Solar panels for your home. Who has them?

[RGV Hunter]

We were thinking of installing solar panels for our home. Have any of you done it? Had it helped with the electric? Anybody had bad experiences with them? What are your thoughts, pros and cons?

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[Briar Friar]

Same here RGV. Good luck Sir.

In for those who know.

[jamiecook815]

After a few years, it pays off, depending on what your power consumption is.

[sailor]

I looked into it several years ago..............For a lake cabin............
Research, Research, Research........................
From what I came away with, was two things..............
It takes years to recover, your investment........
And don't buy Solar panels, made in China....
It might be a workable thing, on a limited scale.... And I'm sure the technology
has improved, since I looked into it.... So, I can't speak for today........
Good luck............

[Walker]

By the time they pay themselves off, they are worn out and have to be replaced. You will never get ahead.

[Smart]

In my research, whatever you save in electricity goes to paying for the panels and when the panels are paid off you gotta replace them again. Lose some or part of your electric bill, gain a payment somewhere else that you also have to pay to maintain or replace in the future. To me it's snake oil disguised as green energy....and the money you are paying out monthly just switches to somewhere else.

[texaspyro21]

Biggest thing is who the installer is. A bad installer means you have roof damage and leaks.

[RGV Hunter]

Biggest thing is who the installer is. A bad installer means you have roof damage and leaks.

I thought about that. If I get it installed it would be not be on the roof of the house. I would have the panels 180 feet from the house.

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[wsteffen]

Daughter and son-in-law have them on their two story house in Austin. Their highest electric bill is around $50 a month. Their 5 0r 6 years old, payed for and no problems.

[OrangeBlood]

I looked into it a couple weeks ago for my house, guy worked up a quote for me. Told me I would need 36 panels to offset 80% of my homes electrical usage. Some months I would be putting back into the grid, while others I would still need to use the grid. I think all said and done the total was like 52K for the install and rather than a large electric bill my payment for the panels would be $180 a month.

[PYBUCK]

Depends on how much rebate you get from the government. Biden may increase the rebate( if the left tells him too before they usher him out of office in favor of camel toe). Without big rebates it probably isn't worth it unless you have a huge house and electric bill.

[RGV Hunter]

Depends on how much rebate you get from the government. Biden may increase the rebate( if the left tells him too before they usher him out of office in favor of camel toe). Without big rebates it probably isn't worth it unless you have a huge house and electric bill.

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

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[RMW]

Only worth it if you live off grid

[blackfoot1]

I worked at a fly in lodge this Summer up here. The solar worked well for keeping the lights/freezers/refrigerators going during the day. Would also keep it on over night to keep clients cellphone batteries charged and the wifi on for them. Down side....the toaster, microwave, and commercial coffee maker would trip the switch/breaker(120V system). Couldn't run our washing machines/clothes dryers off it at the time(had one bank of batteries that were bad..if they would have worked we would have had 240V). Replacement batteries are around $600 each. If the grid ever goes down, you'll be glad you had it. Talked to a Solar guy up here last week. He said batteries are in short supply now due to covid(up here anyways).

[RGV Hunter]

Some details about this solar option that is available for us.

We would use a 40 panel system. The cost would be a bit over $36k after discounts. Financed at 1.49% APR for 20 years. They claim the panels are guaranteed to work for 25 years.

We still would not be living off the grid. I asked and the representative said that it needs to be tied into the grid so the power company can buy back the surplus power if there is any. So if the power goes out we would still not be able to use the solar panels for our home.

Once we paid off the package and we still produced more electricity than what we use, we just would not get a bill but they would not give us any money but they take our surplus energy.

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