Solar Panels buyers remorse (1 Viewer)

[wilked]

But it doesn't add anything at all.   

Most things people add to homes for personal reasons don't add any or very little value to a home.

I bought a home in May with a pool. It's easily a $100k pool.  Appraiser gave $20k value to it.

Not everyone has your personal tastes.

Pool is a nice to have

electricity is a need to have 

wrong analogy for sure. A better one might be central air, and I’d argue central air definitely adds value 

 

[Zegras11]

Pool is a nice to have

electricity is a need to have 

wrong analogy for sure. A better one might be central air, and I’d argue central air definitely adds value 

Central air, if it didn't have it before, for sure.  New roof adds value.  New AC and water heater that were 20 years old adds value.  Items that have to be replaced at some point add value.   

Upgrades to kitchens, flooring, bathrooms add value. Not what you paid for them, but way more than personal choices like solar panels and pools.    

 

[The Commish]

They aren't that large.  They are all linked inside of our garage.  They are about two feet deep and two-and-a-half feet wide.  They take up about the same space our lawn mower did.

Really the value they add to our house has more to do with hurricanes (and now freezes).  We won't lose power during those times.  I guess we bought the most expensive UPS that we could find.

How big is your house and how long do the batteries last while powering your house?

 

[Chris B.]

My in-laws had solar panels installed about 15 years ago in central California where they get sun 400 days out of the year. The past few years they've hardly noticed any savings on their bill at all. Maybe it's a maintenance thing or it's an old technology thing, but expecting panels to pay for themselves (or offset energy costs) years down the line at the same efficiency rate may not be realistic.

 

[wilked]

Central air, if it didn't have it before, for sure.  New roof adds value.  New AC and water heater that were 20 years old adds value.  Items that have to be replaced at some point add value.   

Upgrades to kitchens, flooring, bathrooms add value. Not what you paid for them, but way more than personal choices like solar panels and pools.    

Sorry but, but you’re off base here. It might be regional but I know for a fact that equivalent homes sold, one that has an electric bill, and the other that doesn’t, the one with no bill will sell for more. 

 

[joffer]

My in-laws had solar panels installed about 15 years ago in central California where they get sun 400 days out of the year. The past few years they've hardly noticed any savings on their bill at all. Maybe it's a maintenance thing or it's an old technology thing, but expecting panels to pay for themselves (or offset energy costs) years down the line at the same efficiency rate may not be realistic.

Panels sold fifteen years ago probably only lasted 15 years

 

[Zegras11]

Sorry but, but you’re off base here. It might be regional but I know for a fact that equivalent homes sold, one that has an electric bill, and the other that doesn’t, the one with no bill will sell for more. 

Yep, just like a pool.  Maybe 5-20% of the cost of the  install.   But like a pool, the vast majority of home buyers don't want or desire it, as it actually decreases the amount of prospective buyers on a home. And that's a big reason why personal upgrades don't add much value to a home.   You need electricity in a home.  You don't need solar panels.

 For solar, a lot of new buyers don't want any part of them due to their huge lack of knowledge on them.  Only 4% of homes in the US have solar energy.  https://www.consumeraffairs.com/solar-energy/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost.html

An average solar panel system in the US is $15k.  Adds maybe $1-3k, if any.  

And I've seen DOZENS of appraisals where a pool added $0. I was kinda surprised when mine got $20k.

Unless you are in Palm Springs, or somewhere in Arizona, it's just not a feature that a huge factor in a buyer purchasing a home.

 

[ChiefD]

My in-laws had solar panels installed about 15 years ago in central California where they get sun 400 days out of the year. The past few years they've hardly noticed any savings on their bill at all. Maybe it's a maintenance thing or it's an old technology thing, but expecting panels to pay for themselves (or offset energy costs) years down the line at the same efficiency rate may not be realistic.

Impressive.

 

[dkp993]

Impressive.

Here in So-Cal we get 429.  Unfortunately we also get -27 days of rain a year too.  

 

[The Commish]

Yep, just like a pool.  Maybe 5-20% of the cost of the  install.   But like a pool, the vast majority of home buyers don't want or desire it, as it actually decreases the amount of prospective buyers on a home. And that's a big reason why personal upgrades don't add much value to a home.   You need electricity in a home.  You don't need solar panels.

