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I am wondering if it is truly worth it to get solar panels. I personally hate the way they look. But, that said, how much does it really cost on average to install them? I read it is around $16000. Then, how much are you saving on electricity.
Let’s say that I pay about $375 for two months for electric. What would my bill go down to using solar panels? Would it be $75? If so, I am saving $300 every two month, which comes to $1800 per year. At that rate, it would take about 9 years to break even. I’m 62 and probably won’t live long last then so it would not be a good investment for me. What happens when your roof leaks or you need a new roof. Who takes down the panels? Who pays for that? Is that included in the cost of the installation?
A legit solar company wont install them on a roof that isn’t adequate. I got a whole bunch of quotes for solar. Products were all very similar. If roof leaked you would be responsible and To have panels removed.
I went with Tesla solar for a few reasons. They won’t fail and if they did a large company would of course buy them out. The panels were extremely low to the roof so they looked nicer and are less visible. Most importantly they guarantee to be the lowest price. They came in 9-10k cheaper than all other companies. Now they won’t have as good customer service. They use string inverters instead of micro inverters. Difference is w/ micro loosing a panel or having it shaded they will perform better than a string. With your bill you would need around 9-9.5 kw system that would run about 12k from Tesla after tax rebates. About 5.5 years payback if you finance it’s more because the interest. I fronted the tax credits as my down payment and financed the rest. It will be 1 year in April for my install went live in July, due a paper work snafu my first payment is due in March. I am going to use my tax credits to pay it off and my break even point is 4.5 years. If you have a referral it’s $500 off. The value is in the 10-20 years after break even point. You bank credits for 20 years and as prices go up you bill basically stays the same. You still have to pay the daily connection fee and the BS solar fee. A 9kw system will be be about $20 a month.
Wow. That was a very detailed and knowledgeable reply. Are you sure you aren’t a solar panel salesman? lol. Thanks. So can you share how many kilowatt hours you are being belied for from PSEG monthly?
Wow. That was a very detailed and knowledgeable reply. Are you sure you aren’t a solar panel salesman? lol. Thanks. So can you share how many kilowatt hours you are being belied for from PSEG monthly?
Hahaha I did allot of research and had a bunch of companies give me quotes. Everyone is different, what direction is roof facing, is the roof shaded etc. I have not paid for any kw usage since I turned it on in July 26. I generated enough credits to wipe the bill that came in. I’m running low on credits as i missed April- most of July. I may end up using 30-50 kw/h this cycle that ends feb 20. Once march hits and production substantial goes up I wont pay for 1 kw/h for next 20 years. Last 2 days have been great l, highest production since nov 7. I had days in January where I had excess power.
You met meter. All the excess power you generate goes back to the grid and goes into your credit bank for 20 years. Let’s say in march you generate 550 kw/h and used 450 that 100 extra goes into bank. So at night, winter, cloudy days etc when you pull from the grid it comes out of your credit bank. If you start producing in by end of June you will never be bill after that it’s hot or miss in year 1. After that you should never see a bill outside of the connection and solar fee again.
It depends a lot upon where you live and what the deal is with your electric company.
My BIL in Massachusetts bought his solar panels and pays nothing for electricity. He’s very happy with them.
We’ve been approached a few times here in GA and cannot justify them. I forget what exactly the deal is with GA Power Co. but they will not pay us for any electricity over a certain percent.
It depends a lot upon where you live and what the deal is with your electric company.
My BIL in Massachusetts bought his solar panels and pays nothing for electricity. He’s very happy with them.
We’ve been approached a few times here in GA and cannot justify them. I forget what exactly the deal is with GA Power Co. but they will not pay us for any electricity over a certain percent.
It’s rarely worth it down south, electricity usage is much higher there and you typically need a massive system to cover it all.
Hahaha I did allot of research and had a bunch of companies give me quotes. Everyone is different, what direction is roof facing, is the roof shaded etc. I have not paid for any kw usage since I turned it on in July 26. I generated enough credits to wipe the bill that came in. I’m running low on credits as i missed April- most of July. I may end up using 30-50 kw/h this cycle that ends feb 20. Once march hits and production substantial goes up I wont pay for 1 kw/h for next 20 years. Last 2 days have been great l, highest production since nov 7. I had days in January where I had excess power.
You met meter. All the excess power you generate goes back to the grid and goes into your credit bank for 20 years. Let’s say in march you generate 550 kw/h and used 450 that 100 extra goes into bank. So at night, winter, cloudy days etc when you pull from the grid it comes out of your credit bank. If you start producing in by end of June you will never be bill after that it’s hot or miss in year 1. After that you should never see a bill outside of the connection and solar fee again.
It’s been great for me too. Dec and Jan (which was an awful solar month) was covered by my credits I should have enough to get me to march without having to pay a thing (other than service charge)
My question is, if solar is so great in a state that typically uses propane, why don’t they switch to electric heat?
This is a ny forum so down south is irrelevant. Here in NY it aker’s sense because the up to 5k tax credit and the fact that you can net meter for 20 years. The grid is essentially your personal free battery storage.
I am wondering if it is truly worth it to get solar panels. I personally hate the way they look. But, that said, how much does it really cost on average to install them? I read it is around $16000. Then, how much are you saving on electricity.
Let’s say that I pay about $375 for two months for electric. What would my bill go down to using solar panels? Would it be $75? If so, I am saving $300 every two month, which comes to $1800 per year. At that rate, it would take about 9 years to break even. I’m 62 and probably won’t live long last then so it would not be a good investment for me. What happens when your roof leaks or you need a new roof. Who takes down the panels? Who pays for that? Is that included in the cost of the installation?
Thanks for any info.
I have solar on my roof. My advise...don't. You still have to pay the service fees. I paid $40T for my system. My electric company will only let me save a year of kwhs, so they took hundreds of dollars of energy from me. Energy that I needed for the winter for my horse waterers and heaters to keep my chickens warm. I was told the panels last about ten years and are expensive to dispose of.
If you decide to install a system just make sure you get an established company and get a battery backup so you can bank your excess kwhs. I would go totally off the grid if I could. Also, have a good warranty in writing.
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