My wife and I spent the better part of 2 hours listening to a presentation on a solar panel system for our home. I was intrigued from the start because the main roof of our house has an E-W slope to the roof. A south slope is found over our attached garage, and a smaller area over a covered patio. Only those two relatively small areas facing S would have panels installed. That’s great! I envisioned the roof being covered—nope.

Incentives are certainly there. The sales guy predicted about a 6%/year increase in electricity costs from the cooperative we get it from now. The system should produce more electricity than we’ll use in a year by 10-15% and “net metering” will allow us to access electricity we generate without storage batteries and should actually produce a refund of some kind every year for the excess energy we produce.

There are still federal tax credits on solar, that and the “net metering” program were (I believe) approved during the Trump 45 administration.

Anyone else recently pulled the trigger on a system like this? Any regrets?

I’m in Virginia, and have solar. It’s great in that for most of the year, there is little to no electric bill and I get a check once a year from the power company for my excess.

In my situation, I did not allow them to put panels over asphalt shingles on the house, they were installed on my garage/workshop which has a metal roof.

There is production, although low, on cloudy days, if you get snow, have a plan on how to remove the snow, there’s no production when the panels are snow covered.

Check on the net metering rules and SREC rates are in your state, that can all put some money back in your pocket. On the SRECs, some places will try to give you an upfront lump sum, this is typically not advantageous in my opinion.

My email is in my profile if there’s any other questions I might be able to answer.

YMMV, definitely.

Prices increased quickly here. With the net metering program I received, I broke even in about 2-3 years; during the decision phase, was anticipating break even to be 5-7 years.

Energy bill : it's more about using the AC as much as I want w/o electricity bills going through the roof. Any kind of refund was not expected.

I was expecting to have electricity even during power outages. That was a misunderstanding on my part I guess. Still, solar was a good decision for me - I get to use AC more (and cooler set point) and not have to pay for the additional use. Reduce annual bills from several thousand to several hundred.

Thanks. More to think about. Our climate is such that we don’t have air conditioning, so that’s not a factor. Snow on the panels, on the roof, might be. We just got off the phone with the electric cooperative and she laughed at the salesman’s predicted 5%/year rate increase estimate. Not likely.

We were offered a significant discount to sign today, and we’ve already decided that we’re going to take more time to make this decision.

Be careful, there are plenty of people out there who will slap those up over old roofs and cause more issues then they solve.

The only one I would ever consider getting is the Tesla roof with the solar shingles along with the power bank. If you cannot use it when there is no power, why have it? Plus I would want something durable. My electric bills are only $350 in the hot summer south Texas months and I am fine with that. Hope it works out for you.

The price of solar equipment has gone way down.
I would investigate buying your own equipment including battery's to store some of the power.
Installation is not hard as far as hooking everything up.
I agree with the roof comment. DO NOT even think of installing panels over an aging roof.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
Be careful, there are plenty of people out there who will slap those up over old roofs and cause more issues then they solve.

The only one I would ever consider getting is the Tesla roof with the solar shingles along with the power bank. If you cannot use it when there is no power, why have it? Plus I would want something durable. My electric bills are only $350 in the hot summer south Texas months and I am fine with that. Hope it works out for you.

I think you are misunderstanding the purpose of a power wall, it's an energy storage system. It allows you the use of power when there is no utility available.

Additionally unless things have changed recently, a roof inspection is part of the installation process. The solar installation company I worked for/with as a subcontractor guaranteed the roof if it passed inspection for 10 years. If it failed inspection, then you had option to replace yourself or roll the cost of the roof into the installation cost. Either way I don't understand how one could blame solar for the age of the roof. The age has to to with passage of time and local conditions and is completely independent of solar energy.

Net Metering varies by State . Here , you get a credit for excess power back to the utility . You don't get money back until you terminate your service . Only then do they settle up with you .

Yes, rules, rebates, incentives (ie taking your neighbors tax money to pay for your solar states) the only way it works is to live in a state where the graft is to take taxpayer money to offset the cost of the solar installations, CA, MA et all, liberal states have super generous taxpayer redistribution programs.

