Residential Solar Panels

[CascadeClone]

Financing the project here seems favorable. Production grant to take price down right off the top. NYSERDA has a low interest loan and a couple of banks have low rates as well. Even with financing the project, we net substantial money over 25 years. With that being said, I'm projecting electric rates to increase annually at 3% (fair?) and usage to not increase substantially.

Thanks in advance for any help from anyone.

I would just say be cautious about the financing. It sounds like you are on top of it, but there are financiers that charge a low interest rate, but they also add a massive upfront cost to the cost of the solar. IIRC they offered it to me, and if I increased the cost of the system by like 30%(!!), I could then finance it all with a 4% APR loan. It was ridiculous, bordering on scam / usury. The solar installer admitted as much (it was a 3rd party financier) and said he offers it if asked, but doesn't recommend it or push it at all.

 

[hurdleisu24]

I would just say be cautious about the financing. It sounds like you are on top of it, but there are financiers that charge a low interest rate, but they also add a massive upfront cost to the cost of the solar. IIRC they offered it to me, and if I increased the cost of the system by like 30%(!!), I could then finance it all with a 4% APR loan. It was ridiculous, bordering on scam / usury. The solar installer admitted as much (it was a 3rd party financier) and said he offers it if asked, but doesn't recommend it or push it at all.

Absolutely! I got one quote on financing from a solar company and it was twice the monthly payment for financing I can secure locally. NYSERDA (NY state energy research and development authority) has a 3.49% up to $25k so it is independent from the companies and a local FCU does solar specific loans at a better rate than the solar company provided.

Honestly, I'm trying to be conservative and not even include the tax incentives when I do my financial calculations over the life. Those are just a cherry on top to pay back loans quicker (in theory).

 

[NorthCyd]

Anyone had a door to door sales pitch on solar? Had a guy who said he was from vantage solar stop by yesterday but he didn't know the difference between Iowa and Iowa state so I am suspicious. Plus I cannot find a vantage solar online that is in the same time zone.

I had them stop by and had a follow up visit with them yesterday. They are a broker and not local. Panels and financing are sourced locally. I don't think they are a scam exactly, just not entirely convinced it's as good of a deal as they are selling. They are selling the fact that the 25 yr financing will basically be offset by the fact that we won't have a monthly energy payment. Basically our monthly electric is $110 and the monthly financing for going solar would be $104 if we apply our one time $8k tax credit to the loan. They calculate we will generate 105% of our annual energy usage through solar. Of course if we don't hit that 100% then we will get a bill from from Mid-American at the end of the annual period for the difference. As @BCClone has experienced, I'm kind of skeptical the panels will generate as much as they estimate.

So basically we wouldn't be seeing much of a saving until the panels are paid off or energy rates go up. Of course there is some equity in your home you get from that, and the warm fuzzies from getting closer to carbon neutral. I'm leaning on passing at this point. Not a whole lot of upside but a lot of potential downside. Anyone do any business with Vantage personally?

 

[cytech]

I had them stop by and had a follow up visit with them yesterday. They are a broker and not local. Panels and financing are sourced locally. I don't think they are a scam exactly, just not entirely convinced it's as good of a deal as they are selling. They are selling the fact that the 25 yr financing will basically be offset by the fact that we won't have a monthly energy payment. Basically our monthly electric is $110 and the monthly financing for going solar would be $104 if we apply our one time $8k tax credit to the loan. They calculate we will generate 105% of our annual energy usage through solar. Of course if we don't hit that 100% then we will get a bill from from Mid-American at the end of the annual period for the difference. As @BCClone has experienced, I'm kind of skeptical the panels will generate as much as they estimate.

So basically we wouldn't be seeing much of a saving until the panels are paid off or energy rates go up. Of course there is some equity in your home you get from that, and the warm fuzzies from getting closer to carbon neutral. I'm leaning on passing at this point. Not a whole lot of upside but a lot of potential downside. Anyone do any business with Vantage personally?

Companies that sell solar systems in the manner you have described are most definitely a scam. Call a local company, and get a quote.

 

[CascadeClone]

Companies that sell solar systems in the manner you have described are most definitely a scam. Call a local company, and get a quote.

Maybe not a scam, per se, but best case it will be WAY more expensive. I would hazard a guess that the financing charge up front will be enormous or there is some other hitch that makes it terrible. Call someone local: CB Solar is based in DSM, Eagle Point in Dubuque, and ECG in Anamosa. I got bids from all 3 and all seemed competent.

