Residential Solar Panels

[BryceC]

Since a couple people asked questions, let me share some knowledge I have picked up in this process.

If you are on the grid now, you CAN'T go off grid. Like, they will NOT let you do that.

If you don't have batteries, then when the grid goes down, so does your solar. You will have no power even if the sun is shining. That is to prevent solar generated power going back into the grid and electrocuting the lineman working on it. That's your "interconnect" switch.

Batteries are pricey af. Typical home with a 6-7kW system costing 15-20k; appropriately sized battery system will nearly double that to about $30k.

Battery system may not provide 100% of the power you need during winter, cloudy days, night. But if you are careful with it, it should work, esp in summer months when outages are more common. It also makes a difference how much electricity you use. The more you use, the more battery you need, and the more it will cost.

Batteries are mostly guaranteed "useful life" of 6 or 10 years, depending on mfr. "Useful life" means 70-80% of initial capacity. So they will still work, just not as much capacity. You should be able to replace/add battery capacity in the future without too much trouble, and it should be cheaper in 10 years if Elon succeeds.

Net metering. Basically it works like your vacation hours at work. If you produce 1000 kWh in a month, but only use 800, then you "bank" 200. Next month, if you produce 900, and use 1000, you take 100 out of your bank free of charge from the utility. Essentially, you build up a bank thru the summer, and draw it down in winter. If your system is sized right, you will only make a little bit extra electricity. The utility will not pay you for the extra in your bank, I think they got that regulated out to save them money. So just like vacation hours, your kWh bank resets to zero once a year and you must use it or lose it.

The more you pay for electricity the more the ROI and payback makes sense, of course. The guy I spoke with today said Alliant is usually a lot more expensive per kWh than MidAm.

I've looked into this and priced it out with three different companies (Moxie Solar, 1 Source Solar, and Ideal Energy) all companies based out of Iowa. I'm highly interested because I'll be getting an electric car sometime soon and basically all three of them could install a system that could power my home with Net Metering through Mid Am for the same or less than I'm currently paying for electricity, so essentially operating that vehicle would be a zero cost option for me. My big takeaway:

1. Net Metering, at least through Mid American, works very well and IMO should encourage anybody to do it.
2. I don't think getting the backup batter is worth it, at all unless you're some kind of doomsday prepper.
3. Mid Am is different, they will pay you out I think in April if you end up with extra in your bank. However, they won't let you install a system that generates more than 110% of your average month's usage in the prior year.

 

[Hoggins]

What happens if you get roof damage and need to replace it? Do you have to pull off the whole system?

For our array, the panels are warranted for 25 years, micro-inverters for 10 years, and main inverter for 5 years. Panels are really the only thing to be concerned about getting destroyed. If they were damaged or we wanted to get a new roof, our install company will come and remove the panels and racking and replace it once the roof is complete.

I really can’t say enough good things about Eagle Point Solar btw. Great company

 

[BryceC]

What happens if you get roof damage and need to replace it? Do you have to pull off the whole system?

Each panel can be replaced individually.

 

[ClonesFTW]

I'm an appraiser & my only advice when it comes to residential solar is to make sure either:

A) You're going to stay in your house long enough to reap the benefits.
B) You don't care about getting significant contributory value out of your solar system when you go to sell your property.

There's limited market data in the markets that I have knowledge of to suggest that market participants will pay extra for solar (and really any other "energy efficient" add-ons - Geothermal, etc.). Hopefully this changes as solar becomes more prevalent.

This is correct and from a lending perspective I have seen them cause headaches pending if any debt for the solar panel is associated to the title of the home and/or the verbiage on a lease agreement (if applicable) for the panels.

 

[CascadeClone]

For our array, the panels are warranted for 25 years, micro-inverters for 10 years, and main inverter for 5 years. Panels are really the only thing to be concerned about getting destroyed. If they were damaged or we wanted to get a new roof, our install company will come and remove the panels and racking and replace it once the roof is complete.

I really can’t say enough good things about Eagle Point Solar btw. Great company

One thing about panels - individually they aren't that expensive. If one crapped out or was damaged, and wasn't covered by warranty or insurance, it's a few hundred bucks to replace. It's like needing a new tire. Well, maybe 2 new tires for your truck.

I haven't picked yet, but Eagle Point and CB Solar were the 2 best bids I got (out of 5). Panels were not the highest-end but really liked their process; seem to know what they are doing.

 

[CascadeClone]

This is correct and from a lending perspective I have seen them cause headaches pending if any debt for the solar panel is associated to the title of the home and/or the verbiage on a lease agreement (if applicable) for the panels.

