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Residential Solar

Mac77 said:
I suppose you have a poll that shows a majority of hardworking Americans are thrilled to buy your solar panels for you
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The last poll I saw showed that a little over 50% polled were in favor of solar subsidies to home owners, but that was a few years ago. I was unable to find one from within the last year. I get the disdain for subsidies I do. Ultimately the money finds it's way into rich peoples pocket. However, I'm in favor of any effort to lessen our dependence on carbon based fuels.
 
I had a solar array installed about 4 years ago,, best improvement I ever made to my property.. We bought ours outright,, We were lucky and got on a program where we financed through a lending institute, We were charged no interest for the first years and they required no payments, But we made voluntary payments each month. But we read the fine print and found that after the first year if we stayed with that lending institute we would pay around 17% interest on the loan, We stayed with the lender only for the first year and then re financed with our local credit union where we bank. our payments were smaller than our electric bill, and we will pay off the loan in around 7 years.

AzGreg, I will not criticize your decision but I would never lease a system, They are usually 20 year leases and a lean is put on your house during that period. The solar has to be attached ( on the roof) to your house for a lease. This can ( and does ) affect the ability to sell your house down the road. And as you found, you don't get tax breaks.. The solar company gets that. So they report a top dollar install and get the rebates.


Your choice was to go with purchasing power from Vivinet that the solar panels create. again, they will get the rebates, They will also get money/credit for any excess power that gets generated above what you use. Pleas make sure that you find out how often the price you pay increases over the term of the agreement. My neighbor down the road has the "purchase Power" option and has a yearly 6% increase. I would assume that this is a "you will have a lien" n your house during the duration of the agreement.

My install is a ground mount with 24 panels, each panel has it's own inverter. I have not had a power bill since I had them installed. If I was to give you advice, this is what I would say to you:

Go online and buy a "solar install kit" , It would have all of the solar panels, Inverters, and a roof/ground mount frame. The solar panels and inverters are plug and play, Install is actually fairly easy. I helped a neighbor down the road set up his ground mount system.

A good system will run around 8K to 12K depending on panel brands, inverter brands etc..

It looks like you will be saving around 80$ monthly with your plan.. I don't know what your financial status is, but I could probably save that much by cutting back on beer and eating out less..

Again, You should do what you think is right for you,, I just did a ton of research before I bought mine so I learned alot about the lease/pay per watt plans, I just could not see how anyone would want those after doing the research..

Again.. You do what you are comfortable with.. If saving 80$ makes you happy,, Then I am happy..

djl
 
Mac77 said:
How much free taxpayer money did you get?
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as they say NOYB

None of your business. your making a spectacle of yourself.

my next home I buy I am going to look into putting solar panels on it.
I live in FL and it will pay hands down for them to go in.

the cost is well worth the price since it will be my last home I buy probably.
 
azgreg said:
The last poll I saw showed that a little over 50% polled were in favor of solar subsidies to home owners, but that was a few years ago. I was unable to find one from within the last year. I get the disdain for subsidies I do. Ultimately the money finds it's way into rich peoples pocket. However, I'm in favor of any effort to lessen our dependence on carbon based fuels.
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Since 40% of Americans pay little or no federal income tax I am not surprised to find 10% - mostly liberals planning to take their neighbors earning - to put you over the top into tree hugger nirvana

Whoopee!
 
bmr528 said:
I had a solar array installed about 4 years ago,, best improvement I ever made to my property.. We bought ours outright,, We were lucky and got on a program where we financed through a lending institute, We were charged no interest for the first years and they required no payments, But we made voluntary payments each month. But we read the fine print and found that after the first year if we stayed with that lending institute we would pay around 17% interest on the loan, We stayed with the lender only for the first year and then re financed with our local credit union where we bank. our payments were smaller than our electric bill, and we will pay off the loan in around 7 years.

AzGreg, I will not criticize your decision but I would never lease a system, They are usually 20 year leases and a lean is put on your house during that period. The solar has to be attached ( on the roof) to your house for a lease. This can ( and does ) affect the ability to sell your house down the road. And as you found, you don't get tax breaks.. The solar company gets that. So they report a top dollar install and get the rebates.


Your choice was to go with purchasing power from Vivinet that the solar panels create. again, they will get the rebates, They will also get money/credit for any excess power that gets generated above what you use. Pleas make sure that you find out how often the price you pay increases over the term of the agreement. My neighbor down the road has the "purchase Power" option and has a yearly 6% increase. I would assume that this is a "you will have a lien" n your house during the duration of the agreement.

My install is a ground mount with 24 panels, each panel has it's own inverter. I have not had a power bill since I had them installed. If I was to give you advice, this is what I would say to you:

Go online and buy a "solar install kit" , It would have all of the solar panels, Inverters, and a roof/ground mount frame. The solar panels and inverters are plug and play, Install is actually fairly easy. I helped a neighbor down the road set up his ground mount system.

