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The thing about this is that you still have to pay an electric bill. What you are actually doing is selling the electricity your panels generate to the utility company and then they are supplying you with electricity from their system. You still must pay all the fees they charge but they deduct the amount of electricity you use. You are never really without a bill. You could just go off-grid but you may not be able to generate sufficient electricity to power your home. Jay
This is why I don't like the current setups and figure we need something like Elon Musk proposed. Your house has it's array and a battery pack that is charged during the day when most people are not home or usage is at a minimal then when your pack is full it diverts the energy back to the power company. Then at night you use your battery stored power and if you drain it then you feed off the grid until it can be charged again.
I don't like the idea that my house is generating free power for the company (install aside) and I still have to pay to get that power back (albeit at a reduced rate).
Waist of money. If you will get them pay the lease up front, clients do not want to purchase a home with a Solar lease. Plus visually it is not to appealing.
Waist of money. If you will get them pay the lease up front, clients do not want to purchase a home with a Solar lease. Plus visually it is not to appealing.
I don't mind the look of solar panels, but I did hear that there have been times where buyers have qualified for a mortgage, but did not qualify to assume the solar lease. So, either the sale is lost, or the seller has to pay off the lease, possibly incurring a big unplanned expense.
Met with a few solar installers and am about to buy 7 kwh of panels in cash. Return on investment is estimated to be about 5-7 years at close to 15% when you factor in all the tax credits and incentives. CT has massive incentives do do it and the 30% federal rebate is still available.
Met with a few solar installers and am about to buy 7 kwh of panels in cash. Return on investment is estimated to be about 5-7 years at close to 15% when you factor in all the tax credits and incentives. CT has massive incentives do do it and the 30% federal rebate is still available.
My neighbor just got their entire roof covered in panels. No idea on details but I'm seeing more and more and more panels in my travels around CT.
Just signed my contract for my panels. The prices have really come down on them and the generous state incentive and federal tax credit brought a $20k system down to $9k! I oversized them and should have no electric bill besides the $20 connection fee for the next 20-25 years. Any extra power I produce at the end of the year will be purchased back from me so it's possible to actually have no electric bill at all or a slight profit depending on production.
Everyone is paying for the state incentive on their electric bill. So essentially if you don't have panels your paying for your neighbors to have them.
If you do look into getting them avoid the lease's and power purchase agreements as they are sort of a scam.
Google has a cool program called google sunroof where you can check your roof/house for your solar potential.
Here is my home on there showing the great solar potential.
First full bill since the panels went in. Was only $19.25 for the connection charge. Currently have a surplus of power generated and negative kwh montly bill!
First full bill since the panels went in. Was only $19.25 for the connection charge. Currently have a surplus of power generated and negative kwh montly bill!
Nice!! Thanks for the update! Looking forward to future updates. Between the wood stove and solar panels you're practically homesteading.
I used 818kWh last month (I use the A/C a lot and have 2 dehumidifiers in basement running)
My electric bill was over $250! Solar definitely is worth it but not if you plan on moving within 5 yrs.
BTW -- We've been cloudy since the Spring a lot. How has that affected power??
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