Residential Solar Panels

[RascalArms]

Still trying to research it enough to justify the cost vs benefit. I’m not there yet.

[Pedernal]

A few things and I'll make it short:

No way I was letting someone poke a bunch of holes in my roof. I went to a field setup.

I bought everything wholesale and spent about $7K in total on my panels and mounting system. probably spent another $500 on the electrical.

I have microinverters instead of a string inverter and this is much more efficient. Don't do it any other way.

I have an 8.2kW system and on a clear day I'm just breaking 50kWh of electricity produced each day.

Pedernales is my provider and they USED to do net billing meaning at the end of the month, they'd square up. Use X, Consume Y, difference is what you pay. NOW they have changed this. Now if you push anything back at any time, they pay me 5.7 cents per kWh and then charge me the full 9.3 cents per kWh for every kWh I consume, even those I pushed back. I'm no longer using the grid as a storage system where I get my electrons back even-steven. This means that during the peak of the day, I'm pushing back way more than I consume so they are "double dipping" so to speak and this change has made solar a whole lot harder to justify. In a nutshell, they sell me back my own electrons at night for the low, low price of full retail after paying me a little over 1/2 price for mine.

If you aren't going to do it yourself, the payback is a long, long time. I'd wait until the panels are more than 21-22% efficient as you are doing it now to be green unless you can do it wholesale like I did. Note it was a pain in the arse.

Great info thanks for posting… was it a big deal to get the project inspected and passed?? I assume you would need a licensed electrician to wire the system into the grid and an inspector to give it a thumbs up??

I believe the issue with the price difference is that you are being charged for the electrons you are using plus the use/rent of the grid… when you sell them electrons they are not paying you for the use of their “grid” or at least that’s what I have found. For this reason alone as you mentioned it’s not really worth it.

[STX_Shooter]

A buddy of mine installed some panels on his home. Supposedly he payed around 80k for the set up, I’m not too sure though. But he said it was going to take around 20 years to break even on them. I doubt they’ll be working by then. I wouldn’t put them on my home, I would rather buy a generac.

[savin yours]

Residential Solar Panels

I have 24 panels sitting in my garage right now. I ripped them off the roof after causing $21,000 worth of damage that insurance wouldn’t touch, all out of pocket. I’m still pretty salty about it, but I’m about 5mins away from tossing them in the pond. Not worth it in my opinion.


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[texan4ut]

I’m a residential real estate appraiser. I’ve not seen one set of solar panels, installed on a roof, increase the value of a house that is located in my market area. Not one.

I have seen them cause damage to roofs and require maintenance.

Until they become more efficient, it’s a hard no from me

X2

[Pedernal]

I have 24 panels sitting in my garage right now. I ripped them off the roof after causing $21,000 worth of damage that insurance wouldn’t touch, all out of pocket. I’m still pretty salty about it, but I’m about 5mins away from tossing them in the pond. Not worth it in my opinion.


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This is my biggest concern so I would never allow anyone to install them on my roof or purchase a home that had them. If I was ever going to run panels they would be installed as part of a car port roof or just out in the field.

Do you mind sharing more about your experience? Did you purchase the home with the panels already on the roof? Did you have any recourse with the company that did the install work??

I might be interested in purchasing the panels if you decide to sell.

[IowaHunter]

I say set up a windmill in the yard!

A friend of mine is having a rooftop set installed up in ME. He said they payback is 13.5 years. He’s a greenie but that’s his choice and okay with me - it’s his money. I wouldn’t do it or even consider it.

[Pedernal]

I say set up a windmill in the yard!

A friend of mine is having a rooftop set installed up in ME. He said they payback is 13.5 years. He’s a greenie but that’s his choice and okay with me - it’s his money. I wouldn’t do it or even consider it.

Obviously the greenies will say and do stuff that doesn’t make sense. I personally think having some solar power is sensible as black outs are going to become more prevalent.