A good system will run around 8K to 12K depending on panel brands, inverter brands etc..

It looks like you will be saving around 80$ monthly with your plan.. I don't know what your financial status is, but I could probably save that much by cutting back on beer and eating out less..

Again, You should do what you think is right for you,, I just did a ton of research before I bought mine so I learned alot about the lease/pay per watt plans, I just could not see how anyone would want those after doing the research..

Again.. You do what you are comfortable with.. If saving 80$ makes you happy,, Then I am happy..

djl
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We won't be leasing the system. Vivint will own the system and we will be buying electricity from them. The max increase per year is 2.9%.
 
OK, I'm jumping right in, responding just to the first post. Haven't read any of the others yet.

azgreg said:
I want to post this here instead of in the climate, science, or off topic forums because there is more traffic here. Plus I don't want this thread to be so political in nature.
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OK, I will try to avoid political except for this much.

I am OK with small tax breaks for solar, but no subsidies.

If I do get political about this otherwise, don't hesitate to call me on it.

azgreg said:
The azgreg household is going solar.....finally.

Me and SWMBO have been wanting to go solar for some time now but local politics in the area of net metering have slowed our decision some what.
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Net metering shouldn't be a consideration. Power companies buy power for around 1/3rd or less of what they sell it for. If you wish to sell power back to them, then consider that it isn't something that can continue year in and out, as more people go to solar.

azgreg said:
After doing some research and talking to neighbors and friends we decided to go with Vivint Solar.

https://www.vivintsolar.com/

They basically had three options for us. We could buy outright, lease to own (20 years), or just buy power from them while they own the panels. The first two options we would get all the tax and rebate benefits while the third option we wouldn't. We basically came down to two requirements. We had to substantially reduce our electric bill and it had to be pretty worry free. With these two requirements we decided on option three. Currently we are on an equalizer plan with APS and out monthly bill is a tad over $200 a month. With Vivint our bill will be just a tad over $120 a month plus we won't have to worry about peak time crap.
Click to expand...
I would want to outright buy the package and do my own maintenance, but then I have been in automation engineering for eight years, and such things are simple to me.

I would want to use a battery backup system to store my excess energy, and have it on-demand for when it was night, or when energy demand exceeded solar cell output. They aren't they most efficient batteries, but I would go with nickle-iron cells as they will effectively last forever.

https://ironedison.com/
 
azgreg said:
We won't be leasing the system. Vivint will own the system and we will be buying electricity from them. The max increase per year is 2.9%.
Click to expand...

You mean the free tax money is going to the solar panel company and you are still being charged for electrify?
 
Mac77 said:
I hope you and the rest of the leaches and deadbeats enjoy the solar panels that taxpayers are buying for you.
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Oh please stop with such nonsense.
 
joG said:
Where I live there is a tax on solar voltaic that makes it unreasonable.
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How do they tax it? I don't think I have heard of such a thing, except for a charge to be connected to the grid while not using much.
 
azgreg said:
I want to post this here instead of in the climate, science, or off topic forums because there is more traffic here. Plus I don't want this thread to be so political in nature.

The azgreg household is going solar.....finally.

Me and SWMBO have been wanting to go solar for some time now but local politics in the area of net metering have slowed our decision some what.

After doing some research and talking to neighbors and friends we decided to go with Vivint Solar.

https://www.vivintsolar.com/

They basically had three options for us. We could buy outright, lease to own (20 years), or just buy power from them while they own the panels. The first two options we would get all the tax and rebate benefits while the third option we wouldn't. We basically came down to two requirements. We had to substantially reduce our electric bill and it had to be pretty worry free. With these two requirements we decided on option three. Currently we are on an equalizer plan with APS and out monthly bill is a tad over $200 a month. With Vivint our bill will be just a tad over $120 a month plus we won't have to worry about peak time crap.
Click to expand...

I hope to start going solar. Wish it wasn't so expensive or need such a long contract.
 
Lord of Planar said:
Oh please stop with such nonsense.
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Well, I cant say "leech" anymore

but my contempt for people who let other Americans buy their solar panels for them has not changed
 
ludin said:
as they say NOYB

None of your business. your making a spectacle of yourself.

my next home I buy I am going to look into putting solar panels on it.
I live in FL and it will pay hands down for them to go in.

the cost is well worth the price since it will be my last home I buy probably.
Click to expand...
Maybe not our business, but I don't believe in such subsidies.
 
Lord of Planar said:
OK, I'm jumping right in, responding just to the first post. Haven't read any of the others yet.


OK, I will try to avoid political except for this much.

I am OK with small tax breaks for solar, but no subsidies.

