Solar power

[fcorrales80]

My parent's have solar panels and usually pay nothing or as little as $25 a month during the summer! Also, HOA's in Arizona ARE NOT allowed to ban solar panels by state law. So if your HOA has such rules and regulations they are illegal and fraudulent.

There are huge subsidies for installing panels. Pay $10,000 get back $8,000. You'd make up the other 2 in two years roughly especially with how much summer rates can be. Solar energy is making a huge inroads into the state as large solar "farms" are being built and added to the general grid like a traditional power generating station.

[lyzzard]

My mom was interested in looking up solar water heater, solar A/C and solar panels. After the tax rebates (federal, SRP, state) it's still around $14k out of pocket cost for solar panels, then if you buy a house before Nov this year you can get that $8k tax credit and apply it. That's still a pretty penny... For the water heater the costs to have it installed (hole in the roof and everything else) would mitigate any advantage she would have had. Solar A/C might still be doable, but we'd have to look into it more.

This is from the SRP website itself:

The future of solar energy

Unfortunately, the current costs of installing photovoltaic equipment makes this form of renewable energy an expensive option for power generation. As a stronger market for this energy develops, we hope to see costs decline.
In the meantime, SRP continues to assess other solar technologies to find the most cost effective and environmentally beneficial source of clean energy.

[fcorrales80]

Solar panels can be more than just for a water heater or a specific unit. The best deals are for panels that power your entire house and feed the "grid." These are often $10,000-$15,000 and the subsidy is from APS, and SRP. The rate of rebate depends on the type you install and is not too be confused with the $8,000 first time HOME buyer incentive program.

[_Charles_]

Originally Posted by Dazgaz

Why is there not more solar power being used in the valley? It seems to make sense to me that everyone should benefit from "free" electricity by installing solar power, but there appears to be minimal use of it. Can anyone shed any light on this? No pun intended

There is allot mythology around solar power. The reality is:

It is expensive
It is inefficeint
It is unreliable

Solar has been tried and abandoned several times around the Valley.

I could go further and talk about a viable "carbon neutral" (for those of you that buy into that thinking) electricity generation source that is available and used by France and Sweden but that is not the subject of this thread.

FYI A solar company that failed in Spain just won a huge publicly subsidized contract here in AZ.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by _Charles_

There is allot mythology around solar power. The reality is:

It is expensive
It is inefficeint
It is unreliable

Solar has been tried and abandoned several times around the Valley.

I could go further and talk about a viable "carbon neutral" (for those of you that buy into that thinking) electricity generation source that is available and used by France and Sweden but that is not the subject of this thread.

FYI A solar company that failed in Spain just won a huge publicly subsidized contract here in AZ.

This is very false. Especially with newer technologies. Can you post some information that may offer evidence of your stance?

[thefarrellfam]

My friend was telling me how she was actually selling back the unused power generated by her solar panels to the electric company and I thought it's time to jump on board.

My husband has been in and out of work recently and I thought if I could afford it, this would be a good way to save money every month and maybe even make a little extra.

Moderator cut: new members cannot make recommendations They made it all very simple. They showed me the incentives and discounts available and how much the bottom line would be. It took me about 9 months of pinching the pennys out of our budget but I finally was able to afford it. I know in the long run, this is a very wise decision; it was just getting over the hump of the start up costs associated with the conversion. When you see it on paper though, how quickly it pays for itself, it is hard not to go for it.

If you are even thinking about converting, I fully suggest calling a licensed and insured company with the knowledge and experience to educate youModerator cut: new members cannot make recommendations .

I will keep you updated on my experience my new solar power home, this is a new experience for me.

[nickw252]

A co-worker of mine just had solar panels installed and she said the projected return on investment date is in about 7 years so it was basically a no brainer for her to install them.

She's doing one of the plans where she "leases" the panels from a company that installed, maintained, and did all the tax rebate work.

