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The way this reads to me, even for pre-2009 covenants in place, if those existing covenants don't restrict the usage or installation of solar collector devices, they can't go back and change them later to do so. I could be wrong though.
December's bill for 30 days of usage was $26.42. That's for about 950 total kWh used, 450 kWh produced, for a net of 500 billed. Mostly off peak since we manage usage nicely.
Last Dec. I used 1235 kWh, and only 950 this year. So I not only reduced usage, but also paid less for usage, and also made about half of what I needed, so overall good savings.
Rates just went up during the billing period for my rate schedule, so I'm assuming they did for regular customers also.
I'm keeping track of the new usage and what it would have cost for the same usage under the old billing program to keep a running total of $ saved and after 2 full and 1 partial bill under the new structure, it appears I'm over $400 in savings already.
Thank you for the updates! I've been watching your posts on this like a hawk as I am seriously tempted mainly given that my company will heavily subsidize the price in addition to other incentives.
My ONLY drawback is my disgust with the roof panels (looks) and the many holes in the roof to hold them. Still sitting on the fence.
I read an article that said Chinese solar panels were dumped and prices plummeted over the last few years, and recently the US has added a 36% tariff on imported panels (part of the reason why Solyndra failed I guess). Anyway, looks like you got yours at exactly the right time, low prices and no tariffs in place. I'd rather be lucky than good any day is what I always say....
Savings look great. I think for anyone planning to stay long term in your house what you did makes perfect sense, especially with all those federal rebates. I will say that I put insulation in my house in 2010 and that made a HUGE different, so for anyone not wanting the many thousands of dollars of solar panels, adding insulation is a great, low cost (couple hundred $$) way to significantly reduce your energy consumption as well.
Thank you for the updates! I've been watching your posts on this like a hawk as I am seriously tempted mainly given that my company will heavily subsidize the price in addition to other incentives.
My ONLY drawback is my disgust with the roof panels (looks) and the many holes in the roof to hold them. Still sitting on the fence.
Progress Energy is cutting their cash-back incentive in HALF in a few months, so anyone on the fence should get busy and get in on that NOW before that goes down. That makes a difference of roughly 8.5% in the rebate/incentive picture which is HUGE!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pipsters
I read an article that said Chinese solar panels were dumped and prices plummeted over the last few years, and recently the US has added a 36% tariff on imported panels (part of the reason why Solyndra failed I guess). Anyway, looks like you got yours at exactly the right time, low prices and no tariffs in place. I'd rather be lucky than good any day is what I always say....
Savings look great. I think for anyone planning to stay long term in your house what you did makes perfect sense, especially with all those federal rebates. I will say that I put insulation in my house in 2010 and that made a HUGE different, so for anyone not wanting the many thousands of dollars of solar panels, adding insulation is a great, low cost (couple hundred $$) way to significantly reduce your energy consumption.
The glut of Chinese panels doesn't seem to have affected a quality installed price here in the US much as far as small residential is concerned. Maybe there's an effect on large solar farms and commercial installations, but not for residential.
I did the insulation in the attic also. I think it helped, but is nowhere near the solid return of solar for me. You certainly aren't going to see $80+ per month in savings from attic insulation.
My last solar array is being installed this month and then I'm done. Next to check out is geothermal heating and cooling.
Insulatin may not make a huge payout, but it can definitely increase the comfort level while saving money.
I love the updates, keep them coming!
The geothermal should be interesting. You can get some pretty substantial savings from what I have seen.
Then you can start collecting rainwater in a tank and be one of those off the grid weirdos.
Agree with the insulation comment, but the return on investment just isn't as large overall as other stuff - that was my only clarification. Obviously spending $800 to beef up your attic insulation and seal it off better is easier to stomach than $15-30k for solar so it makes a lot of sense as a first step even for those who want to go solar.
Geothermal may make sense but with LNG going cheaper all the time and with my new half rate power tier, the payback may be a lot longer than traditional high efficiency system replacement when my time comes (soon - the units are over 11 years old already so I'm sure it's not far off).
And thank you very much, but I don't need a stinkin' rain barrel to be one of those weirdos! I'm already one of them.
Coming over from the link in the Green section, with just an FYI - not all inverters or systems are equal as far as the information they yield. I have a great system, yield-wise, but it has a TERRIBLE graphical interface, and pretty much what I get out of it is either an instantaneous result (how many kW are we generating at this exact moment) or a monthly yield.
Not nearly as much fun as the detailed info the OP has.....
there are aftermarket systems, but they have their own set of problems.
Coming over from the link in the Green section, with just an FYI - not all inverters or systems are equal as far as the information they yield. I have a great system, yield-wise, but it has a TERRIBLE graphical interface, and pretty much what I get out of it is either an instantaneous result (how many kW are we generating at this exact moment) or a monthly yield.
Not nearly as much fun as the detailed info the OP has.....
there are aftermarket systems, but they have their own set of problems.
The detailed information I have is from an aftermarket system called eGauge. I've learned a ton about my usage, production, devices and loads, and habits from this system. It's enabled me to easily cut down on usage without having to get crazy with unplugging every device in the house.
RDUBiker - what was your usage before you made all the changes?
We seem to be through the roof, as it were. 3,333 kwh/month for past 12 months. 2,853 in December. I really need to find ways to get this down. We are in a big house (5,400 square foot including attic, it's a 4,200 square foot house with large finished attic) but still I can't help but feel we are burning way too much electric
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