[briHass]

Labor for anything is expensive in the US.

Parts/materials costs in contractor quotes are often padded so they aren't completely overshadowed by the labor portion. In any job where there's specialized knowledge or license restrictions (HVAC) or risk (walking on a roof), the floor for labor rates is usually 2-4x the materials cost.

But, the real issue is that almost nobody pays cash upfront for their solar install. Between incentives, loans, and/or predatory PPAs, the prices lose touch with reality. See healthcare, college tuition, housing prices, etc. for similar scenarios where credit or third-parties distort the market.

[apexalpha]

Over here installation takes 4 hours or so, probably less.

How much more expensive can that be?

It's probably much more in the planning process and tariffs on Chinese PV.

[phil21]

You don't really have that many competent solar installers in most locations in the US. I basically gave up trying. I'm sure they exist, but if you don't want some financed/leased/etc. financial-product-as-a-solar-install your options dwindle.

It's entirely obvious that most of these places make money off the financial engineering, not the installation part.

I'd sign a competent contractor today for my quite marginal installation plans if I could find someone I'd trust to build something decent and to my specification.

They also tend to devalue the house as it's more difficult to get insurance, and many potential buyers are used to shitshow level of installs and/or dealing with a more complex close due to the seller needing to pay off loans/leases/etc.

A lot of these plays are also companies setting up complex financial engineering schemes that boil down to government subsidy arbitrage.