Also, someone mentioned above that Arizona law prohibits HOA's from restricting use of solar panels so I did some research:

A.R.S. 33-439 Restrictions on installation or use of solar energy devices invalid; exception

A. Any covenant, restriction or condition contained in any deed, contract, security agreement or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of, or any interest in, real property which effectively prohibits the installation or use of a solar energy device as defined in section 44-1761 is void and unenforceable.

B. A deed, contract, security agreement or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of, or any interest in, real property entered into before April 17, 1980 shall not be subject to the provisions of this section.

[Juram]

Originally Posted by nickw252

A co-worker of mine just had solar panels installed and she said the projected return on investment date is in about 7 years so it was basically a no brainer for her to install them.

She's doing one of the plans where she "leases" the panels from a company that installed, maintained, and did all the tax rebate work.

Solar leases are a big scam. Find a copy of the leasing contract and you'll see why. They sell you an overpriced system that is broken down in much smaller payments, they take all your tax credits, utility incentives and any/all future incentives as a result of having solar and then hammer you on pricing since its in their best interest to make the overall cost of that system as high as possible, allowing them to maximize that 30% tax credit. They will generally use quality, name-brand panel manufacturers but will often use the lowest-priced, least-efficient, cheapest models of that brand to further keep their costs down.

Buying a system can run anywhere from $4.80 to $7.00 a watt while the effective price of leasing can go from $8.00 to $11.00 a watt which is the only way these companies can promise their investors a 10% return.

Standard ROI for a PV system with the assumption that utility rates increase 4.5% annually is about 6-9 years depending on panel and system size.

Also, someone mentioned above that Arizona law prohibits HOA's from restricting use of solar panels so I did some research:

When it comes to solar, HOA's basically only have the right to challenge your placement of the panels on the roof by spending money out of their own pocket and then hiring an engineer to determine whether or not that is the most effective place for the panels to be. This prevents people from putting the panels on the front of their house if the front happens to be north-facing simply to thumb their nose at the HOA.

As long as the panels are placed in the location that is determined by the utility company to be most effective, there is nothing that the HOA can do.

[Juram]

Originally Posted by thefarrellfam

My friend was telling me how she was actually selling back the unused power generated by her solar panels to the electric company and I thought it's time to jump on board.

There's really no utility that will "buy back" your power in Arizona. For most you receive credits for your solar production that balance out with your electrical consumption and some will write you a check based on excess credits left over at the end of the year but that amount is typically given at a wholesale rate.

A solar system that leads to a check from the utility company at the end of the year is a poorly designed system and one that is too big for that particular home. Emphasis should be on energy efficient improvements in conjunction with solar to lead to a 85-90% reduction in total utility costs.

My husband has been in and out of work recently and I thought if I could afford it, this would be a good way to save money every month and maybe even make a little extra.

They made it all very simple. They showed me the incentives and discounts available and how much the bottom line would be. It took me about 9 months of pinching the pennys out of our budget but I finally was able to afford it. I know in the long run, this is a very wise decision; it was just getting over the hump of the start up costs associated with the conversion. When you see it on paper though, how quickly it pays for itself, it is hard not to go for it.

This sounds like a long advertisement to me. Solar is a huge investment and scraping pennies together for 9 months isn't going to do it. You either have the cash on hand to pay for it(lucky) or are going to be financing the system out or if desperate, leasing, although if you've got good enough credit to lease, you've got good enough credit to finance and actually own the system.

If you are even thinking about converting, I fully suggest calling a licensed and insured company with the knowledge and experience to educate you

What is this conversion that you speak of? Unless you're going full-out battery mode, you're still connected to your utility company grid. The only difference is that you have your own mini power-plant on your roof earning you credits over the long-term.

I will keep you updated on my experience my new solar power home, this is a new experience for me.

Be sure to skip the blatant advertising in the future. For anyone else considering solar, check out APS Qualified Solar Installer directory. Solar is not an automatic, quick gratification but a long-term financial strategy, essentially a hedge bet that utility rates will increase and increase swiftly over the next 5-10 years.