 For solar, a lot of new buyers don't want any part of them due to their huge lack of knowledge on them.  Only 4% of homes in the US have solar energy.  https://www.consumeraffairs.com/solar-energy/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost.html

An average solar panel system in the US is $15k.  Adds maybe $1-3k, if any.  

And I've seen DOZENS of appraisals where a pool added $0. I was kinda surprised when mine got $20k.

Unless you are in Palm Springs, or somewhere in Arizona, it's just not a feature that a huge factor in a buyer purchasing a home.

Your world is very different than ours here in Florida.  It's almost required.  Of course, that's not to say if I put $100K pool in my yard with a house I paid $100K for I can then sell it for $200K, but they are valued here.

 

[wilked]

Yep, just like a pool.  Maybe 5-20% of the cost of the  install.   But like a pool, the vast majority of home buyers don't want or desire it, as it actually decreases the amount of prospective buyers on a home. And that's a big reason why personal upgrades don't add much value to a home.   You need electricity in a home.  You don't need solar panels.

 For solar, a lot of new buyers don't want any part of them due to their huge lack of knowledge on them.  Only 4% of homes in the US have solar energy.  https://www.consumeraffairs.com/solar-energy/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost.html

An average solar panel system in the US is $15k.  Adds maybe $1-3k, if any.  

And I've seen DOZENS of appraisals where a pool added $0. I was kinda surprised when mine got $20k.

Unless you are in Palm Springs, or somewhere in Arizona, it's just not a feature that a huge factor in a buyer purchasing a home.

I still have no idea what you compare to a pool. They are completely different things 

one study here 

https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w17200/w17200.pdf

homes sold for 3.5% more w solar. There’s a bunch of other studies  

asked differently, would you offer more for a house where you have no electric bill vs a house where you will? It’s hard for me to believe that you would, logically, unless you like setting money on fire. Solar is infrastructure, similar to new roof or maybe spray foam insulation, new boiler, or as I mentioned central air. Comparing to a pool or hot tub or coy pond is a completely different category 

 

[Zegras11]

Your world is very different than ours here in Florida.  It's almost required.  Of course, that's not to say if I put $100K pool in my yard with a house I paid $100K for I can then sell it for $200K, but they are valued here.

https://www.floridarealtymarketplace.com/blog/does-a-pool-add-value-to-a-home-in-florida.html

This article says $30k.  But it also says this:
When you add a private pool, the average selling price jumps to $292,000—an increase of almost $30,000. Is that increase due to the pool? Perhaps, but it should be noted that these properties are also, on average, 300 square feet larger. That extra space could be an additional bedroom, bathroom, or bonus area.

This extra space could account for the higher sell price. It’s also important to note that these houses sat on the market for an average of 76 days, two weeks more than homes without private pools.

Article was from Feb 2020.

I'll wager that most of the $30k is the extra 300 square feet.  That's 15% of a 2000 sq ft home. 

I guarantee you that if you add two, 10x15 (300 sq ft) bedrooms to a home for $30k, the value will go up a lot more than $30k.

 

[ChiefD]

Here in So-Cal we get 429.  Unfortunately we also get -27 days of rain a year too.  

You get 429 sun days a year when there is only 365 days in a year? That’s even more impressive than the other guy!

 

[Zegras11]

I still have no idea what you compare to a pool. They are completely different things 

one study here 

https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w17200/w17200.pdf

homes sold for 3.5% more w solar. There’s a bunch of other studies  

asked differently, would you offer more for a house where you have no electric bill vs a house where you will? It’s hard for me to believe that you would, logically, unless you like setting money on fire. Solar is infrastructure, similar to new roof or maybe spray foam insulation, new boiler, or as I mentioned central air. Comparing to a pool or hot tub or coy pond is a completely different category 

like the Florida one I posted, all the average sizes of these homes were much greater.   

If anything, it's just a tiny fraction of what makes a house priced a little higher.   

The overall condition of all the major systems and upgrades (or lack of) in a home account for the huge swings in pricing. A solar system is just a small part of that.   

Why would anyone pay $20k more for a home with solar panels on it when it costs $15k to put new ones on?

