Solar Panels Discussion

[Petee]

We are considering solar panels as an option for our home.  Has anyone here done this?  Pros, Cons.  

This is the one we have most closely investigated:  https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/sunnova-solar-review/

We really need advice from people who know more about this than the average bear.

[Lizard]

My neighbor just did this but it’s only been a few months. He told me the cost pretty much replaced his electric bill and he won’t actually she savings till the panels are paid for. 

[Zilch1]

Whatever you do stay away from ECOFLOW. Poor construction and mine had lots of problems.

[Petee]

With this company the panels and all labor is free.  We would continue to pay an electric bill but our average bill of $178 would be reduced to $158.  25 year warranty, free removal and replacement for roof work,   There is a 2.9% raise every year to cover the higher costs of rising electric bills.

Does this sound reasonable?

[Constitutionalist]

17 hours ago, Petee said:

With this company the panels and all labor is free.  We would continue to pay an electric bill but our average bill of $178 would be reduced to $158.  25 year warranty, free removal and replacement for roof work,   There is a 2.9% raise every year to cover the higher costs of rising electric bills.

Does this sound reasonable?

So you’re going to save $20 a month? That seems like a lot of work for $20 a month 

[Petee]

To be able to harvest enough power you have to have the very best sun location, which we do, then you have to pay for your own equipment which is a small fortune and you have to maintain it.  You also have to have a battery back up which is really expensive.  

I should also say that we are on Unilec which is higher than Penelec but we have very few outages.  I do need to talk to them about this also.

[Petee]

OK, I messed up because my husband gave me the wrong name if the company.  This is the company that visited us.

https://sunwiseusa.com/

I still have a lot of questions including finding someone who has already gone with this company.

[Constitutionalist]

I can’t say I’m very familiar with solar.. however based on what you’ve explained, it doesn’t seem worth it. From my understanding with people I’ve talked to and research I’ve done, solar alone is not enough and you still need electric service connected regardless if you use it or not. 
 

so with what your explaining, a $20 savings is not worth the hassle in my opinion. 

my understanding is in order to produce enough power to completely replace electric, you need massive battery packs and lots and lots of sun. 
 

we’re planning to build a house on our property that receives full sun for the entire day. Situated on top of a hill there’s no shade until night time. And it still didn’t seem like enough of a savings for the expense and headache of switching it over, especially since we would still be required to have electric service.. I guess solar is a good option for those who don’t have reliable electric service and who gets outages often.. it would be a good back up.. I feel like a good generator to power your essentials in an emergency is a better option.  

again I’m far from an expert. And would love to learn more about this.. 

[Pappy]

I would like to go solar but I do not have the money for it. I also would not have a company put it in. I would do it myself. I have been looking at this for years now.

The most expensive component are the batteries. You need to go witha 48 volt system the lithium/ion batteries are around $1200 to $1300 a piece for 5.12 kwh - 100ah. I have been looking at the 280Ah | 14.3kWh batteries and an all in one Inverter.18kPV Hybrid Inverter | All-In-One Solar Inverter | 18000W PV Input | 12000W Output | 48V 120/240V Split Phase this is around $4900 and then solar panels which you should buy in bulk. You can get 30 to 36 panels for around $4500 to $7,000 that is anywhere from 12.7 kW to 16.2 kW of power

Depending on the inverter you buy then you can know how many panels to buy. Then these come in different watts that they put out. If you use the inverter above you can have 18,000 watts of panels.

You can also buy bundle packages with inverters, batteries and panels. Here is a package I just saw Complete Hybrid Solar Kit - 12,000W 120/240V Output + 30.72kWh EG4 Lithium Powerwall + 16560 Watts of Solar PV for $19,055. Now you still have to buy the mounts for the panels and the wiring from the panels to your inverter and inverter to your critical loads panel.  You can buy kits from $6700 to whatever.

I have seen where most of these companies that come to your house want to charge you 60 to 70k to install a system well that is to darn high.

Most homeowners such as yourself cannot install these and then you have to decide what you want to do. Grid/tie or Hybrid or off grid. Lots of questions and decisions before doing it.

 

[badone53]

I did quite a bit of studying on this the main problems with this country besides the 25 year lease which if you would either die or sell your home before it up MUST be paid off.  The other thing is the 2.9% increase in the lease every year that amounts to a lot of increase after 25 years.

[Petee]

It seems like there are many variations on how to do solar for your home. From the free panels/maintenance for 25 years, to the do-it-yourself with batteries, it's not simple and unless you know exactly what you are doing (like Pappy) then it's a crap shoot!

The one we looked at had no batteries so if the electric went out, so would your solar because it has to shut down also in order not to electrocute a worker trying to repair the lines.  

It does seem like very little return for us and potentially quite a lot for the installer in the future.

Thank you for your help and ideas.  It is appreciated!!