Just got my electric bill after a long heat wave and it has me considering solar. With a fairly modest house and no pool, I’ve tended to think it not cost effective.
I would not consider anyone who comes selling at the door (we get 2-3 a week.).
I would not consider renting panels. I want to own.
I would not consider Sunrun.
What electric cost, annual, makes it worthwhile?
Is Tesla a good option? Costco?
I know of a few people who have had roof problems from solar panels. So I would advise you to get good references before you hire a contractor to do this.
What type of incentives do you get?
My neighbor just had some installed and he said with the incentives his rerun on investment was really good
No idea. Haven’t really started researching yet. Just prompted by a $600 electric bill.
I have a huge aversion to heavy sales pitches and gimmicks.
100% agree!!
Whether or not it makes economic sense will be the cost of the installation versus the size of your annual electric bill. Most of the numbers I’ve seen state the cost will be about $25K +/-, depending upon your individual circumstance (size of house, peak supply to meet highest demand needed, estimated credit if you sell power back to the utility, life of the panels, etc). For example, if it costs $25K and you save $2,500 on your electric bill and you panels outlast the time frame, that’s a 10% return. Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all.
Solar will never make economic sense for us because our electric bill is just over $1,000/year and major energy users are gas. So, we’d have to convert those users to gas, adding to the $30K cost to get the panels we need. If a whole house battery was available and reliable, we’d still consider it because we’d go off the grid.
If you decide to proceed, I would recommend that you purchase the panels rather than lease. The lease remains an impediment on your title and any seller has to agree to continue the payments or, depending on the title insurer, may require that the impediment be removed before sale. There’s too many horror stories out there about house sales being stymied due to solar panel leases. Also, a purchase will get you any credits or incentives coming, but with a lease those usually go the panel installer.
Check the tax credits and other programs. It’s only going to get warmer.
You get the most bang if you have electric heating, water, etc.
I’ve looked into Tesla but they don’t install in my area
Definitely.
I’ve ran the numbers on solar and it really makes no sense unless you’re in an off grid cabin in the middle of nowhere. IMO net metering makes the most economical sense but the electric companies are making that not worth while.
Completely agree. Power bill sticker shock sucks, but replacing with solar doesn’t seem to net out better.
It’s kind of like replacing your paid off car that gets 20 mpg with an electric vehicle that costs $80K. It would take 400 months to pay back the new car price by saving $200 a month in gas, which is 33 years. The car won’t last that long.
My Texas summer electric bill is ridiculously high, but I am going to look into spray foam insulation. Have a family member who is an HVAC specialist, and he says it will take the attic from 150° to 80°, which takes a huge load off the A/C system.
Things like insulation, LED lighting and more energy efficient appliances have a quicker payback than solar. One thing you might look at is a split system heat pump connected to solar to cool your home during the day, the cost is pretty reasonable and not that complicated to install.
How many years to recoup the cost would be reasonable? I think I’ve heard a number at some point.
IMO, and this is just me, I would think less than 10 years.
I may have heard that somewhere too.
We don’t have an attic, but a few years ago we replaced our tar and gravel roof with TPO (which is white). We had considered installing a fan in the garage, but with that roof the summer temp in the garage dropped about 15 degrees. Our coolers also run less.
I think I’ve heard 10 and I think I’ve heard 7. When I last checked, the math didn’t make it work, but that could have changed.
I think only you can answer that question bro. It’s subjective and involves speculation or at least calculated risk.
Most people do solar for ideological reasons. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; I just don’t think it currently makes sense money wise.
There could be further developments, including a maintenance/refurbishing wing of the industry, that could well prove me wrong in the future.
Every scenario is different depending on gas and electric prices. A friend guessed it costs him around $8-9 in electricity each charge to top of his Tesla Y a couple times a week at home. He drives around 20k miles a year, which is cheaper than buying gas driving the same miles with a similar vehicle but he’s not sure how much cheaper.
Don’t forget it will increase the value of your house too.
Google has a website to help you determine your payback.
Do you have a south facing roof at the correct pitch?
Other things to consider. How much would you get for your sales to power company? How much is their meter fee for this? What is your KWH rate that you currently pay? How much will your homeowners insurance go up to insure the panels?
I was talking to family last year about their unit. Where they built, it was required in CA. The cost was about $30K to add solar but doesn’t cover 100% of their bill. Also they are still stuck with a $100+ per month meter charge that covers the infrastructure.
I looked into many years ago before massive inflation. Based on my power rates and panel cost, I was looking at 12 year payback for a DIY system. It was over 30 years for a installed system.
Keep in mind that solar will not help you during power outages unless you have a battery backup system.
There are multiple calculators out there, some associated with specific companies.