Also, "panels sourced locally" is weapons grade baloneyium. They are all made in China or Vietnam. I think there might be 1 factory in Florida. But if they are implying they are made in Mason City or something, that's enough bullsh!t to fertilize all of Kossuth county.

 

[cytech]

Maybe not a scam, per se, but best case it will be WAY more expensive. I would hazard a guess that the financing charge up front will be enormous or there is some other hitch that makes it terrible. Call someone local: CB Solar is based in DSM, Eagle Point in Dubuque, and ECG in Anamosa. I got bids from all 3 and all seemed competent.

Also, "panels sourced locally" is weapons grade baloneyium. They are all made in China or Vietnam. I think there might be 1 factory in Florida. But if they are implying they are made in Mason City or something, that's enough bullsh!t to fertilize all of Kossuth county.

Each of those companies are great places to call. I would add in Rabe Hardware in Blairstown too. I installed my residential system myself and had a 7 year payback (installed in 2018) 5 years in and everything is working as expected. If you are having it professionally installed I would expect about a 15 year payback.

 

[NorthCyd]

Maybe not a scam, per se, but best case it will be WAY more expensive. I would hazard a guess that the financing charge up front will be enormous or there is some other hitch that makes it terrible. Call someone local: CB Solar is based in DSM, Eagle Point in Dubuque, and ECG in Anamosa. I got bids from all 3 and all seemed competent.

Also, "panels sourced locally" is weapons grade baloneyium. They are all made in China or Vietnam. I think there might be 1 factory in Florida. But if they are implying they are made in Mason City or something, that's enough bullsh!t to fertilize all of Kossuth county.

They weren't implying the panels were made in Iowa, just that the supplier/installer is local. Can't remember the name but it was out of Cedar Rapids I believe.

 

[cytech]

They weren't implying the panels were made in Iowa, just that the supplier/installer is local. Can't remember the name but it was out of Cedar Rapids I believe.

many of these companies have salesmen that go across the country and sell jobs. Then they subcontract the work out to local crews.

I have a friend that works for one of these companies. Not saying they do bad work at all. But you are paying extra because the person doing the sales doesn't actually work for the company doing the install. If you call one of the 4 companies above, your sales person will actually work for the company you are calling.

 

[cybearsbullssox]

I’ve been talking to a company about install, they claim they will come back out and remove the panels when I need a new roof but what happens if the company folds before then? Am I just screwed and I have to pay to have them removed?

 

[CascadeClone]

I’ve been talking to a company about install, they claim they will come back out and remove the panels when I need a new roof but what happens if the company folds before then? Am I just screwed and I have to pay to have them removed?

Yeah probably. That would add a couple thousand to pull and reinstall probably.

Of course, if it is an insurance replacement of your roof, then it would be covered.

 

[NorthCyd]

many of these companies have salesmen that go across the country and sell jobs. Then they subcontract the work out to local crews.

I have a friend that works for one of these companies. Not saying they do bad work at all. But you are paying extra because the person doing the sales doesn't actually work for the company doing the install. If you call one of the 4 companies above, your sales person will actually work for the company you are calling.

They were pretty up front about being a broker and their role in the process. They provide point of sale for those they contract with for installation and financing. While it's true you are paying them for those services, they will also usually contract for lower rates to get you a better deal on install and financing then you could get on your own. I know people who do that kind of work and it isn't automatically a scam. It certainly can be, and I don't know if this particular company is or not, but I'm not going to move forward with them at this point so I won't really know for sure. They were definitely low pressure for a sales pitch, which I always appreciate.

 

[Clonedogg]

I had them stop by and had a follow up visit with them yesterday. They are a broker and not local. Panels and financing are sourced locally. I don't think they are a scam exactly, just not entirely convinced it's as good of a deal as they are selling. They are selling the fact that the 25 yr financing will basically be offset by the fact that we won't have a monthly energy payment. Basically our monthly electric is $110 and the monthly financing for going solar would be $104 if we apply our one time $8k tax credit to the loan. They calculate we will generate 105% of our annual energy usage through solar. Of course if we don't hit that 100% then we will get a bill from from Mid-American at the end of the annual period for the difference. As @BCClone has experienced, I'm kind of skeptical the panels will generate as much as they estimate.

So basically we wouldn't be seeing much of a saving until the panels are paid off or energy rates go up. Of course there is some equity in your home you get from that, and the warm fuzzies from getting closer to carbon neutral. I'm leaning on passing at this point. Not a whole lot of upside but a lot of potential downside. Anyone do any business with Vantage personally?