 

[dkp993]

You get 429 sun days a year when there is only 365 days in a year? That’s even more impressive than the other guy!

So I figured my -27 days of rain part would highlight the joke but apparently it fell flat

 

[ChiefD]

So I figured my -27 days of rain part would highlight the joke but apparently it fell flat

Whew. I thought I was the victim of some weird sun day calculation thing. 

 

[wilked]

like the Florida one I posted, all the average sizes of these homes were much greater.   

If anything, it's just a tiny fraction of what makes a house priced a little higher.   

The overall condition of all the major systems and upgrades (or lack of) in a home account for the huge swings in pricing. A solar system is just a small part of that.   

Why would anyone pay $20k more for a home with solar panels on it when it costs $15k to put new ones on?

The problem with your analysis is that is not how homes are bought and sold, like ordering cars with options. 
 

you say $15k, the very first post in this thread was a solar install for $49k.  Whatever the price is, I wouldn’t pay $20k more for a $15k install, but I might pay $10k more base on age / condition of system. I certainly wouldn’t price it at $0 unless it was end of life (20+ years old), where I would also price in a new roof due to its age as well. 
 

like I said above, price it as at the true cost at year 0 and straight-line depreciate it over 20 years. If the system was worth $30k new and it’s 10 years old, I factor it’s worth at $15k additional 

 

[Zegras11]

The problem with your analysis is that is not how homes are bought and sold, like ordering cars with options. 
 

you say $15k, the very first post in this thread was a solar install for $49k.  Whatever the price is, I wouldn’t pay $20k more for a $15k install, but I might pay $10k more base on age / condition of system. I certainly wouldn’t price it at $0 unless it was end of life (20+ years old), where I would also price in a new roof due to its age as well. 
 

like I said above, price it as at the true cost at year 0 and straight-line depreciate it over 20 years. If the system was worth $30k new and it’s 10 years old, I factor it’s worth at $15k additional 

Then why do professional appraisers almost always give zero value to them?   Do you know more than they do?
( just searched "solar" in a local and national FB groups I'm in.  About 20 posts in each on this subject. Every answer was zero to very little.  The very little is in areas where they are more prevalent, and even then, agents said that had to give appraiser extra comps to prove that extra value)

And paying more for something that only 4% of the home market uses is just insanity.  There's no shortage of them or tax incentives driving up the price.   

Several articles I saw during all this claimed prices are 70% less than 10 years ago.  Why are only 4% using this then?  Why is the OP backing out of his deal?

why not buy a similar home as you say and install a $15k system?  (15k was the US average in an article I saw)

What if you are buying a home and the system is on a lease?

The market for these new and buying into one on  an existing home is very confusing to almost everyone.  To the point people are led to believe they should pay more for a 10 year old system than what it cost to install. 

 

[Zegras11]

Other interesting comments...

I recently bought a house with solar panels on it. It is an Enphase system that was installed by Auric Solar. I was surprised by a $399 administrative ownership transfer fee and then they want another $149 for a report on the health of the equipment.
 

"My bill averages $200 per month.  Why would I put in a $30k system that would take 12.5 years to pay off when I doubt I'd be here 10 years?"


They also cost more to repair when new roof is needed and repairs in general.

"I once heard a builder describe solar panels as “stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime”.

Several comments that it made a lot more sense if the home was 5,000 or more sq ft.

 

 

[fatness]

Today I learned counterfeit solar panels are a thing.

U.S. Customs agents in Baltimore have seized 1,000 counterfeit solar panels imported from China that could pose danger. The shipment of 365-watt crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules were initially detected September 23 destined for Denver, Colorado.

 

[wilked]

Other interesting comments...

I recently bought a house with solar panels on it. It is an Enphase system that was installed by Auric Solar. I was surprised by a $399 administrative ownership transfer fee and then they want another $149 for a report on the health of the equipment.
 

"My bill averages $200 per month.  Why would I put in a $30k system that would take 12.5 years to pay off when I doubt I'd be here 10 years?"


They also cost more to repair when new roof is needed and repairs in general.

"I once heard a builder describe solar panels as “stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime”.

Several comments that it made a lot more sense if the home was 5,000 or more sq ft.

