Home Solar Panels?

[d-dave]

Anyone have any experience with that?  My wife signed up for a free consultation (sales pitch) from a residential solar company.  While the guy was great, just a good dude, we had some concerns after he left.  Looking at their facebook and some other reviews, it seems like they are over selling big time.

Suggestions?  Opinions?  I'm curious to see if any of the wonderful people of the Huddle had some good or bad experiences with solar panels.  The idea sounds great, but the cost is still rather high and frightening.

[pstall]

Smokingwith willy or anybody home will be your best bets. 

When getting a contractor always interview at least 3 and go with the middle.

 

[thefuzz]

It's a great thought, but takes a LONG time to pay itself off, especially if you don't get any subsidies.

[Ja Rhule]

How expensive is it?

[d-dave]

1 hour ago, ARSEN said:

How expensive is it?

$28,000 (!!!), covers all the permitting, installation, all inclusive.

20 year financing, 5.99% (ugh!).  Starts off with a high payment for 18 month($140ish), then would drop by about 30% for the remaining million payments($90ish).

It seemed a little to good to be true.  Beating the majority of the future Duke rate increases, but considering the payments would be more than our regular Duke bill and only cover 80% of the cost.

The sales guy was super nice, and I did feel bad telling him no, but it just didn't add up.  I was curious to see if anyone has had any experience putting solar panels on their homes.  Speaking of that, he claimed it would raise our home value by another $25,000 dollars.

[Bronn]

Why not go the DIY route and do a section at a time?

From my research, most companies that do this charge out the butt for equipment and other fees.

Also, most PV technologies, to my knowledge, will degrade at about 1% per year. Did they tell you this? By the time you've paid these off, and if you haven't had other problems already, you're only operating at an 80% max capacity.

I would seriously weigh your monthly (or even daily) kwh needs vs. the 20 year investment.

Do an energy audit on yourself and cut down everything that isn't absolutely necessary power-wise in your home. You'll also need to look into heating and cooling loss points in the process, and get those taken care of (since temperature control is probably half to a third of your current consumption.)

You can probably already pay way less than you're paying, and once you've done that, use some of that money to put in your own solar panels a chunk at a time. It isn't terribly difficult technology to understand, maintain, or install.

Think about this. He said it would raise your home value by $25,000. That is current value once installed. Meanwhile, you're on the hook for $28,000 plus interest over 20 years. Even if you immediately sell your home once they are installed, you're still in the hole for $3,000 if you use the money from selling your home to pay off the cost.

The bottom line is that, if you're out to cut energy cost or dependency, you need to start out by cutting your energy requirement.

[Doyle]

Look at it this way.  If this deal was worth a poo everybody would be doing it.  

[Anybodyhome]

4 hours ago, ARSEN said:

How expensive is it?

Typical material and installation averages to about $7-9 per watt.

[Ja Rhule]

Someone told me Duke will buy extra electricity...  true?

[thefuzz]

3 hours ago, d-dave said:

$28,000 (!!!), covers all the permitting, installation, all inclusive.

20 year financing, 5.99% (ugh!).  Starts off with a high payment for 18 month($140ish), then would drop by about 30% for the remaining million payments($90ish).

It seemed a little to good to be true.  Beating the majority of the future Duke rate increases, but considering the payments would be more than our regular Duke bill and only cover 80% of the cost.

The sales guy was super nice, and I did feel bad telling him no, but it just didn't add up.  I was curious to see if anyone has had any experience putting solar panels on their homes.  Speaking of that, he claimed it would raise our home value by another $25,000 dollars.

NO WAY IN HELL.

First off, it won't raise the value a penny....could hurt it actually.

 

Before looking into any of the solar, you should look at smart thermostats, new windows, and possibly extra insulation.

All of that will be a fraction, and start paying off immediately.

 

 

[heel31ok]

9 hours ago, d-dave said:

Anyone have any experience with that?  My wife signed up for a free consultation (sales pitch) from a residential solar company.  While the guy was great, just a good dude, we had some concerns after he left.  Looking at their facebook and some other reviews, it seems like they are over selling big time.

Suggestions?  Opinions?  I'm curious to see if any of the wonderful people of the Huddle had some good or bad experiences with solar panels.  The idea sounds great, but the cost is still rather high and frightening.

look for reviews from other buyers... i bought some several years back ...last year the guy calls me and asks why i havent paid for them yet...I replied," you told me they would pay for themselves in a year!"  Frickin salesmen...........

[pstall]

7 hours ago, ARSEN said:

Someone told me Duke will buy extra electricity...  true?

Yes. Any excess is repurchased by a loc utility. 

[d-dave]

6 hours ago, pstall said:

Yes. Any excess is repurchased by a loc utility. 

Not in NC.  The sales rep was adamant about that.  According to Duke's website, is not meant for personal set ups but more for your business.

https://www.duke-energy.com/business/products/renewables/generate-your-own/sell-all-purchased-power

[Anybodyhome]

15 hours ago, pstall said:

Yes. Any excess is repurchased by a loc utility. 

Not any more. McCrory signed legislation to discourage solar by not allowing excess power to be sold back. Helps his Duke Power buddies.

A lot of other states, which are a little more progressive with their renewable and non-coal burning energy, will buy excess produced from solar.