Ask for a quote without financing, it'd probably be for about 33% less. Then if you need the financing get it yourself, outside of their bundle.

 

[Tailg8er]

Back when I was looking (last summer) I had a pitch from a broker & a pitch from a local company. The broker couldn't explain what the interest rate was for their 25 year plan or how it worked out to the total cost they were showing. The local guy gave a total price & suggested a few places to obtain financing if we so chose.

I didn't even consider the broker's offer, but almost pulled the trigger on the local guy. Local was part of the Grow Solar program (believe it's a Polk County thing?) and the company they were using was 1Source Solar in Ankeny. They say there's a discount using that Grow Solar program depending on how many residents sign up. Our all-in total quoted price (not including any tax credit) was $22,700 which was 101.5% of our usage. Didn't seem like enough of an incentive for me at the time.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I went and saw a setup of my parents' neighbor recently. He did a lot of the work himself, and has had it for about 8 or 9 years now. He claims he's about 80% self-sufficient. He allowed space for batteries, but never installed them, largely due to cost and not really needed them.

Interestingly enough, he's looking to install a propane backup generator, which seems counterintuitive. Though I suppose you could argue you would need if you don't have sunlight for a period of time, and not having batteries.

He obviously has a large setup (about 28 panels) but it was really neat to see. On my house, I wouldn't be able to get much more than 8 or 9 panels on my roof. Wouldn't be worth it, but it's got me thinking.

 

[cytech]

I’ve been talking to a company about install, they claim they will come back out and remove the panels when I need a new roof but what happens if the company folds before then? Am I just screwed and I have to pay to have them removed?

I think it would be safe to assume they won't hold up to that end of the deal. I have never really heard of people offering that and following up on it. That is not to say it is impossible, how old is your roof?

I went and saw a setup of my parents' neighbor recently. He did a lot of the work himself, and has had it for about 8 or 9 years now. He claims he's about 80% self-sufficient. He allowed space for batteries, but never installed them, largely due to cost and not really needed them.

Interestingly enough, he's looking to install a propane backup generator, which seems counterintuitive. Though I suppose you could argue you would need if you don't have sunlight for a period of time, and not having batteries.

He obviously has a large setup (about 28 panels) but it was really neat to see. On my house, I wouldn't be able to get much more than 8 or 9 panels on my roof. Wouldn't be worth it, but it's got me thinking.

Most solar systems require AC power to be able to run, so if the power goes out your solar doesn't produce any power. With a propane or natural gas backup generator you can keep your home generating power even in a outage.

 

[BCClone]

Maybe not a scam, per se, but best case it will be WAY more expensive. I would hazard a guess that the financing charge up front will be enormous or there is some other hitch that makes it terrible. Call someone local: CB Solar is based in DSM, Eagle Point in Dubuque, and ECG in Anamosa. I got bids from all 3 and all seemed competent.

Also, "panels sourced locally" is weapons grade baloneyium. They are all made in China or Vietnam. I think there might be 1 factory in Florida. But if they are implying they are made in Mason City or something, that's enough bullsh!t to fertilize all of Kossuth county.

The French are big panel producers.

 

[8bitnes]

Ask for a quote without financing, it'd probably be for about 33% less. Then if you need the financing get it yourself, outside of their bundle.

Also known as cutting out the broker. That's the right answer for sure if you want to save a bundle of money.

They (Vantage) stopped by my house tonight trying to make a sale. I told them I didn't plan to be in the home that long. They responded that research shows homes with solar panels sell at a faster rate than those without. And they shared that the new owner would take over the payments while I got to keep the tax credit. I can't imagine the new owner signing up for that.

I'm a hard pass whenever someone tries to sell me something that I didn't initiate

 

[CY88CE11]

Slight bump. Had a FB friend post that they installed Purelight Power panels and appreciated how great a company they were to work with, so I set up a couple meetings with them. After all their promises of paying the same I currently do towards my electric bill for their monthly loan payment, they quoted me $190/month (we average $145/month to MidAm) for 25 years. Total system cost of ~$50k. I was floored. I now have a request in to CB for a quote. Before even receiving their quote, I would like to reiterate the concerns many have had about financing panels.

 

[CY88CE11]

Hey there @CY88CE11, it's always a good idea to explore different options when considering residential solar panels. That quote does sound surprising, and I can understand your concerns about financing. It's essential to weigh the costs and benefits carefully.

I ended up going with CB Solar, who gave me a 14kW system for 2/3 the price of the 11kW system Purelight tried to sell me. I'm not sure why Purelight's price was so jacked up for us, but CB was excellent the whole way through.