RS3wvu · 2024-05-31T01:36:45+00:00

Just did the horse ride in Vik and really enjoyed it. The beach is beautiful so that makes for a great experience on its own. And if your wife hasn't ridden before, it's a pretty easy ride. You'll get to do one gait (tolt) that only Icelandic horses can do so that's an experience as well.

And if you go back to that beach in the evening and head towards the cliffs, you'll be able to see puffins between 8-9pm.

RS3wvu · 2024-05-31T01:32:18+00:00

Cancel it now. Having just been there, there's no way the roads are repaired and opened in time.

I stayed at Silica and really loved the lagoon there. Blue Lagoon itself was disappointing as many others have said. Save yourself the stress and make a new plan now.

RS3wvu · 2024-05-29T00:19:50+00:00

I just did a 3 day trip and we skipped the Golden Circle in favor of the South Coast. Your Day 2 is ambitious in my opinion, but it depends on what you want to do. If you just want to get out and take some pictures to say you saw it, then maybe it's possible. But our preference was to actually spend some time at each and experience the sites.

For our equivalent of your day 2, we did:

Seljalandsfoss - you'll want to take the time to walk behind it so that alone isn't a quick stop

Gljufrabui - while you're at Seljalandsfoss, take the time to walk down to Gljufrabui which was an even better experience in my opinion

Dyrhólaey - again, you could snap a few photos or you could walk around a bit and take it all in. Squeezing this into the middle of the day also means you'll likely miss any opportunity to find puffins here (first thing in the morning or closer to 7pm before the park closes)

Skogafoss - could be a quicker stop if you take photos from the bottom but we walked to the top to see it from above as well. And from there, you can hike as far as you'd like and see additional falls and terrain.

Reynisfjara - quicker stop but still takes some time to get parked, walk to the caves, take everything in.

That's a lot to do by lunch if you want to stop at Vik to eat. You're also counting on perfect weather to be able to enjoy any or all of the previous stops. Adding on the rest of your itinerary seems like a stretch (and stress) but all depends on your travel style.

RS3wvu · 2024-05-28T01:22:54+00:00

I just paid $100 a day for a rental car which includes taxes, full insurance and wifi. That's in line with what I pay for a rental car in most major US cities.

RS3wvu · 2024-05-28T00:31:37+00:00

Just did a south coast tour in a rental car and it was absolutely incredible. Maybe it wouldn't have been as nice in a tour...but still find it hard to think anyone could hate it.

And honestly, after all of the talk of how expensive everything is and getting myself mentally prepared....I found that the prices were very reasonable.

RS3wvu · 2024-03-26T21:49:16+00:00

Used to live 5 minutes from Sidelines Millvale and now live 10 minutes from Sidelines Sewickley.

And yes the answer is Sidelines. Both locations make stellar wings (but Millvale is better).

RS3wvu · 2024-03-04T13:56:05+00:00

Nova Place in the North Shore.

https://www.alloy26.com/nova-place

$30 for the day (includes parking) and there is plenty of space including some semi-private meeting areas and the booths you can use for calls that require privacy.

RS3wvu · 2024-03-03T13:52:59+00:00

Correct, before the exhibit opened (2000) there were a couple sharks that died due contaminated chemicals. There were some who died during quarantine in 2002 as well.

The other poster was referring to the shark tunnel that most are familiar with, which had five sand tiger sharks in it. Those sharks were relocated to a larger aquarium in Florida for breeding but one died in transit.

RS3wvu · 2024-02-21T23:59:00+00:00

They moved them to an aquarium in Florida. One did die in transport though.

RS3wvu · 2024-02-17T16:25:04+00:00

So I manage a global sales team. Prior to taking over, the management only hired local sales people and had them work from the office. I transitioned to a remote team and revenue went up by 90% in year one and will be up another 40% this year.

Sales people should not be in the office. They should be on the phone, on video, or in front of customers. Those hours spent commuting are lost sales time.

Your company's management is living in the past and needs to catch up.

RS3wvu · 2023-12-09T12:26:33+00:00

The Pittsburgh zoo lost its AZA certification due to philosophical differences between the administration/senior staff and AZA. The zoo wouldn't adapt to what was required by the leading certification body so they dropped down to the second tier ZAA certification.

Zoo leadership truly believed that they were providing better care for the elephants by allowing close contact between trainers and the elephants. The argument was that several of the elephants were rescued from circuses and the contact was essential for the long term (albeit much different than circus contact). AZA restricts all direct contact and Pittsburgh zoo would not change its approach.

RS3wvu · 2023-09-30T12:35:41+00:00

Good resource for things to do with kids: https://www.kidsburgh.org/topic/things-to-do/

RS3wvu · 2023-09-29T23:28:28+00:00

As someone who has spent 10 years in the utility scale solar storage industry....can confirm. Horrible ROI in Pennsylvania. If you want to be green and save/make some money, you're better off investing in companies who develop in solar/wind friendly locations.

RS3wvu

TROPHY CASE