My Vette Life

Been thinking for a while about adding solar panels but dont know a whole lot about it. I have some questions for those who have solar.

What company do you have?
any upfront cost?
Any hidden or surprising cost?
how about Maintaining the panels?
what is your average monthly saving after adding solar?

At times my electricity bill can go up to $800. If solar can chop it by 50% that be nice. My neighbor has 3 Italian cypress trees so the panels will need to be on my garage which has new roofing and really dont want to mess it up.

Olitho

I tried them, but even after an hour of my car sitting in the sun it would only go about five miles per hour for one block.

SRuizV

I bought my solar panels (20 panels) from Sunrun.
I paid $20k up front, but when I did my taxes the next year, I got back additional $6k (solar panels tax break).
For the first year, I paid an avg of $11 monthly (and this amount because of the delivery service. Since my panels don't produce energy at night, I had to get energy from Edison.
After the first year, I produced more energy than what I used throughout during the year, so I would get some credit on my account and receive a check as well.
After the first year, I didn't pay anything for the first 6 month, 3 months I would pay around $3, yes three dollars and the other 3 months around $11.
Maintenance is really simple, just scrub them twice a year with just water. And make sure that you only use a soft scrubber. I use one that you would use to wash your car.
Before my panels, my bill used to be around $120-$150 from November thru May, from June thru October my bill would be anywhere from $200-$350 depending on how often we would turn the ac on.
Now as soon as it starts getting hot, like late june thru late September/early October, our ac is on 24/7.

NORTY

No worries, your roof warranty will be "out the window" as soon as those panels go up...

But just think of the $$$ you'll be saving....

Blue Blood

When I installed mine the whole section of roof was replaced as part of the solar install, so the 25 year warranty covers roof and solar panels. The cost is all based on the number of panels required to cover however much of your avg monthly bill you want to reduce. There shouldn’t be any hidden charges if you get the right company. I would stay away from leasing if you can, they take the tax rebate and you’re monthly rate isn’t any better than what you might be currently paying. The only advantage to leasing is that you guarantee you KWH rate. Leasing also requires that if you sell your home the new buyer must pass their credit check and assume the lease.

Trash

Talk to Palomar Solar. They are straight shooters and do a fantastic job. Don't lease. Get the micro inverters. Andy at Palomar will answer all your questions. I can't say enough good things about them.

John Row

We when with Sunrun PPA. Zero cost. Zero maintenance. Zero ownership. We just buy the power from the panels. We went with the Samsung panels. PM if you want details.

imflyinbiya

I have a few buddies who tried the Tesla solar program and are very happy. Its not a lease OR a purchase, its a rental more or less on a subscription basis. You pay a low fixed monthly rate in exchange for the panels. If you have them remove after the fact, its $1500-2000 for that service. Tesla handled the process and got it done fairly quickly. Biggest headache was the lag time for SDGE to approve them to 'turn them on'.

Trash

You gotta run the nitty gritty numbers with Tesla. It is generally a bad deal. Buying the panels outright is your best financial long term option. Call Palomar Solar. Not affiliated in any way but they are straight shooters.

My Vette Life

Sorry for the no replies. It got crazy here for a bit but lots of interesting replies.

Some pay out of pocket and some haven't.

Please keep the replies coming what you pay and did you pay for the initial setup

95ZR1

Nice thing about leasing is that if there are any problems,
they will take care of it. Be aware that during a power outage,
even during the daytime, the system shuts off. So unless you have
battery storage, you go dark also. I was told this was for electrical
lineman's safety.

heggsc5

I've been a Realtor for almost 14 years and office manager for 10 of those. Generally speaking, I talk anyone I know out of solar because it simply doesn't make sense for most people and I hate seeing people get ripped off if there's anything I can do about it. If your bills are legitimately 800/mo, it might actually make sense for you though.

