Experience with Solar Panels?

[jd371]

Salesman was by already and the inspector will be coming next week to inspect the roof among other things to see if it's doable. We won't be buying the system but just paying for the service with the option of buying down the road. We are trying to get the electric bill lower and noticed that the delivery charge is half of the cost. We were told that we would be getting a lot of the power from the panels getting rid of the high delivery costs from the power company. We have the option of canceling anytime before they install the panels. For those of you that have them, was there any problems that you faced and would you consider the panels worth it?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Don't know what your rebates are like in NY, but in NJ you're better off outright buying the panels and getting all the benefits. The rumor is that the lease company's will eventually start charging more than what you were paying after a number of years.

Do a google search....you'll find tons of info on lease verses buy and specific to your state. HERE's a start.

 

[wowkingjames]

Thanks for the info....

 

[Billdogg]

If it were up to me I'd cover every square inch of roof with solar panels. I really can't think of a down side other than initial cost.

 

[4FordFamily]

Don't know what your rebates are like in NY, but in NJ you're better off outright buying the panels and getting all the benefits. The rumor is that the lease company's will eventually start charging more than what you were paying after a number of years.

Do a google search....you'll find tons of info on lease verses buy and specific to your state. HERE's a start.

Yes to add to this they put some shady liens on the property. Try to refinance and you’ll either not qualify or get a loss less than you think. Many have very high interest or very odd terms. The difficulty of these instruments doesn’t benefit the consumer most of the time. The amount of time it’ll take to become economically sound varies by region and type of panel but many find that they regret these purchases. Sometimes the break even point is longer than their 30 year mortgage when you factor in maintenance. Read the stuff very thoroughly, I highly recommend the extra few hundred bucks to have the contract and agreement reviewed by an attorney.

Many times the temp liens they put on title at the start of a job isn’t removed when the financing or payment is completed. If the company goes under, but even if they don’t— getting their cooperation if you sell or refinance is a disaster.

I deal with a lot of high end homes ($2,000,000 to $20,000,000 reverse mortgages) so I’ve seen a lot of this.

 

[TheEngineer]

That's interesting. I've always wondered about these lease-to-own schemes. I was under the impression from a friend that they had terms which said they would never be charged more than what they would pay the local utility. He's in NJ.

 

[jd371]

That's interesting. I've always wondered about these lease-to-own schemes. I was under the impression from a friend that they had terms which said they would never be charged more than what they would pay the local utility. He's in NJ.

That's what I was told too. A lot of the houses around us had panels installed in the last couple of months and I want to talk to some of the neighbors before we commit to anything.

 

[alton]

I thought about it and the pay off was going to take too long. There are good panels on the market, and there are not so good panels. Check with your insurance company and see what they will cover in case of damage to the panels and your roof? Also look at the warranty on all the equipment, not just the standard 25 year panel warranty. Our local utility company is going to start measuring the harmonics coming from the solar services, and if they are out of wack they will disconnect the system until the issue is fixed. Make sure you do not have any trees that in time will shade your system. Most people love their systems, but they are new.

 

[Paul B]

I installed 22 Sharp American made panels on my roof about 10 years ago. The system took me a few days to do myself. They cost me about $27,000.00 but I got it all back from the utility company and the Feds except about $3,000.00 I sold my house last week and the solar panels were a big selling point. They paid for themselves in 2 years and now they generate $1,500.00 a year and that is how much they lower my power bills. If I had to pay someone to install them it would have cost $11,000.00 for labor which would have taken me about 8 years to break even. But I don't pay anyone to install anything. If I had to lease the system, I would not do it because I doubt you would ever break even and they will not add value to your house.
If you are not afraid to work on your roof and your roof faces the right direction, you can easily install the panels yourself and it is legal because they are low voltage. No license needed. The panels just snap into a track you install and they plug into each other. You may need a licensed electrician to connect your panels to your circuit breaker panel depending on where you live and you need to get them inspected to get the rebates. (I am an electrician)
Here on Long Island you need them inspected by your town.

 

[Opus]

How well do they stand up to a hail storms? We seem to get a good one every 5 years or so in my area, and minor ones every year. Already had 2 minor ones this year. A few years ago had the worst I had seen. My siding looked like someone had taken a machine gun to it.

