Diving into Solar Energy

[Iguanadon]

This is a write-up I just did for Facebook to share with folks in our town interested in our solar system.

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Anybody have a DeLorean? I’m about to crank out 1.21 gigawatts of power! OK, not quite, but our solar panel system is officially on-line. 

We signed the paperwork on Feb 28 and in just under 2 months we are fully operational. If you decide to do this, be patient, you have to deal with county and town inspectors and the power company. It’ll be a couple of months before I have any data to share.

As to the process, the company we went with did a very nice job. Do your own homework and due diligence, but Power Home Solar (PHS) is one you should definitely check out if you decide to look into things. Installation was a 1 day engagement, literally took the team just 5 hours to install and wire the system. I am not an expert and I will try to answer any questions if I can but no guarantees I’ll know and I’ll simply say I don’t know.

Remember, everyone’s home and needs and requirements will vary so you can’t necessarily base things on our experience.

To provide our vital statistics… We’ve been in this house for 2 ½ years and during that time our electric bill has averaged $165 per month. We have 2 heat pumps to heat and cool downstairs and upstairs a total of 2,000 sqft.

Duke Progress Energy does not “buy” excess power generated. You do receive “credits” which expire on a 30 day rolling basis. So, PHS sizes the system so that it will generate approximately 70% of your monthly need so that you don’t overproduce and therefore waste money on too big of a system with no return on that money. For us that was 16 panels. You can always add more panels if you’d like in the future. PHS also checks and adds to your insulation in the attic spaces and they provide and install a Nest thermostat (personally I’m not overly impressed by it, but most folks seem to love them). Some folks ask about battery storage of the created power. Our salesman said they are very pricey and not worth it. But again, that’s something you may be interested in and pursuing.

Of course everyone wants to know about cost… It’s pricey and PHS arranges for financing at a very reasonable loan rate for a 20 year loan. If you don’t want to spread it out that long, you can pre-pay on the loan or pay in full at any time. If you pay in full, the expected “break even” point is 8-10 years based on how much less you pay in electric. Again, this will vary based on your typical electric bill. There is currently a tax credit for solar in place that is valid at least thru 2019, not sure about beyond, which I took into account when talking about the break even point.

The system does add value to your home if you plan on selling, which we don’t, but nice to know. I did notify my home owners insurance company along with a photo so they’d have a record of it and my current coverage was sufficient.

Any questions, fire away, I’ll try to answer. I’ll update again in a couple of months as I get my electric bills.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Iguanadon

[kmmcrafts]

This is something I've had a slight interest in for quite some time.. When I bought my house it had a solar box on the roof that supplied heat to my house.. awesome set up until it developed a leak..

[JimErn]

I have been thinking about solar too, but at my age and your expected break even time frame, I will likely pass on it I think.

I do not know if your elect bill of $165 is high or low compared to mine.  Any idea on the monthly average kilowatt power usage you are being billed for?

In my wife's brick and mortar store I track kilowatts, I can somewhat control usage, but rates I can not.

But if 1.21 gigawatts is 70% of your usage, dang you use a lot of electricity.  1.73 gigawatts used on average is the way my math works it out - wow.

How long is the warranty on materials?  Is there a warranty that covers leaks since it is roof mounted?

[Iguanadon]

9 minutes ago, JimErn said:

I have been thinking about solar too, but at my age and your expected break even time frame, I will likely pass on it I think.

I do not know if your elect bill of $165 is high or low compared to mine.  Any idea on the monthly average kilowatt power usage you are being billed for?

In my wife's brick and mortar store I track kilowatts, I can somewhat control usage, but rates I can not.

But if 1.21 gigawatts is 70% of your usage, dang you use a lot of electricity.  1.73 gigawatts used on average is the way my math works it out - wow.

How long is the warranty on materials?  Is there a warranty that covers leaks since it is roof mounted?

Hey Jim, the 1.21 gigawatts and DeLoreon was a joke referring to the movie "Back To The Future" 

Our average kWh per month the past 2 1/2 years is 1355.