 

You are oddly bent against solar, not exactly

sure your motivation? 
 

that transfer stuff you mention above is for a leased system. I personally have zero interest I one and would tend to stay away from those when home buying. They are generally not good deals for anyone other than the lease companies 

if the payback is 12 years it’s not a good buy. My payback was about 5-6 years. Easy win. Not every home is a good candidate for solar, whether it be due to geography, lack of electric consumption, etc. but for those that are good candidates it’s about the best sure thing investment available after employer 401k match. 
 

a good resource is https://sunroof.withgoogle.com

if your roof is bright yellow and you’ll confidently be in your house more than five years, you should strongly consider getting some quotes. 
this is my house. It would almost be malpractice for me not to get solar. My neighbors to the south, the opposite - would make zero sense unless they want to pick their house up and rotate it 90 degrees. 
https://imgur.com/gallery/EzXSELy

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

And paying more for something that only 4% of the home market uses is just insanity.

I have no idea where you are getting this number, but you should remember that a large part of the US is not a place for solar power.  Unless you are figuring a percentage of a state where solar makes sense, that number doesn't mean much.  And as wilked pointed out, not all houses are properly situated for for solar.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

How big is your house and how long do the batteries last while powering your house?

Our house is 1900 sq ft.  We have three three Tesla power walls.  Each one has a storage capcity of 13.5 kW hrs.  Our house is pretty energy efficient.  On a hot day, we draw 35 kW hrs of energy.  So they would last a little over a day with no sunlight whatsoever.  In practical usage, that would be unlikely.  In the last four months, we only had about four days where we actually drew any power from the grid.  (The weather generally clears after a hurricane.)  That assumes we run everything as normal.  We could make them last longer if we needed to.  Since Mr R works from here, having a reliable power source is a goodness.

 

[Zegras11]

I have no idea where you are getting this number, but you should remember that a large part of the US is not a place for solar power.  Unless you are figuring a percentage of a state where solar makes sense, that number doesn't mean much.  And as wilked pointed out, not all houses are properly situated for for solar.

The cost to install solar dropped by more than 70% over the past decade, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Roughly 4% of homes in the U.S. are powered by solar energy.Apr 22, 2021

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

The cost to install solar dropped by more than 70% over the past decade, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Roughly 4% of homes in the U.S. are powered by solar energy.Apr 22, 2021

Again, a lot of people live where solar is not really a choice.  You need a state by state ratio to get a good idea of what the usage is.

 

[Zegras11]

Again, a lot of people live where solar is not really a choice.  You need a state by state ratio to get a good idea of what the usage is.

California is #1.

According to the California Solar Initiative, more than half a million residential properties are connected to the state's electricity grid through solar net metering programs. With just under 13 million households in the state, these solar-powered homes constitute less than 5% of Californian homes.Jan 16, 2020

The half mil is way more than any other state.

 

[Terminalxylem]

You are oddly bent against solar, not exactly

sure your motivation? 
 

that transfer stuff you mention above is for a leased system. I personally have zero interest I one and would tend to stay away from those when home buying. They are generally not good deals for anyone other than the lease companies 

if the payback is 12 years it’s not a good buy. My payback was about 5-6 years. Easy win. Not every home is a good candidate for solar, whether it be due to geography, lack of electric consumption, etc. but for those that are good candidates it’s about the best sure thing investment available after employer 401k match. 
 

a good resource is https://sunroof.withgoogle.com

if your roof is bright yellow and you’ll confidently be in your house more than five years, you should strongly consider getting some quotes. 
this is my house. It would almost be malpractice for me not to get solar. My neighbors to the south, the opposite - would make zero sense unless they want to pick their house up and rotate it 90 degrees. 
https://imgur.com/gallery/EzXSELy

That site is pretty interesting.

According to them, my payback period for a new system would be 4 years, and I’d save $31K over the 20 year lifespan. That would easily pay for a new roof and replacement PV.

If able to pay up front and maximize the tax credits, I’m not sure why anybody living in a sunny location wouldn’t install PV?

 

[Zegras11]

There are numerous rankings by cities and states on many different variables.

