Thinking about putting in Solar panels.......Information and Advice needed please! (tax credits, installing)
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Hi,
i'm in Virginia and thinking about solar panels.
i was hoping for some advice:
- how much does a system typically cost? (20-30k?)
- how much are the tax incentives? (Fed or State?)
- what type of panels should i get? (i use between 750 and 3100 kwh of energy during the year, and a 1300kwh average)
The going rate right now is about $3.6 per Watt installed excluding any rebates or tax incentives. That is not a Virginia specific number. It is more nationwide.
So a $20k array (before rebates/incentives) would be about 5700 watts. How many KWH per year that would be would depend on your physical location.
Sizing- it probably depends on how much money you have and how much room you have.
Do you mean you use between 750 and 3100 per month? So your yearly usage is 1300kwh * 12 = 15600 kwh?
The going rate right now is about $3.6 per Watt installed excluding any rebates or tax incentives. That is not a Virginia specific number. It is more nationwide.
So a $20k array (before rebates/incentives) would be about 5700 watts. How many KWH per year that would be would depend on your physical location.
Sizing- it probably depends on how much money you have and how much room you have.
Do you mean you use between 750 and 3100 per month? So your yearly usage is 1300kwh * 12 = 15600 kwh?
It's going to depend on how your state operates. Some give "SRECS" and some net meter and some do both. That is going to determine the payback rate.
Here in Vermont you get 30% more credit on your util than you generate. So if you generate 6500 kwh a year , then you get 8521 kwh in credits. So you can wipe out approximately 8521 kwh of usage, NOT including usage fees. 8521 is about $1500 a year. The $20k above array actually costs you about $14k after tax credits. So it's about a 9.333 year break even pay back .
My concern is - where is Solar technology and pricing going to be in many 2, 3 4, 5 years. 9.33 years is a LONG time for solar technology. Granted you are getting some payback as soon as the panels go up.
Hi,
i'm in Virginia and thinking about solar panels.
i was hoping for some advice:
- how much does a system typically cost? (20-30k?)
- how much are the tax incentives? (Fed or State?)
- what type of panels should i get? (i use between 750 and 3100 kwh of energy during the year, and a 1300kwh average)
Thank you in advance!
Put a new roof on your house before installing solar panels.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Whatever you decide on ...
Make darn sure you do *fully* understand ALL the clauses in your contract,
*and* understand all the other things that go with it.
I have been reading about solar for a long time and
found many surprises that kind of made me think,
*maybe not the right time yet* ...
Even if you *think* it is a good deal, the consequences with the local power companies
may come to a surprise to you, since they might be not that good of a deal !
We used some solar panel at our huntng camp. Since it was not near coast we thought ok. But one hail storm while away convinced us to use steel panels over replacements. Lots to consider if not the only method of power.
I just had an in-home consultation with an agent from Solar Max. Because we only use ~9kWh during the winter and ~13kWh during the summer, we were warned that our electricity provider, Southern California Edison, might not approve our solar transition. Our energy demand would increase if we traded in my wife's hybrid for a PHEV and if we ran our central AC (5.5kWh), dryer (4kWh) and full-sized oven (2.8kWh).
Anyways, she laid out a "3kW system" that would cost just under $1K per panel at 12 panels. Having a north facing house in southern California would yield about 14-16kWh/day and would cost about $11,600 before incentives, and ~$8,700 after rebates and tax incentives. At our current electricity demand, it would take 14.5 years to get our money back (assuming no inflation), but if we increased our demand with an EV and if we used our AC, the savings would be huge.
At first look I would recommend you spend your effort reducing your usage before going with panels. More bang for the buck. You are at least 30% over the national average, and with some effort could cut your use by more than 50%.
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