Here's information about the panels and the warranty is 30 years I believe...  https://www.powerhome.com/how-long-solar-panels-last-lifespan/

Not sure what you mean by "leaks"... solar panels produce energy which is fed into the power company meter and into our home.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Iguanadon

[JimErn]

ahhh, I am old and somewhat slow on the uptake

ROFL - too funny

Thanks for the warranty link

leaks from the mounting hardware securing it to the roof is what I meant.

[Iguanadon]

2 minutes ago, JimErn said:

ahhh, I am old and somewhat slow on the uptake

ROFL - too funny

Thanks for the warranty link

leaks from the mounting hardware securing it to the roof is what I meant.

Ah, ok, water/rain leaks.  Got it.  Hoping that doesn't become an issue, but at least I have the solar array mounted on my garage so damage would be minimal as opposed to on the main house.

[Phantom Scroller]

There are pros and cons so I have talked to various people who have had them and the equipment doesn't last the panels need replacing after 10 years and it will take the amount of time to make any money to pay for them. Also they have had issues with the meters and it has been know that the the equipment that is suppose to store the power has caught fire so big time I have shied away from getting them.

I'M ONLY SAYING! Hopefully you won't have any of these issues yours might be a better make over the pond as they have been fitting them for free over here which tells me something. 

Happy free Energy.  Roly

[Foxfold]

We have solar panels and find them fine. They more or less pay for my electricity and gas bills for the year.

We bought them about 11/12yrs ago and having had them checked a couple of weeks ago, it was found they are in perfect working order.    

We get paid 50p per unit of electricity we make and that is index linked.

They send us a cheque 4 times a year and that covers our bills, plus what we use in a day is free.

That being said, we did all this before the 'rules' were changed and I believe the Tarrif now is around 11p-12p per unit.

[teachnlearn]

8 hours ago, Iguanadon said:

Hey Jim, the 1.21 gigawatts and DeLoreon was a joke referring to the movie "Back To The Future" 

Our average kWh per month the past 2 1/2 years is 1355.

Here's information about the panels and the warranty is 30 years I believe...  https://www.powerhome.com/how-long-solar-panels-last-lifespan/

Not sure what you mean by "leaks"... solar panels produce energy which is fed into the power company meter and into our home.

There are solar heat systems that pump water to the solar panel. Heat the water and use it to heat the house with radiators. A collector tank can be with it to store more heat. RJF

[kmmcrafts]

I might add... the panels up here in the north are only usable about 7-9 months of the year...the other months they are covered up with snow, LOL.. and here in Michigan the winters are mostly cloudy due to the lakes.. from what I've been told anyway.. 

[teachnlearn]

20 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

I might add... the panels up here in the north are only usable about 7-9 months of the year...the other months they are covered up with snow, LOL.. and here in Michigan the winters are mostly cloudy due to the lakes.. from what I've been told anyway.. 

Snow on the solar panels? No problem. RJF

 

 

[innar20]

The something extra weight on the roof is so "yesterday". 

In Estonia we have different solution. 

http://www.solarstone.ee/products

Solarpanels are the roof or part of the roof. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Technology is improving and the life of some panels have gone beyond the 10 year lifespan but not all. There are problems. When you say it is a selling point is not true. The warrenty is not passed down to new home owner. Not all home owners want them on their roofs and to have them removed is costly. You need to have in writing who is responsible for damage to roof because you lost warrenty of shingles. People on east cost do need to deal with snow loads which increase due to collecting of snow on brackets and now ice dam buildup is possible. Solar panels on a roof do not tract the sun so there is peak times of days and peaks times of year so output does not stay the same. The numbers thrown around are average numbers at best. Again not all panel are efficient. Not all installations are A++. Do your homework for tax credits and power buy backs and payoffs. Not for everyone. Just wanted to point out a few things. The link to roofs with panels incorporated is the thing of the future and you will see more of these as they too improve. They address some of the concerns I mentioned. 

[teachnlearn]

13 hours ago, innar20 said:

The something extra weight on the roof is so "yesterday". 

In Estonia we have different solution. 

http://www.solarstone.ee/products

Solarpanels are the roof or part of the roof. 

Went to a home show years ago that had one company tile the room with solar panels as the roofing shingles. RJF