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/10/05/top-us-states-for-percentage-of-electricity-from-solar-cleantechnica-report/

I like this one the best.  It's just percentage of electricity from solar compared to all electricity used in a state. 

Seems to be driven by wealth and policies of each state.   How else would you explain Minnesota doing well and all the states around it doing so poorly?

 

[Terminalxylem]

There are numerous rankings by cities and states on many different variables.

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/10/05/top-us-states-for-percentage-of-electricity-from-solar-cleantechnica-report/

I like this one the best.  It's just percentage of electricity from solar compared to all electricity used in a state. 

Seems to be driven by wealth and policies of each state.   How else would you explain Minnesota doing well and all the states around it doing so poorly?

It’s pretty crazy how low FL is on that list, and how disparate the NE states are in solar usage. Seems like a lot more than finances are influencing the decision to use it.

 

[Zegras11]

It’s pretty crazy how low FL is on that list, and how disparate the NE states are in solar usage. Seems like a lot more than finances are influencing the decision to use it.

Finances and state policy.     In CA, new homes must have panels on them.    Pretty sure I saw on one of the many graphs I saw that Florida was near he top in number of units.

 

[belljr]

Finances and state policy.     In CA, new homes must have panels on them.    Pretty sure I saw on one of the many graphs I saw that Florida was near he top in number of units.

We have a lot of farms going up around here.  One of our middle schools that was built ~ 20 years ago runs completely from solar 

Eta: NJ

 

[The Commish]

Our house is 1900 sq ft.  We have three three Tesla power walls.  Each one has a storage capcity of 13.5 kW hrs.  Our house is pretty energy efficient.  On a hot day, we draw 35 kW hrs of energy.  So they would last a little over a day with no sunlight whatsoever.  In practical usage, that would be unlikely.  In the last four months, we only had about four days where we actually drew any power from the grid.  (The weather generally clears after a hurricane.)  That assumes we run everything as normal.  We could make them last longer if we needed to.  Since Mr R works from here, having a reliable power source is a goodness.

Thanks!  Any idea what a single cell costed you?  We'd need several of these.  We're working on efficiency (new windows, insulation in attics, new AC units etc) but we're easily double that at our house both in size and consumption.  

 

[The Commish]

https://www.floridarealtymarketplace.com/blog/does-a-pool-add-value-to-a-home-in-florida.html

This article says $30k.  But it also says this:
When you add a private pool, the average selling price jumps to $292,000—an increase of almost $30,000. Is that increase due to the pool? Perhaps, but it should be noted that these properties are also, on average, 300 square feet larger. That extra space could be an additional bedroom, bathroom, or bonus area.

This extra space could account for the higher sell price. It’s also important to note that these houses sat on the market for an average of 76 days, two weeks more than homes without private pools.

Article was from Feb 2020.

I'll wager that most of the $30k is the extra 300 square feet.  That's 15% of a 2000 sq ft home. 

I guarantee you that if you add two, 10x15 (300 sq ft) bedrooms to a home for $30k, the value will go up a lot more than $30k.

Seems about right...I think on our appraisal it was $35K.  I was speaking more to this though:

 But like a pool, the vast majority of home buyers don't want or desire it, as it actually decreases the amount of prospective buyers on a home

That's not the case here in FL.  It's almost expected that houses have pools and it's kind of a letdown if they don't.  Initially, when we bought, I was against a pool.  I didn't want to deal with it.  Then I learned that for $40 a month, I could have someone else deal with it.  Problem solved.  It's been a godsend for our family.

 

[El Floppo]

15 hours ago, Chris B. said:
My in-laws had solar panels installed about 15 years ago in central California where they get sun 400 days out of the year. The past few years they've hardly noticed any savings on their bill at all. Maybe it's a maintenance thing or it's an old technology thing, but expecting panels to pay for themselves (or offset energy costs) years down the line at the same efficiency rate may not be realistic.
Expand  

Impressive.

You've clearly never been to Bako, where everything is amazing and pizza math.

 

[Gally]

They aren't that large.  They are all linked inside of our garage.  They are about two feet deep and two-and-a-half feet wide.  They take up about the same space our lawn mower did.

Really the value they add to our house has more to do with hurricanes (and now freezes).  We won't lose power during those times.  I guess we bought the most expensive UPS that we could find.

