Solar Panels buyers remorse (1 Viewer)

[Terminalxylem]

Having some doubts is understandable, especially with such a big financial decision. I've heard from a few friends who went solar that the long-term savings were significant, especially in sunny states like Florida. They mentioned being patient as the initial investment slowly pays off through lower electric bills and, sometimes, credits from excess power generation.

Since getting our money back wasn't even in our calculations, we didn't have to worry about any of this. But we still save money.

Same. I realize it’s a big expense, but it’s strange to think of PV solely as an investment, IMO.

 

[Capella]

So, what is the takeaway here? I’ll need to replace the roof on our house in Florida soon. Should I spring for solar, too? Looks like the price has come down a lot and the tax break is significant.

Work out how much you spend on your electric bill and see how long it will take you to make that money back. But yes the 30% tax break makes the whole thing a lot easier to swallow.

 

[Capella]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

 

[the moops]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

Is that a lot? I have no sense on any of this stuff, so not being snarky. Is that enough to cover all your needs? More than enough?

 

[Capella]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

Is that a lot? I have no sense on any of this stuff, so not being snarky. Is that enough to cover all your needs? More than enough?

According to the googles an average household consumes 1000 a month. We were at about 2300 a month so it’s way more than we need. It will be less in the winter months but we will have enough banked to be good to go.

 

[BlackCrowes]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

How many panels?

 

[Capella]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

How many panels?

55

 

[the moops]

According to the googles an average household consumes 1000 a month. We were at about 2300 a month

You got a homegrown weed operation or something? Why are you more than double the average?

 

[Capella]

According to the googles an average household consumes 1000 a month. We were at about 2300 a month

You got a homegrown weed operation or something? Why are you more than double the average?

lol no. I keep it brisk in here I guess. In runs non-stop in the summer, brutal here.

 

[dkp993]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

That’s good for February for sure. I’m usually in the low 300’s this time of the year which isn’t bad considering my peak is 380’s. I have 23 panels. Biggest mistake I made when I put the system in was designing it to be 105% of my previous year, which by chance happened to be a cooler lower usage year. Should have gone to 26/27 panels and given myself a bit more wiggle room

 

[Capella]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

That’s good for February for sure. I’m usually in the low 300’s this time of the year which isn’t bad considering my peak is 380’s. I have 23 panels. Biggest mistake I made when I put the system in was designing it to be 105% of my previous year, which by chance happened to be a cooler lower usage year. Should have gone to 26/27 panels and given myself a bit more wiggle room

Yea we used a 3-year average since last year was hotter than usual in Florida (which is still always crazy hot in the summer).

 

[Psychopav]

Does anyone know how he Tesla roof compares to the 55 or 23 panel counts given above for more traditional solar panels?

 

[dkp993]

Does anyone know how he Tesla roof compares to the 55 or 23 panel counts given above for more traditional solar panels?

Their solar panels are no different. But the solar tiles is a different story that I cant answer.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Got my panels turned on recently. In my first full week they generated 650.8 kwh. Extremely happy about that.

Is that a lot? I have no sense on any of this stuff, so not being snarky. Is that enough to cover all your needs? More than enough?

According to the googles an average household consumes 1000 a month. We were at about 2300 a month so it’s way more than we need. It will be less in the winter months but we will have enough banked to be good to go.

On our previous house we had 26 panels. We would end up with monthly credits in the Spring and Fall.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

According to the googles an average household consumes 1000 a month. We were at about 2300 a month

You got a homegrown weed operation or something? Why are you more than double the average?

lol no. I keep it brisk in here I guess. In runs non-stop in the summer, brutal here.

Where is "here"? You are using WAY more than us. (We have 36 panels.)

Never mind. I see you are in Florida.

 

[Capella]

According to the googles an average household consumes 1000 a month. We were at about 2300 a month

You got a homegrown weed operation or something? Why are you more than double the average?

lol no. I keep it brisk in here I guess. In runs non-stop in the summer, brutal here.

Where is "here"? You are using WAY more than us. (We have 36 panels.)

Never mind. I see you are in Florida.

Yea there about 4 months a year here that is unbearable and we have a lot of windows in this house. Gets hot quick.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

According to the googles an average household consumes 1000 a month. We were at about 2300 a month

You got a homegrown weed operation or something? Why are you more than double the average?

lol no. I keep it brisk in here I guess. In runs non-stop in the summer, brutal here.

Where is "here"? You are using WAY more than us. (We have 36 panels.)

Never mind. I see you are in Florida.

Yea there about 4 months a year here that is unbearable and we have a lot of windows in this house. Gets hot quick.

Our windows have that UV protection baked in. It really helps. You might want to look into that. (We're in Houston, by the way.)

 

[Capella]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

 

[Ron Swanson]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Who did you use to install them?

 

[NutterButter]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

 

[Capella]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

Well, we have what Duke calls budget billing here. So it’s a rolling average of previous months. I had some bills last year that were substantially higher. Looks like it would’ve been 375 without the budget billing.

It’s hot in Florida bro.

Also, what’s a basement

 

[Capella]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Who did you use to install them?

