So Apex that cost you $18k ? How much space does it take up on your roof?
I gotta say that is pretty awesome. Any sites to find more specific information? Your pics have definitely piqued my interest (not for an electric car though).
Also if you don't mind sharing what City you live in, I see you're in S CA.
Yeah, about $18k after rebates and credits. The rebates and credits accounted for roughly 1/2 of the total system cost (so the initial total was $37k). The solar installer actually fronted the money for the rebate, so they take it right off the top (you don't have to wait for it).
I think there are cheaper routes now, for instance this 5kW system from costco (Just need to install it or get it installed (in CA, you need an installer who will warranty for 10 years for the utility rebate):
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...*90897*&topnav
I'm not sure exactly how much space it takes up. However, regulations require something like a 3' space around the edges of the roof with nothing installed. There's plenty of space between the panels too, so that they don't cause a shadow to fall on any other panel.
The panels I went with were the 235w Kyocera KD235GX-LFB. They're +5%/-3% tolerance, 209.4w PTC panels. PTC is the important spec to look for, along with the tolerance. They're certified to only degrade down to 80% of peak power output after 20 years.
This install is in Palos Verdes. It's definitely not an ideal location because of the amount of fog we get there. Even so, it's been performing spectacularly, as you can see from the SoCalEdision report. Despite being in some of the more rainy/cloudy/foggy months of the year, it's gotten our bill down to negative numbers. We had only expected a system this size to get the bill down to $60-70 per month.