Yeah, do NOT lease your panels from a 3rd party. There's a youtube video laying out all the risks around that.

 

[BCClone]

One thing about panels - individually they aren't that expensive. If one crapped out or was damaged, and wasn't covered by warranty or insurance, it's a few hundred bucks to replace. It's like needing a new tire. Well, maybe 2 new tires for your truck.

I haven't picked yet, but Eagle Point and CB Solar were the 2 best bids I got (out of 5). Panels were not the highest-end but really liked their process; seem to know what they are doing.

Make sure they are quality panels, there is a decent variety of quality out there. They last, but they deteriorate faster. If they mention anything over a 1% per year degradation, avoid them. The better ones now run 0.5-0.7 degradation annually. Doesn't sound like much but over 10 years that is another 5% without the compound effect even.

 

[CycloneNick]

I went with Moxie Solar. I have an Enphase battery which powers our home when the sun goes down. The City of Ames provided a $2,300 rebate on top of the federal tax credit. The City pays you back for any electricity you export as well. To me it doesn't make any sense to get solar and not be able to use it when the grid goes down, so the battery seems obvious to me. I've attached an image of today's production from my Enphase account. You'll notice on the right where it says net exported. That's the amount of money the City is paying me for today's production. My last bill I received a $13 credit.

 

[Acylum]

We have a neighbor that is installing them on his third different house. He claims the first two paid for themselves in 5 years which was less than what most companies claim. The ones today have an incredible long life span and there is still tax incentives (I believe).

Five years seems incredibly optimistic.

 

[Hoggins]

Five years seems incredibly optimistic.

With Alliant raising rates last year, it definitely helped our return. And who knows what the future holds with energy prices in the current world instability (Russia).

Electric heat pump with adding more panels sounds pretty enticing if we ever need a new gas furnace even

 

[JP4CY]

Seems like Solar would be good business to be in now especially with the rise of EV's.

 

[motorcy90]

I would do it with our house, but don't plan on staying that long to get the return on investment before we build.

 

[CascadeClone]

I went with Moxie Solar. I have an Enphase battery which powers our home when the sun goes down. The City of Ames provided a $2,300 rebate on top of the federal tax credit. The City pays you back for any electricity you export as well. To me it doesn't make any sense to get solar and not be able to use it when the grid goes down, so the battery seems obvious to me. I've attached an image of today's production from my Enphase account. You'll notice on the right where it says net exported. That's the amount of money the City is paying me for today's production. My last bill I received a $13 credit.

That's cool that the city subsidizes it. It's kind of a regressive thing, you are helping relatively well-off people, but I'd take advantage of it too if CR did anything like that.

 

[clone4life82]

With Alliant raising rates last year, it definitely helped our return. And who knows what the future holds with energy prices in the current world instability (Russia).

Electric heat pump with adding more panels sounds pretty enticing if we ever need a new gas furnace even

Gas is still pretty cheap all things considered and electric heat pumps tend to de-rate from a heating capacity when it’s really cold outside (when you need the heating the most).

 

[BCClone]

Five years seems incredibly optimistic.

Tax credits are decent, but keep going down every couple years. That’s also the key. If you don’t pay enough taxes, you don’t get the credit. It’s not refundable. If you have Alliant, it has a quicker pay back than a cooperative.

 

[VTXCyRyD]

Thanks, everyone for the names of companies you have used. I'll be calling around in the next couple of days.

I don't need battery backup. I've lived in this house for almost 20 years and in that time I've been without power maybe a total of 1 hour, maybe. Plus, what I can tell these newer inverters need power from the grid, batteries, or a generator to let the panels work. It seems if I was to be without power from the grid for an extended period of time I could hook up a small generator to kick the solar panels on.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/


this map site is pretty cool for getting a ROUGH estimate for how solar would perform at your home. just plug in the address in question

 

[nfrine]

https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/


this map site is pretty cool for getting a ROUGH estimate for how solar would perform at your home. just plug in the address in question

You will get a better idea once Google sells your address/location to 15 different solar companies.

 

[Hoggins]

https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/


this map site is pretty cool for getting a ROUGH estimate for how solar would perform at your home. just plug in the address in question

So our panels are actually on the East side of our house. Obviously you want them on the South side, but our property doesn’t really work to the south. The East side works just fine, but we had to add around 4 more panels

 

[Dr.bannedman]

You will get a better idea once Google sells your address/location to 15 different solar companies.

lol like they dont already have all that info. what year are you living in?