If I do get political about this otherwise, don't hesitate to call me on it.
Click to expand...

It's too late for that. That was blown out of the water in post 7 by Mac77.

Net metering shouldn't be a consideration. Power companies buy power for around 1/3rd or less of what they sell it for. If you wish to sell power back to them, then consider that it isn't something that can continue year in and out, as more people go to solar.
Click to expand...

Net metering has been an issue her for awhile. As beefheart posted earlier APS, SRP, and the corporation commission are as corrupt as you can get. The current setup is you get 1/2 of wholesale for any power you put back into the grid but that is changing for the worse in July.

I would want to outright buy the package and do my own maintenance, but then I have been in automation engineering for eight years, and such things are simple to me.

I would want to use a battery backup system to store my excess energy, and have it on-demand for when it was night, or when energy demand exceeded solar cell output. They aren't they most efficient batteries, but I would go with nickle-iron cells as they will effectively last forever.

https://ironedison.com/
Click to expand...

I get all that and I have a mechanical background as well (22 years in the auto repair business and the last 6 as a mechanical engineer. Me and the wife decided that we wanted as little hassle as possible. The total savings will be less over 20 years but we don't plan to be here past 15 years.
 
Bottom line.

Consider what you can afford, not expecting any future tax benefits or subsidies. If you can make your situation such that you can get 100% off the grid, all the better.
 
azgreg said:
It's too late for that. That was blown out of the water in post 7 by Mac77.



Net metering has been an issue her for awhile. As beefheart posted earlier APS, SRP, and the corporation commission are as corrupt as you can get. The current setup is you get 1/2 of wholesale for any power you put back into the grid but that is changing for the worse in July.



I get all that and I have a mechanical background as well (22 years in the auto repair business and the last 6 as a mechanical engineer. Me and the wife decided that we wanted as little hassle as possible. The total savings will be less over 20 years but we don't plan to be here past 15 years.
Click to expand...

Will the company providing the panels be doing the maintenance, or does that fall on you?

I have had panels for a long time, and there is quite a bit of maintenance involved. If you have a way to mitigate the maintenance cost, you should take it.

My system is finally making a return on the investment, and will have paid for itself in a few years. As my experience was not pleasant, you may be making the smart choice with net metering and avoiding the hassles.

I also went all in, so your experiences may differ. I had the battery banks installed and wired the house for LED lighting running directly off the DC current.

Like I said, I did not have good experience, and I would not do it again. It looks like you are going in with your eyes wide open, so it is very possible your experience will be different than mine. Just keep an open mind that everything may not turn out the way all the glossy marketing says it will.
 
natsb said:
Will the company providing the panels be doing the maintenance, or does that fall on you?

I have had panels for a long time, and there is quite a bit of maintenance involved. If you have a way to mitigate the maintenance cost, you should take it.

My system is finally making a return on the investment, and will have paid for itself in a few years. As my experience was not pleasant, you may be making the smart choice with net metering and avoiding the hassles.

I also went all in, so your experiences may differ. I had the battery banks installed and wired the house for LED lighting running directly off the DC current.

Like I said, I did not have good experience, and I would not do it again. It looks like you are going in with your eyes wide open, so it is very possible your experience will be different than mine. Just keep an open mind that everything may not turn out the way all the glossy marketing says it will.
Click to expand...

Vivint would handle 100% of the maintenance and monitoring. All I do is pay for the power at a set fee per month. I can crank the thermostat down and open all the windows and doors, turn on all the lights and appliances and the price doesn't change.
 
azgreg said:
Vivint would handle 100% of the maintenance and monitoring. All I do is pay for the power at a set fee per month. I can crank the thermostat down and open all the windows and doors, turn on all the lights and appliances and the price doesn't change.
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Did you have a lawyer go over the fine print?
 
azgreg said:
Vivint would handle 100% of the maintenance and monitoring. All I do is pay for the power at a set fee per month. I can crank the thermostat down and open all the windows and doors, turn on all the lights and appliances and the price doesn't change.
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And who gets the free taxpayer loot?

You or the solar company?
 
Mac77 said:
And who gets the free taxpayer loot?

You or the solar company?
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Isn't there a "I hate immigrants" thread somewhere you can play in?
 
azgreg said:
Isn't there a "I hate immigrants" thread somewhere you can play in?
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No, but there is a "We must hate white people" thead.

As a taxpayer I think I have a right to know what you are doing with my hard earned money.
 
Mac77 said:
No, but there is a "We must hate white people" thead.

As a taxpayer I think I have a right to know what you are doing with my hard earned money.
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Show me were you have that right.
 
Mac77 said:
No, but there is a "We must hate white people" thead.

As a taxpayer I think I have a right to know what you are doing with my hard earned money.
Click to expand...

But must it be every thread?

The "T" word comes to mind.
 
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