[Rhedrich]

I drove thru our new neighbor hood and see many home that have solar panels. In Chicago we really don't have the solar thing. I am looking to find out are they worth it. Also what is the initial expense and annual upkeep on them. Do they produce enough power to cover the summer needs for cooling. The house is 2800 sq foot ranch the front faces east and the rear is west. Looking for as much info which you guys have including any incentives. The forum has been very helpful so far and I have used your recommendation wisely

Thanks

[IloveLasVegas]

Hello,

I have been looking into solar panels as well! I have only about 2,000 sqft in my single story. I have found a few websites that offer packages for sale that seam to fit my power needs and they are not that bad on price. I remember finding a a site that had an $8,500 package that could do the trick. I use on average 1,600KwH a month. Which would be on average 53,000W a day. Now i see that most power quotes from what you would expect to get out of your panels are based on only 5 hours of sun. I feel we have a lot more sunshine than 5 good hours a day. If i purchase a package that says it can do 5,000W an hour i would need 10 hours a day of sun to wash out my power bill. The $8,500 package offers this I would just need to get it installed by an electrician. I am not sure how much that would be but i don't think it will break the bank. If this did wash out my power bill it would save me $3,000 a year.

Incentives: I have not seen much of any that are offered to Nevada residences but one is interesting. I believe you can deduct 30% of the cost from your taxes which would save me $3,000 or so in taxes bring the cost to really be only $5,500 for materials. These numbers would theoretically let the system pay for it self in just under 2 years.

Can anyone else confirm my thinking or am I way out there? LOL

Steven Khalilzadegan
Broker/Owner
Savi Realty
www.LasVegasHighRiseCondoLiving.com

[ddrhazy]

You're forgetting installation/labor costs.

[MollieW]

People next door spent almost 30,000 on thier solar (including water heater, permits, system and installation) and after one year it is leaking. When asked if they would do it again the answer is a big NO

[BBMW]

That sounds like solar hot water. Different type of system. I think the OP is talking photovoltaic.

Originally Posted by MollieW

People next door spent almost 30,000 on thier solar (including water heater, permits, system and installation) and after one year it is leaking. When asked if they would do it again the answer is a big NO

[BBMW]

Generally, if you need heavy AC (like in Vegas), it's not going to cover your entire load. And, of course, they do nothing at night. What people do is have a grid tied system, so you can fill in what you can't get from the solar from the grid. Also, in a lot of areas you can do reverse metering, so if you make more than you use, you can sell that back to the electric utility. I think Nevada Power does this, but I'm not sure of the rates.

In point of fact NV isn't one of the most solar friendly states (from a governmental standpoint.) CA has more subsides, and force the utilities to pay more for the reverse metered power. On it's own, solar is not particularly economically viable.

[MSchu]

I saw a lenox program where they either were retrofitting or selling new units that come with solar panels... it's supposed to cut the bill by nearly 30%+.

I know in some states that the solar manufacturer were giving away the units with installation and they recoop and sell back any extra power into the grid, but I have not seen that here in LV.

to me, this seems like the best place for SP on private residences and would love to add it to my home.

[IloveLasVegas]

Originally Posted by BBMW

Generally, if you need heavy AC (like in Vegas), it's not going to cover your entire load. And, of course, they do nothing at night. What people do is have a grid tied system, so you can fill in what you can't get from the solar from the grid. Also, in a lot of areas you can do reverse metering, so if you make more than you use, you can sell that back to the electric utility. I think Nevada Power does this, but I'm not sure of the rates.

In point of fact NV isn't one of the most solar friendly states (from a governmental standpoint.) CA has more subsides, and force the utilities to pay more for the reverse metered power. On it's own, solar is not particularly economically viable.

A grid tied system is exactly what I was looking at. It makes the most sense. Some states do let you sell power back to the power company but NV Energy does not do this. What they will do however is credit you the same amount of power you over produce so you can over produce power during the day to make up for any power at night you use.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by BBMW

Generally, if you need heavy AC (like in Vegas), it's not going to cover your entire load. And, of course, they do nothing at night. What people do is have a grid tied system, so you can fill in what you can't get from the solar from the grid. Also, in a lot of areas you can do reverse metering, so if you make more than you use, you can sell that back to the electric utility. I think Nevada Power does this, but I'm not sure of the rates.

Actually, the standard policy is for the utility to buy back electricity at their average cost, which in PG&E land means you get $0.03 to $0.04 per kwh, around 10x less than they charge you for it at the two highest tiers. So being able to get paid for excess generation is of little benefit. What is a huge benefit of net metering is offsetting any grid usage. That's electricity that you might have paid up to $0.45-$0.48 per kwh. The kwh you generate that offsets your usage is 10x more valuable than the kwh beyond that for which you get paid.

From Getting Credit for Surplus Energy

"On June 9, 2011, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the Net Surplus Compensation rate based on current market prices, which is between $0.03 to $0.04 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Payments to PG&E customers began on October 21, 2011."

In point of fact NV isn't one of the most solar friendly states (from a governmental standpoint.) CA has more subsides, and force the utilities to pay more for the reverse metered power. On it's own, solar is not particularly economically viable.

CA's programs are out of money too. All that's available is the 30% Fed tax credit.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by MSchu

to me, this seems like the best place for SP on private residences and would love to add it to my home.

The more your electric utility charges for electricity, the shorter the payback period of a PV install. The low price of electricity in Las Vegas makes PV less attractive than say, the San Francisco Bay Area, even though Las Vegas has a higher peak-sun hours per day average than the Bay Area.

Grossly simplified example: PV is around $5.60 per watt installed these days. Minus the 30% fed tax credit that's $3920 per kilowatt installed. NVE charges $0.12 per kilowatt-hour, and LV averages about six peak-hours of sun per day averaged over the whole year. So it would take $3920/(0.12 * 6), or 5444 days to generate $3920 worth of electricity from an install that costs $3920 (installed). That's almost fifteen years.

Now run the same numbers assuming $0.35 per kwh (marginal cost in the second highest tier in PG&E land), and five hours of peak-sun per day. I get 6.13 years. That's way more attractive.