 

[Bob Weigant]

Out here in California I was getting killed in my electric bill. Jumped from 250 a month to 500 then all the way to 857. My solar is 166 for 20 years. For us it was a no brainer

 

[Breadman03]

I installed 22 Sharp American made panels on my roof about 10 years ago. The system took me a few days to do myself. They cost me about $27,000.00 but I got it all back from the utility company and the Feds except about $3,000.00 I sold my house last week and the solar panels were a big selling point. They paid for themselves in 2 years and now they generate $1,500.00 a year and that is how much they lower my power bills. If I had to pay someone to install them it would have cost $11,000.00 for labor which would have taken me about 8 years to break even. But I don't pay anyone to install anything. If I had to lease the system, I would not do it because I doubt you would ever break even and they will not add value to your house.
If you are not afraid to work on your roof and your roof faces the right direction, you can easily install the panels yourself and it is legal because they are low voltage. No license needed. The panels just snap into a track you install and they plug into each other. You may need a licensed electrician to connect your panels to your circuit breaker panel depending on where you live and you need to get them inspected to get the rebates. (I am an electrician)
Here on Long Island you need them inspected by your town.

I might just do that once my roof is replaced. My roof is perfectly aligned for solar. Well, one side anyway [emoji23]

 

[Greybeard]

Southern MO here... location matters a lot, when it comes to solar.

I own a large, ranch style home, 5000+ sqft, lots of roof... oriented facing due south, length runs east/west. Steel roof, 4 years old, with a 50 year guarantee. All electric home, horribly inefficient... 1972 construction. You'd think I would be an IDEAL candidate for solar.

3 years ago, I did some research on the subject. At that time, I calculated that it was not cost justifiable. The savings I could reasonably expect, over the expected lifetime of the system, did not add up to the initial installation costs. It's possible, with government kickbacks, that it might... but as I'm philosophically opposed to government intrusion into my life, I would neither seek, nor accept, money from that source.

I have no doubt, that one day, we'll all have solar roofs. IHMO, we're just not 'there' yet. Technology improvements and industry prices will get there, one day... just haven't quite reached that point yet.

As I said, location matters. Were I paying SOCAL or NYC electrical rates, my calculations may well have come out significantly different.

 

[Opus]

Our electric co-op has a big solar farm somewhere in Texas. They allowed you to purchase cells from them but if I understood the math correctly, it was actually more expensive than just using the normally generated electricity.

 

[Mebeknob]

Salesman was by already and the inspector will be coming next week to inspect the roof among other things to see if it's doable. We won't be buying the system but just paying for the service with the option of buying down the road. We are trying to get the electric bill lower and noticed that the delivery charge is half of the cost. We were told that we would be getting a lot of the power from the panels getting rid of the high delivery costs from the power company. We have the option of canceling anytime before they install the panels. For those of you that have them, was there any problems that you faced and would you consider the panels worth it?

I have many friends that sell solar through different companies. They all have a little different structure in terms of cost. Who is the company you’re working with?

I just saw Tesla is doing solar panels through Home Depot and I want to look into that.

 

[Mebeknob]

If it were up to me I'd cover every square inch of roof with solar panels. I really can't think of a down side other than initial cost.

Looks like you need the Tesla Roof tiles then [emoji6]

 

[Mebeknob]

I installed 22 Sharp American made panels on my roof about 10 years ago.

Do you have a power bank along with your panels?

 

[primo21]

Looks like you need the Tesla Roof tiles then [emoji6]

just dont let them drive. ;)

http://www.tmz.com/2018/05/29/tesla-autopilot-mode-crash-police-car-laguna-beach/?adid=SINOW

 

[OriginalUserName]

My buddy in Texas has panels on his home and loves them. He bought the system outright instead of buying power.

Do you have a power bank along with your panels?

A tesla powerwall with solar panels would be amazing insurance for an expensive reef tank.

 

[Paul B]

How well do they stand up to a hail storms? We seem to get a good one every 5 years or so in my area, and minor ones every year. Already had 2 minor ones this year. A few years ago had the worst I had seen. My siding looked like someone had taken a machine gun to it.

WE had a huge hail storm here A few years ago where every car window broke and most roofs had to be replaced. I also needed to replace the hood on my car and have fifty dents taken out and paint the entire car. One of my solar panels broke and my home owners insurance paid for it.

My meter goes backwards if I generate more power than I am using.