Re: Solar panels on our home

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

Too many mature trees for us unless a western view would work. I will say that western front of the house gets quite hot since the maple tree that blocked the sun died. But, I planted a Black Gum there in hopes of getting some relief, but maybe it wouldn't get tall enough to block panels on a 2nd floor roof. IDK.

One thing I've learned from friends who added solar to their house, if you tie into the Electric Co. grid, the Electric Co. gets control over it. So, if you have a major disaster, the Electrc Co. could decide that some other area has more need than you do and divert the power to them. That's why my friends decided not to tie into the grid.

Another thing I saw recently was that folks in some states who already had solar systems and were tied into the grid were now getting charged a minimum usage fee if their power bill didn't reach a certain amount each month.

CatsyCline · ‎07-24-2013

@SeaMaiden Where does your electric come from? DH's bro lives in Maryville WA. his energy costs are very low. Hydroelectric is your energy source?

The roof should be a new 30yr roof. Re-roofing with solar in place will incur BIG $$$$

We're in the Northeast, our energy costs are high. We DO NOT get a lot of sunny days for 8 months a year.

Buyer beware. Companies will try to sweeten their deals. We looked into solar, this past Spring. Our east facing roof could hold the panels. Our southfacing roof is the peak. The west facing roof was viable only as a fraction of the real esate.

We had a contract with a vendor, we had to sign first - that's how this particular company did their business model. The contract was voided per our discretion.

They did NOT supply all the facts. We checked with a 3rd party.

In order for solar to be a viable option we needed to remove trees on our property, many trees - AND trees needed to be removed on the abutter's properties. as you can imagine, case closed.

Also - again, in our case, when excess power is sold the utility, the utility buys at wholesale rate - 3 cents per kwh- if you have to use utilities' power you pay market rate - retail rate - fees, taxes.

A lot of former turf farms here are migrating to solar arrays. With widespread acreage, no physical impediments, solar is cost effective for the property owners.

shoesnbags · ‎03-10-2010

@Icegoddess wrote:
Too many mature trees for us unless a western view would work. I will say that western front of the house gets quite hot since the maple tree that blocked the sun died. But, I planted a Black Gum there in hopes of getting some relief, but maybe it wouldn't get tall enough to block panels on a 2nd floor roof. IDK.

One thing I've learned from friends who added solar to their house, if you tie into the Electric Co. grid, the Electric Co. gets control over it. So, if you have a major disaster, the Electrc Co. could decide that some other area has more need than you do and divert the power to them. That's why my friends decided not to tie into the grid.

Another thing I saw recently was that folks in some states who already had solar systems and were tied into the grid were now getting charged a minimum usage fee if their power bill didn't reach a certain amount each month.

Well, those are two major "cons" that sure weren't mentioned in the above articles! Thanks @Icegoddess .

"Breathe in, breathe out, move on." Jimmy Buffett

deeva · ‎03-09-2010

We've had solar panels since our home was built in 2012. At that time, our builder was offering the panels as free upgrade. It didn't cost us anything.

Here in Arizona, the sun shines most days. So in the winter we have credits for the extra electricity produced and our electric bill is zero.
I couldn't imagine living in Arizona without solar panels.

We have a larger home with two ac units.

phoenixbrd · ‎03-27-2010

No thanks ....I'm not willing to give the electric company that amount of power.

tansy · ‎01-02-2011

Do you intend this to be your forever home, @SeaMaiden? I thought I remembered that you were looking into a more suitable home for aging. A few homes in my neighborhood have the panels. They don't seem to add significant value or to be a selling point.

In AZ the panels often were on a lease which the new owner was required to continue. That was a big no for me.

juanitalinda · ‎03-11-2010

@SeaMaiden

We live outside of Seattle and bought solar panels in 2015. I believe the cost has gone down since then and our state rebates have changed since then. However, we recouped all our costs by 2021. Of course, part of that is that we bought a Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid. All my local driving uses electricity generated from the panels, which means we have saved a lot of money in gasoline. What I love about the plug-in hybrid is that I still have a gasoline engine for those long trips over the pass.

We have 25 south-western facing solar panels installed by Sunergy. They were great.

At the time Washington state gave a rebate if you bought panels and inverters that were made in Washington. I do not know if that is still the case, but it might be worth looking into. Also, I believe panels are cheaper and more efficient since we purchased ours. (Edited to add: they are not currently offering the rebate program in Washington.)

As to trees, we love our trees!!! Sunergy has this great app that showed which trees would affect solar energy generation, based on time of day, latitude, and time of year. We decided to cut a few trees that were due south, and topped a few trees. I think that ran about $500 since we kept the wood for firewood and chipped the trees ourselves.

I do agree with the comments about a new roof. Our roof was 15 years old when we installed the panels. We will probably need to get a new roof in the next year or so, which will cost about $5500 to remove and reinstall the panels.

But, due to net metering, we have only paid the $7 or $8 dollars monthly connection fee to PSE, and all our electricity has been free. We heat the house with ductless heating/air.

Of course, the smoke from all those wildfires aren't helpful, and neither was the Snowpocalypse. But, in our situation, solar panels have been a wild success.

If your situation works out, solar panels can be very successful.

eadu4 · ‎06-14-2011

@SeaMaiden @over 22 years ago when we bought our home (recently sold), it had solar panels on the roof. We were the laughing stock of the HOA. They stuck out like a sore thumb and looked hideous on the roof. We also found out they didn't save us much in terms of our electric bill. Fast forward to needing to replace the roof, cost us $$$ to get them removed and disposed of. They also had caused damage to the roof which meant more $$ when installing the new roof. We are in Va. pretty good sun in the spring through the fall. Our experience is never again. If you like them, great but they were expensive junk for us.

Trailrun23 · ‎05-31-2022

DD and SIL are putting in solar panels in their very large home. They are also on the waiting list for a Tesla and a Rivian. It will be at least another hear for the Rivian. They had three Tesla panels just installed in the garage. They are only needing two roof panels. So far, the cost has been over $100K. Not many can afford the upfront cost. We don't have a roof that can be used for solar since it is so steeply pitched. They are in a new area out in the country so they are quite to talk of the neigjborhood. The Tesla panels were intalled early so their out of town family members can visit long enough to charge their Teslas to get back home. I feel like I am living in a parallel universe even writing this.

SeaMaiden · ‎03-10-2010

@Trailrun23 @eadu4 @juanitalinda @tansy @phoenixbrd and all of you!

Than you everyone who gave such great info! I have a lot to consider....after reading some of these posts....I will REALLY need to put A LOT of thought into this....I will not go into it ignorant or uninformed.

what seemed like a "good " idea....may be put on the back burner for a bit... you guys are AMAZING