Company called May Electric Solar

 

[Chadstroma]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

Well, we have what Duke calls budget billing here. So it’s a rolling average of previous months. I had some bills last year that were substantially higher. Looks like it would’ve been 375 without the budget billing.

It’s hot in Florida bro.

Also, what’s a basement

It is a thing that all the midwest and much of the northeast have that flood all the time.

 

[Chadstroma]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

Well, we have what Duke calls budget billing here. So it’s a rolling average of previous months. I had some bills last year that were substantially higher. Looks like it would’ve been 375 without the budget billing.

It’s hot in Florida bro.

Also, what’s a basement

So when do yo break even at this pace?

 

[Dezbelief]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

Well, we have what Duke calls budget billing here. So it’s a rolling average of previous months. I had some bills last year that were substantially higher. Looks like it would’ve been 375 without the budget billing.

It’s hot in Florida bro.

Also, what’s a basement

It is a thing that all the midwest and much of the northeast have that flood all the time.

Water table in 12 feet down around here. A few people have underground tornado shelters, almost all of them have seepage when the ground is soggy.

 

[Capella]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

Well, we have what Duke calls budget billing here. So it’s a rolling average of previous months. I had some bills last year that were substantially higher. Looks like it would’ve been 375 without the budget billing.

It’s hot in Florida bro.

Also, what’s a basement

So when do yo break even at this pace?

Should be about 7 years.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Also, what’s a basement

Word.

(It's an indoor swimming pool, by the way.)

 

[NutterButter]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

It’s hot in Florida bro.

In Feb? You guys have windows that open or you just keep that ac running at 68 year round?

 

[Capella]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

It’s hot in Florida bro.

In Feb? You guys have windows that open or you just keep that ac running at 68 year round?

Explained above but we keep it at 70 usually.

 

[gump]

I'm in Tampa and when we ran my average bill it < $275/month...so dropped the consideration of solar.

 

[NutterButter]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

It’s hot in Florida bro.

In Feb? You guys have windows that open or you just keep that ac running at 68 year round?

Explained above but we keep it at 70 usually.

U might be able to knock it down a few degrees with all this free juice. Start wearing sweaters around the house. I think that was a Seinfeld episode.

 

[Capella]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

It’s hot in Florida bro.

In Feb? You guys have windows that open or you just keep that ac running at 68 year round?

Explained above but we keep it at 70 usually.

U might be able to knock it down a few degrees with all this free juice. Start wearing sweaters around the house. I think that was a Seinfeld episode.

lol my wife gets hot now at night after she was preggo last year.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

It’s hot in Florida bro.

In Feb? You guys have windows that open or you just keep that ac running at 68 year round?

Explained above but we keep it at 70 usually.

U might be able to knock it down a few degrees with all this free juice. Start wearing sweaters around the house. I think that was a Seinfeld episode.

lol my wife gets hot now at night after she was preggo last year.

She wasn't hot before? I wouldn't tell her that.

 

[Chadstroma]

So following up on my little story, I received my first 30 dollar bill from the electric company the other day (down from 525 the previous month) and I already have banked 940 credits for the next month’s bill, essentially ensuring another 30 dollar bill. Should be the norm going forward unless we have a stormy summer month where the sun isn’t out much.

Very pleased!!

Your electric was 525 in feb? You doing an mj grow in your basement?

Well, we have what Duke calls budget billing here. So it’s a rolling average of previous months. I had some bills last year that were substantially higher. Looks like it would’ve been 375 without the budget billing.

It’s hot in Florida bro.

Also, what’s a basement

So when do yo break even at this pace?

Should be about 7 years.

Did that calculation take into account the eclipse today?

 

[Random]

So whats the consensus here for solar? Neighbor seems very happy with what he just installed. Said he paid about $30k and got half back on taxes with credits and by depreciating the cost as a business. Pays $50/mo to the electric company to be hooked into the grid. Looks like theres 40-50 panels.

Here's our considerations:
Ohio
All electric (geothermal) hvac
2 teslas
$400-$500/mo electric

if we can do solar for $15K out of pocket, thats 2.5 years payback. Seems like a no brainer.

 

[NutterButter]

So whats the consensus here for solar? Neighbor seems very happy with what he just installed. Said he paid about $30k and got half back on taxes with credits and by depreciating the cost as a business. Pays $50/mo to the electric company to be hooked into the grid. Looks like theres 40-50 panels.

Here's our considerations:
Ohio
All electric (geothermal) hvac
2 teslas
$400-$500/mo electric

if we can do solar for $15K out of pocket, thats 2.5 years payback. Seems like a no brainer.

How many kwh did you use in the last year? It should be at the bottom of your last bill. Seems low for 40-50 panels. I got quoted $17k for 15 panels (that was the cheaper of the 2 quotes I got) and I thought the consensus was that was a good price.

 

[Capella]

So whats the consensus here for solar? Neighbor seems very happy with what he just installed. Said he paid about $30k and got half back on taxes with credits and by depreciating the cost as a business. Pays $50/mo to the electric company to be hooked into the grid. Looks like theres 40-50 panels.

