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Post by freecharlie on Feb 13, 2018 1:06:15 GMT
Did you get them when you built? Have them added later? How much did they cost? Do they stand up to hail, snow, rain?
What do I need to know going in?
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Post by Darcy Collins on Feb 13, 2018 2:12:34 GMT
The incentives aren't nearly as good as 5+ years ago when we looked into it. Snow and rain is a total non-issue - hail depends on just how severe. The biggest question is if you have a a good roof simple roof with southern exposure. Our roof is primarily east/west facing with the added issue of tons of breaks/elevation changes/bays etc. We just couldn't get the square footage of panels to justify it. Our friends decided to use ground units - but I just didn't want to go that direction. I'm waiting for the Tesla roof tiles - I figure by the time I need to replace my roof they will have driven down the costs.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,702 
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Post by hannahruth on Feb 13, 2018 2:46:53 GMT
We have had solar panels for five or six years and while we don't have snow to content with we have no problems with them.
We have panels on our garage roof so they are not visible from the street. When we had them installed the rebate was very good - 53 cents in the $ but it is now down to about seven cents. Not that we have them to make money but it is nice to get a cheque as well as the rebate on our power.
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Post by librarylady on Feb 13, 2018 3:24:49 GMT
My sister and nephew are having them installed this month.
Neighbors have them. Their highest bill was $30 this past year.
I have heard some say it is better to lease them than purchase outright.
Most are strong enough for most hail storms. Of course a unique situation can happen.
I THINK the tax credits are no longer given.
Our neighborhood had a blitz last year. It took only 2 days for the homes to have the system installed.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 1, 2024 19:34:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2018 4:04:22 GMT
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Post by bc2ca on Feb 13, 2018 4:15:39 GMT
The incentives aren't nearly as good as 5+ years ago when we looked into it. Snow and rain is a total non-issue - hail depends on just how severe. The biggest question is if you have a a good roof simple roof with southern exposure. Our roof is primarily east/west facing with the added issue of tons of breaks/elevation changes/bays etc. We just couldn't get the square footage of panels to justify it. Our friends decided to use ground units - but I just didn't want to go that direction. I'm waiting for the Tesla roof tiles - I figure by the time I need to replace my roof they will have driven down the costs.  The first question is whether you have a good south facing roof without trees or other structures shading it and then is there room for the panels. We were able to spit our panels over two portions of the roof, but our neighbor was told no by the city. Unfortunately the big easy portion of their roof is north facing and too shaded to make it worth adding panels. The panels do need to be cleaned occasionally, especially if you live somewhere with not much rainfall. I would buy over leasing. The cost of a HELOC to pay for the system is likely to be at a lower interest rate than the solar financing. Trying to sell a house with a leased system can be a nightmare. |
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Post by beaglemom on Feb 13, 2018 4:52:54 GMT
The incentives aren't nearly as good as 5+ years ago when we looked into it. Snow and rain is a total non-issue - hail depends on just how severe. The biggest question is if you have a a good roof simple roof with southern exposure. Our roof is primarily east/west facing with the added issue of tons of breaks/elevation changes/bays etc. We just couldn't get the square footage of panels to justify it. Our friends decided to use ground units - but I just didn't want to go that direction. I'm waiting for the Tesla roof tiles - I figure by the time I need to replace my roof they will have driven down the costs. I want the Telsa slate tiles! We just bought a new house and need to have it checked to see what our solar prospects are. Our last house we didn't get enough sun, but I am pretty sure this new house we do. Plus the slate roof we have is super fragile! |
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Post by freecharlie on Feb 13, 2018 5:03:20 GMT
The guy is coming out on Wednesday to talk to dh. Our neighborhood is new and no trees are above the roofs anywhere. Our back yard faces south and there are no trees at all back there.
I'm not sure if our roof is the right configuration or not.
While I wouldn't mind saving money, I am just as interested, if not more so, in helping the environment
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Post by sunnyd on Feb 13, 2018 5:29:14 GMT
Please don't lease them if you are EVER planning on selling your home during the lease. I recently had a client who had had them installed on their home with a 20 year LEASE and then decided to sell their home. Upon installation, the company put a lien on his house for $27,000 until the lease was paid off. We were freaking lucky that the buyer agreed to assume the lease at closing and the lien was re-recorded in the buyer's names. Ugh! It was a NIGHTMARE & and a miracle when I got that deal closed. Considering technology, the dang things will be obsolete within 5 years.
ETA: Maybe they make more sense if you live in FL where you run the A/C the majority of the year or use an excessive amount of electricity for some other reason. But we live in a state that has more winter than summer. Plus the roofs are usually covered with snow for 6 months of the year so not in direct contact with sunlight most of the time.
ETA again: In our market, appraisers are not adding ANY value for having solar panels, which is exactly the opposite of what the solar companies are advertising. Ugh, I'm sorry to sound so anti-environment. I'm still recovering from selling that house, lol.
