Any Experiences with Solar Power for Homes in Dallas? (Howe: leasing, homeowners insurance)

[BeenThereDunThat]

I hope this doesn't get moved to a general forum about alternate energy but I have had a few folks ask me about possible tax credits / incentives for getting solar panels for the home. I have limited knowledge on this subject other than what I've read online and in magazines. Anyone in the DFW area have first-hand experience in getting their home outfitted for solar energy?

First-hand comments are what I'd like to get if possible -- thx!

[ChristieP]

The panels can be damaged by hail, and we get a fair amount of hail here...

[BeenThereDunThat]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

The panels can be damaged by hail, and we get a fair amount of hail here...

Is this something you've experienced first-hand?

[ChristieP]

Not directly. My parents had considered putting solar panels on a house they used to own, but when dad did the research, he concluded that the risk of having the panels ruined by hail was too great.

[Wrecked]

The risk of damage from hail is minimal since the fragile PV cells are protected by layers upon layers of protective casing/coating. Softball sized hail(which isn't that common) could potentially wreck solar panels but that would likely kill a roof too(more so those fancy clay tile roofs). I say could because it depends on the panel. A softball sized hail would kill a system that meets only the minimum international standards. However, most systems being sold today(at least in the US) far exceed those minimum standards and can protect against larger hail stones. For example, a 8cm(almost softball sized hail) has a terminal velocity of ~107mph, but there are systems rated to protect against a hail stone with a terminal velocity of 260mph(never going to see hail like this in the real word).

Furthermore in the event of a massive/worst hail storm ever, any damage WOULD be covered by homeowners insurance. If it came to that it would not be any different than replacing a roof. I've seen plenty of solar panels installed in North Texas. I don't think hail damage is all that big of threat/risk.

The real question would be, are solar panels a worthwhile investment. And that comes down to how big of system your roof can handle and how much your system can produce versus how much energy you currently use(and how much in the future), and how long do you plan on staying in your house. Solar panels aren't right for every home/everyone. They can be a hedge against future higher rates(just like a hybrid or ev vehicle), but there are plenty of people who never break even on solar(just like with hybrids and evs).

Then you have the lease options, it seems good up front, almost to good to be true. It can save you money each month starting on day 1, but in reality in the long term your lease payments could have bought at least two, possibly three(depends on system size) systems outright. The other problem with the lease is, most leases are 25 years, and most people don't live in a home for that long. This can make selling a house with leased solar panels a tricky proposition. In reality though if you lease a system and are selling your house., most of the time you are going to have to exercise the lease buyout option in order to sell the house. Buying out the lease would put your investment heavily in the red. But same can be said if you buy the system out right and move well before you break even.

As for your tax credit question. Yes there are federal tax credits that you can get if you install solar panels and buy it outright(or with a loan, just no leasing). It expires in 2016. It gives you a 30% of the purchase price tax credit that you can carry forward until the tax credit expires in 2016. For larger home install systems that could be $10-15k in tax credits. The tax credits(if you have enough tax liability) can allow you to break even much quicker than without the tax credit. But you still need to run the numbers and determine how long you plan on living in the house you plan to outfit if you are wanting to save money in the long run. If you are planning on staying long term(15 years) and your house is ideally located, it could be worthwhile but even so its going to be a long time before you see a return on that investment.

Now if you don't care about the investment/saving money aspect and are just wanting to do your part to help conserve. That is okay too. Plenty of people do that(just like they do with hybrids and evs).

[MckinneyOwnr]

I looked into doing this when we were shopping for homes in 2010. For starters, to really make a dent in your electric bills, you're looking at a cost of about $30k for enough panels to cover the energy usage of a 3500 sq ft home, if the home is efficient.

In our case, the house we ended up buying has the back of the house facing north, which is not ideal to catch the most sunlight. You want a house with the back roof facing south. This is important if you want to catch enough rays to store enough energy, and get the most of the claimed efficiencies of the panels. In our HOA, we aren't allowed to put solar panels on the front side of the house so we stopped looking into it.

[BeenThereDunThat]

From what I've heard and read, ideal roof position is either facing east or southwest and unobstructed by trees or other buildings.

I've seen some houses with a lot of panels but one thing I've often wondered is the practicality and efficiency of smaller solar installations.
Say on a garage or outbuilding with separate electric service & meter. Seems like the lower cost of a smaller install might be worth exploring,
even if you used just a portion of the power... you'd be sending back a bit more than you'd use. It might offset your main house electric bill a little.

Just wondering... I guess the only real way to find out is to get a vendor for a consult.

[TX75007]

You will never repay the cost of the panels even with tax credits. Not even close.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by TX75007

You will never repay the cost of the panels even with tax credits. Not even close.

You can, but it would take a decade or more to do so, with the costs of panels being what they are today. They're getting cheaper every year though.

[bigdaddycool1111]

How about SolarCity? I heard that they don't charge you up front for solar panels, but charge you monthly bills.