What I suggest you do is average out your electricity bills from the past 2-3 years and see what your average bill is. A lot of people say "my bills are 400/mo during the summer, I have to get solar!" Well if your bills the other 9 months of the year are significantly cheaper...Taking on a 350/mo solar bill isn't saving you money. Get a few quotes from different companies on a system. Be sure to read the entire contract very carefully to look for hidden costs, misleading "projections", lump sums due, etc so you know exactly what you're looking at. There are just as many different contract terms out there as there are solar companies... Go over them with a fine tooth comb and know what you're getting into. If the monthly payment is actually less than your average bill, it might be worth it.

Whether you lease or buy is a personal preference. They both have pros and cons. Just know, contrary to what any salesman tells you, leased panels add ZERO value to your home (they actually deter a lot of buyers as a double whammy) and owned panels might get you 10-15k in value (ONLY if they're owned free and clear).

A lot of their "savings projections" are based on your existing power company raising rates by the max amount allowed every year... that's simply not happening.

No matter what type of roof you have, you're going to have some new holes in it. Generally speaking, holes in your roof aren't desirable. Not a huge deal, but just one more maintenance item you'll have to address and that many more potential areas to leak.

Very importantly, NEVER use a HERO or PACE program to finance the panels (or any energy efficiency upgrades). The mark up contractors charge should be a crime. Plus if you plan on selling the house anytime soon to a buyer that's using a govt backed loan (80-90% of buyers), the remaining balance will need to be paid off at closing (and most of the time that'll be your burden to pay).

Typing on my phone at 2am, please forgive any typos...

whalepirot

We bought an 8.2 kw system; Japanese-sourced panels; a neighbor leased. He calls to have issues remedied, I get little/no reply from Sullivan solar. We paid $30k+ before credits, and now my annual bill is >$700; 1st year credit of $70. SCE got all the rules changed, (PUC lobbying) since we early-adopted to end some seasonal $500+ monthly bills. I'd have darnn near killed for $100-140/mo. charges. Another neighbor (slightly smaller house) and apparant little attention to power use averages $40-60/month! I think my meter is also feeds the street lights! (has happened).

An SCE 'energy expert' visited to aid finding why our bills were so high. He was a total fool, knowing less about the subject than I do. A Kill-O-Watt device was handy in assessing power use by various devices.

The panels disconnect to avoid electricity being fed through lines when being serviced. Were I to do it again, I'd have either a tri-fuel generator or fuel cell to power, as needed, with an appropriate line disconnect IAW the above. that's easily another 10Gs.

My Vette Life

Sorry for the no replies on here and I do gratefully appreciate all the information from everyone!

Kinda seems I'm better off not to go solar lol.

My Vette Life

Thank you for that info and YES the electricity can get up to $800. You should of seen the last water bill @ $440.

My Vette Life

wow dropping $30k?

I just could not justify that cost no matter how much I would save. But the other thing too is those Italian Cypress trees from the neighbors and I would "not" get the full benefit of solar powered because of that.

Trash

Just call Palomar Solar. He (Andy the owner) will answer all of your questions. I'm telling you he is as straight a shooter as they come. He won't BS you, he will give you the pros and cons of each system, and will tell you whether its worth it to go solar for YOUR particular situation. Every house is a little different.

Panels, inverters and roof penetration are all covered by Palomar. Again, I am not affiliated but am a customer and have been extremely satisfied.

My Vette Life

currently running the AC 24/7 as we speak and when I get the next bill I will let ya'll know what it is lol.

After the next bill I will give Andy a call.

whalepirot

Computed payback was 6-7 years. There were free online calculators, yielding all sorts of info. What-ifs can be run.

We chose to oversize (SoCalEd limits) as typical installs address the upper three tiers of $/kw-hours. Those three were pricier than the cost of panel generation. Many lease/purchase optiomns have emerged, but we considered a lease to be a negative factor in case of resale.

Yes, shade from trees will be an issue!

I just washed our panels, due to seemingly low production. It's difficult to assess, tho, with cloud variables and shorter days.

NORTY

If you look back to post #4, I typed in red that each panel is about a grand. If whalepirot paid $30 large for 8.2kw, then he's running about 24 or so panels. (depending on if he got the 350W panels or 375W panels, or some other wattage altogether.) But, he also got a sweet reduction on his Fed/St taxes too...