What is the run time on those batteries?  Assume you get hit with a freeze and there is basically no sun for a number of days how long will the batteries power your house?  Also, temperature (freezing is obviously cold) does affect battery performance so how much does that affect the storage/supply rates?

ETA:  Oops, I see you answered it a bit later.

 

[joffer]

agree guys knocking on your door are not a good place to look.  I remember 5 years ago I went looking and interviewed three installers. One guy stood out because he focused more on what my panels would generate power wise rather than what they would save me.  “ I can’t predict what your house will draw 5 years from now…”  I liked that. He predicted 7400 kW-hrs per year. I’ve averaged 7280.  I’ll take it.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Then why do professional appraisers almost always give zero value to them?   Do you know more than they do?

Not that I intend to take sides in this discussion, but no one can convince me there is a more useless group of workers in the world than professional appraisers.  I would sooner believe that a flat earther could have a rational discussion about astronomy than that an appraiser has any knowledge about the home/market he's "appraising" (IE running a 10 second search on the MLS to find 3 other homes in the neighborhood and averaging out the sale price of them).

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Thanks!  Any idea what a single cell costed you?  We'd need several of these.  We're working on efficiency (new windows, insulation in attics, new AC units etc) but we're easily double that at our house both in size and consumption.  

Mr R thinks they were about 7-8K each.  They were about half the 49K cost.  I wanted the entire house to run off them if necessary.  We could reduce our usage if we had to.

We have windows that are treated to block UV radiation.  Makes the house more energy efficient and prevents Mr Sun from fading everything.  

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Also, temperature (freezing is obviously cold) does affect battery performance so how much does that affect the storage/supply rates?

Our garage is partly insulated and seems to keep the batteries at a goood temp.  Even when it was freezing, it didn't seem as cold as that in there.  We got the solar stuff installed after the freeze, so I have no idea if performance was affected.  It isn't in the summer as far as I can tell.  The garage gets a bit of cooling from the new water heater we installed.  It has a heat pump that puts out cool air.  Weird, but there you go.  It an energy efficient one from California.  We wanted a larger tank.  Running out of nice, hot water is no longer a problem.

 

[Terminalxylem]

@rustycolts I know this is a done deal for you already, but the part of the thing that doesn’t make sense to me is to 49K cost. I literally just got a 9 kWh 24 panel system that will cover electricity bill for my 3000 square-foot home with a pool and Jacuzzi. I paid 35K. In that 49 did you do the battery back up option? If so I could see that raising the cost at those tend to add 10 or 12 K. But 49K to cover your 1700 square-foot home just doesn’t make sense.

I don't get thie, either. We paid 49K for the panels and three power walls. (We have a 1900 sq ft house.) How was your offer so expensive? I don't think panels are that much pricier in Florida.

I mentioned this in the EV thread, but maybe this is a better place. How have the power walls been working? How much did they cost (nm, I see $7-8K each), and how did you determine how much to oversize?

I currently have an older system, 21 x 175 kW panels, so between 3 and 4 kW. It ‘s enough to offset most of our electricity costs, but I’d like to upgrade in anticipation of purchasing an EV in the next few years. I’ve been told we‘ll need another 2 kWh for car charging, plus 1 to offset our remaining energy bill, around 6 kW total.

Right now, the power company rebates batteries $850/kW, on top of federal and state tax rebates, which are 30 and 35% of the costs, respectively. Seems like too good a deal to pass up, especially considering I can sell back the surplus power to the grid.

 

[Terminalxylem]

My in-laws had solar panels installed about 15 years ago in central California where they get sun 400 days out of the year. The past few years they've hardly noticed any savings on their bill at all. Maybe it's a maintenance thing or it's an old technology thing, but expecting panels to pay for themselves (or offset energy costs) years down the line at the same efficiency rate may not be realistic.

Panels should last 20+ years, but the inverter can go in 10-15. Or something else may be sucking up power - in my case, our power bill jumped nearly $100 when the solar water heater failed (after 14 years, which isn’t unexpected).

Just replaced the heater, so it will interesting to see how much the bill drops.