Hey if you live there, take advantage of it, otherwise your money is paying for everyone else.

FL doesn't allow it, we have to sell our over production back to the power company at net rates. We can't sell our overproduction on the spot market for the highest rate.

The cost to put a Tesla system in that is 70% (they don't make one big enough for the power we use) is $56,000. Costcos contractor quoted $125K. If I was 20 years old and lived in the house 40 years it still wouldnt break even. Even with the largest Tesla system they can't cover the whole bill and we would still have a $150 monthly electric bill.

If it did, we'd do it, JMO, reinsulate the attic, upgrade the windows and doors, install a high seer heat pump system, light timers, LED lights, do all that, THEN see what size system you need, or if it makes sense at all.

HRK, we’ve pretty much decided that if we were younger it would make more sense for us too.

I did my array in 2014. I had the perfect roof for it, direction, etc. Perfect pitch, azimuth, and real estate. 35 panels and they are all on the back part of the roof so you can’t see them from the front of the house and/or street. I did a lease instead of buying them as I don’t want to remain in TX forever. They save me about 4 figures per year and I’ve been driving the same electric hatchback during this time, 11 years now for both. And the gas savings I save per month is substantial. It’s basically free fuel for the car. It’s not exactly free but it’s next to nothing as I use the sun to power most of the house and the daily driver. Burning gasoline going fast is my main hobby in life so the savings I get go back into my hobbies. Parts, fuel, even buying ammo with the savings.

The solar panels are stronger than the shingles on my roof. Been through hail storms where my roofer had to replace the shingles, but only the front half of the roof where there are no panels. Shingles under the panels remain mint as they aren’t getting that direct sunlight. Then the back half of the roof is shielded from the sun so there is an energy benefit to that. It’s like an extra layer of insulation. Few talk about this benefit. Those fucking panels are strong. All the hail did was bust the plastic end caps off the rails which I made the company I lease from, replace. Little 5 cent pieces of plastic on the metal rails that hold the panels. Sure saved me even more money as I didn’t have to do a full roof replacement.

I’ve got some rural land that I want to move to in the next few years and that will be even more elaborate. I’ve learned a lot in these 11 years, in actual use. This whole time when this comes up, someone usually inserts some bullshit into it. In the beginning my real estate agent said this would make it harder to sell the house. Now, he says the complete opposite since the panels are already there and a L2 charger for someone’s Tesla in the garage. I’ll never own a Tesla but the buyers of my house might. Looking forward to selling it in the next few years.

The one thing in TX that sucks is we don’t have net metering here. Greedy ass politicians or electric providers continue to block it. So when my electric contract comes up it’s hours and hours of work calling these pos companies up trying to find the best plan/deal. They have some details online but to get into the fine print it’s easier on the phone. It’s a royal PITA either way as the state isn’t real friendly to citizens generating their own power. Some years I’m on a plan where I’m paying a much higher rate for kWh than what they pay me. They’ll pay me a commercial rate which sucks. Right now I have net metering via the plan I’m on but I’m paying a couple cents higher than I could have for kWh. Due to the net metering they offered it’s worth it. If your state has net metering on the books, you are lucky. Take your time, get bids from multiple companies. Treat it the same as a remodel. You might get 4-5 bids. Today they are greedy ass salesmen selling them. Back when I got mine, you had to call into a power company, get put on a list. They come out and do an inspection and calculate if it’s worth it. Some salesman POS wasn’t even involved so nowadays treat it like a car sale. Don’t let some salesman rip you off. Do all the homework and take months deciding.

I did all the radiant barrier, attic insulation, new windows, new entry doors, before I put them on the roof. So I’m taking max benefit of the lease financially.

Sounds like good advice, Prefontaine

1) how many Kw will you produce? That determines exactly how much the system will produce on a sunny day.
2) net metering - how much does your electricity cost and how much does the electric company credit you? You may pay 9 cents per unit but the electric company credits you 5 cents per unit.
3) Return on investment is usually 6 years.
4) What is the warranty on roof leaks? Warranty on solar panels ? What type of dc convertor- Invertor which is older technology and easier to repair vs individual converters on each panel

I just finished having 26 panels installed. Cost was 30k, 8k after fed and state credits. We have neighbors that have been running for a couple years. Their electric bill is like $15 a month administrative fee with no electric charge from the grid when averaged out over the year. I have more panels than neighbors. One downside is if the grid goes down so does my solar. Considering a battery system in a few years when prices come down so I get 24hrs of power if grid goes down. The panel are not obnoxious looking as the panels are just off the roof.