I don’t think solar is buyable to replace home power. However, there are multiple reasons that make it ideal to have at least some solar power. The main reason already listed.

[Backwoods101]

Obviously the greenies will say and do stuff that doesn’t make sense. I personally think having some solar power is sensible as black outs are going to become more prevalent.

I don’t think solar is buyable to replace home power. However, there are multiple reasons that make it ideal to have at least some solar power. The main reason already listed.

My thoughts exactly. We went 17 days without power during the freeze…how much gas would it take to power up a generac for 2 weeks?

The only place I would consider installing them would be on my lean-to


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[stringmusic]

My wife and I have been tossing around getting a generac. Installed is about $15,000. I've been wondering what kind of solar system I could get installed for $15k. All I need is freezers and window unit. Realistically, IF SHTF, I would feel like a gazillionaire if I was sitting in a climate controlled room, thawing out deer meat at my discrepancy, while peasants were sweating and running out of food. If the grid went down for an extended period of time I think most hunters would lose their freezers and would likely go fish or hunt instead of starve, of course. However not having to rush into making decisions to feed the family but instead being able to sit back and gauge the situation more thoroughly seems like an advantage. Idk though, just thinking out loud.

[RiverRat1]

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Amazing this is even discussed. I can see some doing it more like a hobby because they like to engineer/toy with things.

I say set up a windmill in the yard!

A friend of mine is having a rooftop set installed up in ME. He said they payback is 13.5 years. He’s a greenie but that’s his choice and okay with me - it’s his money. I wouldn’t do it or even consider it.

Anyone want to make a 13.5 year wager? I have less than 5% chance he gets his money back in under 14 years. Even money he ever gets his money back. I guess maybe if electric prices double or triple soon but even then odds are still against it.

[RWB]

My wife and I have been tossing around getting a generac. Installed is about $15,000. I've been wondering what kind of solar system I could get installed for $15k. All I need is freezers and window unit. Realistically, IF SHTF, I would feel like a gazillionaire if I was sitting in a climate controlled room, thawing out deer meat at my discrepancy, while peasants were sweating and running out of food. If the grid went down for an extended period of time I think most hunters would lose their freezers and would likely go fish or hunt instead of starve, of course. However not having to rush into making decisions to feed the family but instead being able to sit back and gauge the situation more thoroughly seems like an advantage. Idk though, just thinking out loud.

The issue as I understand it is not the creation of electricity from solar it's the storage of that power to be used at a later time. Without enough battery storage to last when the sun is down or hidden behind clouds you need a large, expensive, high maintenance battery bank. Without that in a SHTF scenario your solar is not much good.

[IkemanTX]

My wife and I have been tossing around getting a generac. Installed is about $15,000. I've been wondering what kind of solar system I could get installed for $15k. All I need is freezers and window unit. Realistically, IF SHTF, I would feel like a gazillionaire if I was sitting in a climate controlled room, thawing out deer meat at my discrepancy, while peasants were sweating and running out of food. If the grid went down for an extended period of time I think most hunters would lose their freezers and would likely go fish or hunt instead of starve, of course. However not having to rush into making decisions to feed the family but instead being able to sit back and gauge the situation more thoroughly seems like an advantage. Idk though, just thinking out loud.

More than enough to cover the needs of freezers and window unit.

https://shopsolarkits.com/products/complete-off-grid-solar-kit-1?currency=USD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&c1=GAW&source=prospecting&cr2=shopping_-_us_-_off-grid_kits&kw=shopify_US_6540908462220_39332893687948&cr7=m&gclid=CjwKCAjwo8-SBhAlEiwAopc9W_z4pVJaVpqxVrZaZokseNOJpqI4lawBoc5Zm5Rgtov91bhG2ylnIhoCriQQAvD_BwE

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[Capt.Brown]

I wish the tech was there to go completely solar. That’s just not the reality yet, it will be soon 20-30years

[brokeno]

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