 

[Osaurus]

I am interested, but the ROI isn't there plus there are homeowners insurance considerations in FL making it something I wouldn't go near. Maybe I'll look at it again if/when I move somewhere else

 

[BlackCrowes]

7 years in, no regrets here. Save about $500-$600 a year. I use about 53% of what I generate, sell the rest back to the grid at $.06 /kWhr

 

[Joe Bryant]

There is probably a thread on this so apologies for starting a new one, but I couldn't find it

So I purchased solar panels yesterday. Salesman made it sound very good. I had sat through a presentation before it also sounded good but it turned out to be a 20 year lease on the panels so I nixed that one.

Anyway these things are very expensive to the tune of 49 grand. Getting them financed so it's like a 2nd mortgage. 25 year financing agreement. The payment is $188 a month. So according to salesman my electric bill should decrease enough that between two payments it still would be about $75 cheaper than my average bill. Now I'm thinking with interest on this loan will I really be saving anything. Really starting to have some buyers remorse. I'm in Florida so I have 72 hours to cancel the whole deal.

Has anyone done this and what were the results? There is also a $15000 tax credit but I really don't have enough taxable income to make that a big deal. Did I screw up?

Unless you just have money to throw around and 49,000 isn't a big expense, I'd cancel and do more homework and then make a decision. That seems like a ton of money.

 

[matttyl]

7 years in, no regrets here. Save about $500-$600 a year. I use about 53% of what I generate, sell the rest back to the grid at $.06 /kWhr

You must have a huge south facing roof with tons of sunlight, with a very efficient house. Covering half my roof (the entire east facing side) would only offset about 75% of my electricity use.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

There is probably a thread on this so apologies for starting a new one, but I couldn't find it

So I purchased solar panels yesterday. Salesman made it sound very good. I had sat through a presentation before it also sounded good but it turned out to be a 20 year lease on the panels so I nixed that one.

Anyway these things are very expensive to the tune of 49 grand. Getting them financed so it's like a 2nd mortgage. 25 year financing agreement. The payment is $188 a month. So according to salesman my electric bill should decrease enough that between two payments it still would be about $75 cheaper than my average bill. Now I'm thinking with interest on this loan will I really be saving anything. Really starting to have some buyers remorse. I'm in Florida so I have 72 hours to cancel the whole deal.

Has anyone done this and what were the results? There is also a $15000 tax credit but I really don't have enough taxable income to make that a big deal. Did I screw up?

Unless you just have money to throw around and 49,000 isn't a big expense, I'd cancel and do more homework and then make a decision. That seems like a ton of money.

for sure, i would also go back in time 18 months and cancel it.

 

[SWC]

i dont know anything about these things but to those that do can you sell extra energy back to the utility or how does that work as in will your meter spin the other way if you get what i mean take that to the bank bromigos

 

[Sand]

i dont know anything about these things but to those that do can you sell extra energy back to the utility or how does that work as in will your meter spin the other way if you get what i mean take that to the bank bromigos

Very dependent on what power company you're with. There is no pat answer there.

 

[BlackCrowes]

7 years in, no regrets here. Save about $500-$600 a year. I use about 53% of what I generate, sell the rest back to the grid at $.06 /kWhr

You must have a huge south facing roof with tons of sunlight, with a very efficient house. Covering half my roof (the entire east facing side) would only offset about 75% of my electricity use.

East facing isn’t ideal. South is best, but it depends a little on your latitude. Mine are SE and SW.

offsetting 70%-75% of your yearly use is actually a good target. That’s what mine is. More than that isn’t a good ROI unless you get full price for what you put back on the grid or are also doing battery backup. if an installer is trying to sell you more than that, don’t go with them.

 

[BlackCrowes]

i dont know anything about these things but to those that do can you sell extra energy back to the utility or how does that work as in will your meter spin the other way if you get what i mean take that to the bank bromigos

Net metering in most places. Counts what you pull from the grid, counts what you put back. I just got done crunching numbers from my last 12 months.

10.5 kW-hr from the grid ($0.12/kW-hr)
6.6 kW-hr generated (solar was sized before added an EV charger, so it’s more like 65% of my total usage now)
3.4 kW-hr of solar used
3.2 kW-hr of solar sold back at $0.06/kW-hr

saved around $550