When I first moved into this house I was dead against solar. With all the rebates it will pay for itself in about 7-8 years depending on how much the electric rates increase, which they seem to do every year or two. It should also give me a little bump at sell time. I’m actually pretty shocked I bit the bullet and I’m not “green” and I hate government handouts but in this case it made financial sense.

Our system is pushing toward 20 years old. Paid for itself in 7-8 years. It is 40 panels/11 kw. We have it on a tin roof on our pole barn, so it isn’t even on the house. We do not have battery back up, so when the grid goes down, we lose power. I do have a generator, completely separate from the solar system. That covers for the grid crashing.
I figure our system cut our electric bills by about 75%. We do not have electric bills for 8 or 9 months of the year. Winter has snow and shorter days. I make no effort to clear snow, nor do I worry about cleaning the panels. We have had two near by lightening strikes that damaged the inverters (we have two). The home owners insurance covered the repairs both times. While our surplus electricity is not excessive, we do get a payment from the electric company for our surplus. Officially I am a small electric company that our electric company sources “green” energy from. By some law they are required to produce a certain percentage of their energy from green technology. This counts. The system requires zero maintenance from me, I just leave it alone. I see it as a good idea if you have a relatively new roof and plan to stay where you are for some years. I don’t think you’ll get your money out of it if you’re not going stay.

Appreciate the responses. I think we’ll be around long enough to make it pay, but I don’t think we’ll do it.

My electric bills have doubled since they installed a "smart meter", I'm going solar, should be good at least 10 months out of the year, the other 2 I will be off and on. I have electric heat with heat pumps, as long as the temperature stays above 28 F my pumps keep the house warm. Heat pumps only use about 15 amps on heat and 6 amps on AC. Not allowed to sell it back to the power company so I'm getting batteries and it will be off-grid. Prices are low right now with good sales going on and with the 30% fed tax break I pulled the trigger this weekend, also wanted to avoid any of the tariffs. I'll have 39 - 440 watt solar panels some facing South and some facing East. 3 inverters for 22,000 watts total/surge capacity and 92,000 watts battery storage capacity with 100 max amps. I'm installing the racking and panels, the inverters and batteries are plug and play, and I have an electrician to do all the dangerous stuff. F*ck AEP.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
Be careful, there are plenty of people out there who will slap those up over old roofs and cause more issues then they solve.

The only one I would ever consider getting is the Tesla roof with the solar shingles along with the power bank. If you cannot use it when there is no power, why have it? Plus I would want something durable. My electric bills are only $350 in the hot summer south Texas months and I am fine with that. Hope it works out for you.

I think you are misunderstanding the purpose of a power wall, it's an energy storage system. It allows you the use of power when there is no utility available.

Additionally unless things have changed recently, a roof inspection is part of the installation process. The solar installation company I worked for/with as a subcontractor guaranteed the roof if it passed inspection for 10 years. If it failed inspection, then you had option to replace yourself or roll the cost of the roof into the installation cost. Either way I don't understand how one could blame solar for the age of the roof. The age has to to with passage of time and local conditions and is completely independent of solar energy.

No, I do understand. The power bank lets you store power and I would want to be off grid, not connected to it. I do not see how it is worthwhile to anyone unless power bills are sky high. I would also look into the useful life of the panels, how much storm damage costs etc. People near me are getting solar but cannot use it when the power is out. They are also getting panels on old roofs. Do a YouTube search on roofing contractors critiquing solar panel installs. You will see what is going on.

I have solar but we are still connected to the grid.

I have 2 Tesla batteries for the power wall.

We are the only house in the neighborhood that has electricity when it goes out.

Summertime I run the AC 24/7 and the bill is about $20…