Here's our considerations:
Ohio
All electric (geothermal) hvac
2 teslas
$400-$500/mo electric

if we can do solar for $15K out of pocket, thats 2.5 years payback. Seems like a no brainer.

The price seems very low for 50 panels but I have no idea what pricing is like in Ohio. I can tell you we just got our second 30 dollar bill the other day and we have a ton of credits rolling over next month. So I’m pleased. Figure out how many kWh you use monthly and base the quote off of that.

 

[Random]

We recently added a second tesla, and we're going through a heat wave (80 outside, AC is on) here, so my last 3 days have totaled 356kwh. Feb was 2746kwh, 38 avg temp. March was 3023kwh, 45 avg temp.

 

[Phil Elliott]

So whats the consensus here for solar? Neighbor seems very happy with what he just installed. Said he paid about $30k and got half back on taxes with credits and by depreciating the cost as a business. Pays $50/mo to the electric company to be hooked into the grid. Looks like theres 40-50 panels.

Here's our considerations:
Ohio
All electric (geothermal) hvac
2 teslas
$400-$500/mo electric

if we can do solar for $15K out of pocket, thats 2.5 years payback. Seems like a no brainer.

Check the details on the federal tax credit. It seems to me there was a requirement that you had to be getting a tax return to qualify for the solar credit or something strange like that in 2014.

 

[NutterButter]

We recently added a second tesla, and we're going through a heat wave (80 outside, AC is on) here, so my last 3 days have totaled 356kwh. Feb was 2746kwh, 38 avg temp. March was 3023kwh, 45 avg temp.

Man you use a lot of juice. I use 6500kwh for the year and you're almost at half of that on a cold month. I would think you're gonna need more than 30 or 40 panels. I got sized for 15. Like I said, your bill should have your total for the past 12 months. Any installer you talk to is gonna ask for that to size you properly.

 

[Rustoleum]

Some guys came door to door (had a lot of door to door people this spring) .Told them my roof and windows need replacing first. I don’t have awesome southern exposure on the roof area, and I don’t know how long I’ll be here once the kids are out of college so I was not interested. He tried saying KY has some zero out of pocket deal, Duke won’t charge me to connect to grid, blah blah (Both may or may not be true, but I made it clear I was not going any further with them.)

“Ok. I’ll put you down for a follow up with my manager.”

“No. You most certainly won’t.”

This is the day after the Spectrum guy threw the old “Don’t you like saving money?” when I declined switching my internet service.

Been on the high road to the point where it’ll probably unleash on some poor Girl Scout.

 

[dkp993]

We recently added a second tesla, and we're going through a heat wave (80 outside, AC is on) here, so my last 3 days have totaled 356kwh. Feb was 2746kwh, 38 avg temp. March was 3023kwh, 45 avg temp.

Man you use a lot of juice. I use 6500kwh for the year and you're almost at half of that on a cold month. I would think you're gonna need more than 30 or 40 panels. I got sized for 15. Like I said, your bill should have your total for the past 12 months. Any installer you talk to is gonna ask for that to size you properly.

My 27 panel system produces about 16500khw per year and I paid 35k 3 yrs ago. Got 15k (ish I think) in tax breaks.

 

[Chadstroma]

What kind of maintenance/upkeep are you supposed to do with these and how often?

 

[NutterButter]

We recently added a second tesla, and we're going through a heat wave (80 outside, AC is on) here, so my last 3 days have totaled 356kwh. Feb was 2746kwh, 38 avg temp. March was 3023kwh, 45 avg temp.

Man you use a lot of juice. I use 6500kwh for the year and you're almost at half of that on a cold month. I would think you're gonna need more than 30 or 40 panels. I got sized for 15. Like I said, your bill should have your total for the past 12 months. Any installer you talk to is gonna ask for that to size you properly.

My 27 panel system produces about 16500khw per year and I paid 35k 3 yrs ago. Got 15k (ish I think) in tax breaks.

Sounds in ballpark. I know I wasn't gonna get the most out of them the way my house was situated. He's gonna need at least 50 of them if he's consuming that much juice in March.

 

[dkp993]

What kind of maintenance/upkeep are you supposed to do with these and how often?

As far as I know, none. I’ve done nothing with mind in just over 3 years. And there was nothing specified to us during the sales or install process.

 

[Capella]

What kind of maintenance/upkeep are you supposed to do with these and how often?

Nothing as far I know

 

[BlackCrowes]

What kind of maintenance/upkeep are you supposed to do with these and how often?

Coming up on 8 years. Nothing so far.

 

[Random]

We recently added a second tesla, and we're going through a heat wave (80 outside, AC is on) here, so my last 3 days have totaled 356kwh. Feb was 2746kwh, 38 avg temp. March was 3023kwh, 45 avg temp.

Man you use a lot of juice. I use 6500kwh for the year and you're almost at half of that on a cold month. I would think you're gonna need more than 30 or 40 panels. I got sized for 15. Like I said, your bill should have your total for the past 12 months. Any installer you talk to is gonna ask for that to size you properly.

2 Electric cars and our geo is basically electric HVAC. No other energy, just a propane tank for backup. But yes, we use a lot of juice.