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Post by freecharlie on Feb 13, 2018 22:48:09 GMT
Please don't lease them if you are EVER planning on selling your home during the lease. I recently had a client who had had them installed on their home with a 20 year LEASE and then decided to sell their home. Upon installation, the company put a lien on his house for $27,000 until the lease was paid off. We were freaking lucky that the buyer agreed to assume the lease at closing and the lien was re-recorded in the buyer's names. Ugh! It was a NIGHTMARE & and a miracle when I got that deal closed. Considering technology, the dang things will be obsolete within 5 years. ETA: Maybe they make more sense if you live in FL where you run the A/C the majority of the year or use an excessive amount of electricity for some other reason. But we live in a state that has more winter than summer. Plus the roofs are usually covered with snow for 6 months of the year so not in direct contact with sunlight most of the time. ETA again: In our market, appraisers are not adding ANY value for having solar panels, which is exactly the opposite of what the solar companies are advertising. Ugh, I'm sorry to sound so anti-environment. I'm still recovering from selling that house, lol. I saw that a lease could be a nightmare. We will be here for at least another 5 years, but more likely at least until I retire as I am 6.5 minutes from work |
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Post by freecharlie on Feb 18, 2018 1:49:33 GMT
We have had solar panels for five or six years and while we don't have snow to content with we have no problems with them. We have panels on our garage roof so they are not visible from the street. When we had them installed the rebate was very good - 53 cents in the $ but it is now down to about seven cents. Not that we have them to make money but it is nice to get a cheque as well as the rebate on our power. Are there downsides? We liked what the guy said, but it is a commitment and we are a little hesitant. Here is their proposal. The top of the photo is north. so the majority of the panels will be on the south and west.  |
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GiantsFan
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,487
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Feb 18, 2018 3:53:20 GMT
We had our solar system installed in Sept 2010. We purchased our system outright and received just over $15,000 in incentives from Federal and State. (I don't think the incentives are as large now) The leasing of the system just didn't seem like it penciled out to our benefit. We bought a system that was just larger than we needed with the intent of adding an A/C unit in the future. Last September my electric bill for the year was less than $35, before solar it averaged $140 per month. Our break-even is 15.5 years.
We did have an issue with installation - the roofing company they contracted with to install the risers drilled in the wrong spot in our open beam ceiling. Our company contracted with another roofer and fixed it and you would never notice but of course I do because I know where to look! Since we purchased our sales and installation company went out of business, so we had to find another company to take over the warranty. The new company replaced the one bad inverter but we had to pay for labor of $100. We clean them ourselves a few times per year. We are surrounded by farms and orchards so we have a lot of dust, but luckily our roof isn't very steep. We also have an app that we can view to see how our system is doing, which is how I noticed the bad inverter.
I like the idea of being energy efficient and using the sun for power. Ironically, the plant that made our solar panels was not solar equipped or efficient - I asked.
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Post by pivibird on Feb 18, 2018 5:05:45 GMT
We’ve had our panels for 3 years now and have been very pleased. We installed them in May so the first summer, we didn’t see a lot of savings because we hadn’t had time to “stockpile” some energy and running AC in the Vegas desert is costly. But after we got through that first summer, our highest bill-including summer has been 45$, and we also have an electric car and a plug in hybrid vehicle. We went with an electric company and not a solar company for our purchase and installation. Tax incentives aren’t as good as they were when we purchased.
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Post by Lexica on Feb 18, 2018 5:25:12 GMT
Please don't lease them if you are EVER planning on selling your home during the lease. I recently had a client who had had them installed on their home with a 20 year LEASE and then decided to sell their home. Upon installation, the company put a lien on his house for $27,000 until the lease was paid off. We were freaking lucky that the buyer agreed to assume the lease at closing and the lien was re-recorded in the buyer's names. Ugh! It was a NIGHTMARE & and a miracle when I got that deal closed. Considering technology, the dang things will be obsolete within 5 years. I am so happy to read this. I have been pestered to death with solar companies calling multiple times a day, knocking on the door, and leaving flyers. I happened to be outside when one guy came and since I was doing some work out there, I was kind of stuck talking to him. In our area, all of the solar companies are doing a free installation with free panels. They just want to get them on your house and you have to sign an agreement to leave them there for a duration of 25 years, I think it was. I could also have them pulled and take them with me when I move. Sure. If you decide to have them removed before that 25-year mark, you had to buy them outright at some insane price. I told him I was selling soon and wasn't interested. He told me all about how buyers are jumping to get houses with preinstalled solar and "all I had to do" was get them to sign the easy transfer contract. There is no way I was falling for that and limiting my pool of potential buyers to those willing to sign over 25 years worth of solar. Plus, their price per electric unit wasn't that much better than what I am getting now because I get a medical waiver of extra base units because of my CPAP. In my area, any medical device that runs on electricity that is a lifesaving device qualifies you for this extra allotment of units at the base unit price. I would not get anything comparable with solar and wouldn't really be saving money. Thank you for reaffirming that selling a house with a solar contract can be horribly difficult. That was my main concern. I do want to add that we had solar installed when we put the pool in 30-some years ago. It was strictly to heat the pool and worked awesomely. I could switch it off when it got too hot in the pool, which it frequently did, but nighttime swimming in bathwater warm water was heavenly. I could also switch things to where it heated up the spa so that when we went to use it at night by turning on the spa heater, it was already just about to temperature from the solar. The panels were blown off during a freak tornado that hit our city and I opted not to replace them because I felt I could really use the insurance reimbursement for other things. This was during my son's cancer treatment and we really needed the money instead of solar. If I didn't, I would have replaced the solar. Solar works amazingly well, so if I was staying put for a while, and didn't have to pay up front for the panels, I would really consider doing it again. |
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The first question is whether you have a good south facing roof without trees or other structures shading it and then is there room for the panels. We were able to spit our panels over two portions of the roof, but our neighbor was told no by the city. Unfortunately the big easy portion of their roof is north facing and too shaded to make it worth adding panels.
