For info we have 48 panels. After the fire last year we had a two families staying with us and one lost it all. Both (RV’s) ran their AC full time and at true up we had $546 due. Not bad!

I have an electric heater backup for the shop I could go primary with. Not difficult to add an electric element to the furnace in the house. And I haven't hooked up a boiler for the basement floor heat yet. So I could go electric there.

The longevity of the battery packs concerns me.

I will be going with Grid tied System for same reasons. I do not trust longevity of the batteries and if they are big enough to run your house the cost would be too much.

Neighbor down the road just had Tesla battery pack installed. Pretty sure he said $10k, he did say after rebates and tax break he paid $4400. My concern was - how long will it run a house at 50% load and if we had the same situation as last year it was so smokey, solar would have been cut in half. That made my decision easy. With 100 amp input I can run pretty much everything. Yes it’s propane.

When solar first came into my area I was all gung ho to get it, living in the desert south west, 14 hours of sunlight, very few cloudy days, what could go wrong, right? Solar sales people start knocking on my door, giving me the sales pitch,telling me Ill pay 9 1/2 cents per kwh versus the 12 cents im paying now. They say we can do the contract right now electronically, I say the only thing I buy on the spot is bread and milk, everything else I want to look at, especially a 25 year contract. I told them to give me a copy of the contract, I will read it and then sign. They do and I did read it. Red flags start to appear. First red flag; they can only install a system that is capable of producing 29000 kwh, I use 31000 a year. I would always have at least a 2000 kwh bill to the power company. So now the 9.5 cents has just gone up a little. 2nd red flag, the would only guarantee me 26000 production, meaning my bill to the power company could be as high as 5000 khw year. 9.5 going up a little more. 3rd red flag, 2.5% rate increase yearly for the length of the contract,25 years. Pencil that out, I would be paying 21 cents per kwh versus the 12 Im paying now. My average bill to the solar company would be $425.00 a month average when Im paying 300 now average, plus I would still, owe the power company each month because they cant produce what I use. Needless to say, I havent pulled the trigger on solar yet. I have been quoted by seven different companies, 4 for a lease and 3 to buy the system outright, and they all are pretty close to the same.

qtr,
That has been my experience also. As you said, they can not and will not allow us to produce all the power we need or more (the lie of selling power back to the electric company).
Another issue is the cost of the panels, add that to our current electric bill (at least here in CT) it costs just as much )if not more) as we pay now for power per month so WHY would I pay for something that has NO benefit. And as you stated the YEARLY solar panel rate increase.

And the BIGGEST issue they don't tell you about is that WHEN you lose grid power (for us it is at least once a month for a day or two) the solar panels don't generate power so you STILL need an alternate source of power (generator) which to me makes NO sense.
Lose power on a nice sunny day BUT your solar panels don't make power WTF.

I've had a 10KW system on my place for 15+ years. It was purchased and will never pay for itself.

I was looking into a new system for another house and it was nothing but a bunch of con men trying to get you to sign a contract. Theirs numbers were so far from the truth it is unbelievable they are allowed these scams. You need to do a lot of research.
I am certainly not saying it is bad. The prices of the panels and equipment has come way down. Your location, price of your electric and local incentive programs are the big factors. I would like to go to a battery backup system on the next one. That way I would not need a power backup generator.

The reason you can't use a grid tie system when the power is out. Without battery backup it is not constant power. If a cloud goes over you would brown out everything you were powering.

Penta, outages are way down on my worry list because our power goes out only 3-4 times a year and then for only a short time, unless someone knocks down a pole or runs into a power box. I knew going in that when the power goes out you lose the panels also, thats why the sell you the $10,000 battery backup, LOL. When I did the math on the lease, I would actually save money for the first 7 years then the cost per kwh catches up to the current grid price. It only takes 4 more years to eat up the first 7 years savings. After those 11 years you are locked in to 14 more years of escalating yearly increases that add up to almost double the current cost, with no way to get out of the lease. My cost per kwh has not changed since 2008, and in the last 30 years it went from .08 to .12. So I dont see my power company doubling my rate at least in my lifetime.

AZ, after I got over the shell shock from the lease investagation I looked into the purchase option. It sounded really good upfront until they said they would put in a 16000 kwh system, and I said I use twice that and they said, yea you'll have to cut consumption by 50%??? Excuse me, they said they will replace my a\c unit, blow in more insulation,and replace all my lighting with LED bulbs. BUT they wouldnt guarantee the system would produce what I use and my cost went from .12 per kwh to .19. And when you add 2 carry the 4 and divide by 5, I was within $40.00 of what Im paying now. Where is my incentive to go solar????

Looks like most of you have roof with a mostly Southern exposure and few big tress, all of which close the door for this outstanding mod to some.
I read 38 SEER. Wow didn’t know that was a thing.

Wouldn’t have it stuck up my butt if I had room for a steam shovel.

We just had a big hail storm awhile back. Now you’re having it removed so they can replace the roof? No thanks!

With 24 acres I can find somewhere to put them if the numbers look good.

I got into this unit right, bought with house. So yeah it would take a bit to recoup costs.. Anything I can do to give the utility the finger- I do!

I am not going to install it on my roof. I am going to build a Solar patio on the South side of the building. It will be up pretty high to shade most of South side of the building and allow me to BBQ and hang out. I have a really nice view there to.

Already looks like I will be doing a few other systems for people.


I see some people trying to sell systems that will take 25 YEARS or more to pay off. Run! Do not let them try to give you hard sell, try to tell you the cost of electricity is going up to 25 cents a KW and these last 35 years. Well it may but I would not count on it to justify their overpriced system. If the system will not pay for itself at TODAY'S prices in 10 years then it is not worth it in my opinion. Ten years to pay it off at today's prices and then you get ten years or more savings on your investment. If cost of electricity goes up then your savings are better.

Right now I am concentrating on building my house and shop but in a few months I should be able to give you more information on Solar Systems.

A local $$$ new housing development is going with Tesla PV roofing.

https://www.tesla.com/solarroof

quote:

Originally posted by Curly1:

Already looks like I will be doing a few other systems for people.


Ten years to pay it off at today's prices and then you get ten years or more savings on your investment. If cost of electricity goes up then your savings are better.

LOL

Curly, if it takes me 10 years to pay it off then I will likely not see any savings as I will be in a place that is a constant 56 degrees year round.
Well that's only if you don't include my spirit as it will be hot there..

LOL

Dave

here is what I can tell you about my system. Purchased last fall. First and foremost if you can pay for it up front is the best senario.$36000 in tax credits and rebates collected this year. Second I installed mine on the metal building shop roof 46 panels no worries.5000 sq. ft. house and 4920' shop swimming pool and southwest heat. My largest bill since I got it was $18 and most months I get credit.AS for loosing power during outages I call Bullshot. No batteries on my system so I am installing a diesel backup genset{not yet hooked up].At todays rates it pays for itself in 15 years and rates are steadily going up. Warrantied against wind, hail, defects for 25 years.What's not to like?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tQmFVcD-Mbo

Question, why aren’t electric vehicles equipped with a solar panel roof, deck and hood?

I lease our 24 solar panels for $149 a month for 20 years. When we sell this house the new owner has the option to keep the system at the same monthly fee ($149) or have it removed at no cost. Since the system was installed our electric bill has never been higher than $16 a month. If anything fails the solar Company repairs the system for free. During the summer months our electric bill was normally over $450 so it made perfect sense to install the solar system and only pay the $149 plus the $16, or less, electric bill.

Do the math for your application, if you live in a high yield area buying or leasing a solar system can make perfect sense. Every home is different, in some cases a solar system does NOT pay dividends.

Bob

I was hoping with credits etc that the paybacks would be more aggressive than this. At work we generally don't look at projects with more than a 3 year payback unless the investment is needed for other reasons.