Solar

[TBrownslady]

There may be a thread somewhere on this but searching on my phone is awful lol Solar City now has a program for no money out of pocket they will install solar panels on your roof. You then buy the energy for a lower rate than what we are paying now. Has anyone done this and if so are you glad you did?

Mind you we have electric heat so for dec thru march the bills are pricey

 

[NSPatsFan]

I've never done it, I've heard that when you have solar if you generate more than you use you get paid to transmit it on to the grid. But that might not be this company.

 

[BostonTim]

There may be a thread somewhere on this but searching on my phone is awful lol Solar City now has a program for no money out of pocket they will install solar panels on your roof. You then buy the energy for a lower rate than what we are paying now. Has anyone done this and if so are you glad you did?

Mind you we have electric heat so for dec thru march the bills are pricey

Your system will be hooked up to the grid. You bill reflect net energy used. There will be a bi-directional or "smart" meter. Basically thinking in terms of old-fashioned metering, the meter spins forward when you use power and backwards when it flows back into the grid. But that, IIRC, is if you own it. The zero down usually implies a third party lease (of 10-20 years! - would you sign a rental lease for that long? buy-out painful)

Google solar panels, own or lease and there's tons of pro-con info. A lot to wade through, but I'd do it. In the same way that I no longer buy the green bananas, I personnaly decide not to lease. Up to you of coursse, just educate yourself well.

Cheers, BostonTim

 

[mikiemo83]

You may want to Ask bmooney54, I think he used to install them.

 

[TBrownslady]

Your system will be hooked up to the grid. You bill reflect net energy used. There will be a bi-directional or "smart" meter. Basically thinking in terms of old-fashioned metering, the meter spins forward when you use power and backwards when it flows back into the grid. But that, IIRC, is if you own it. The zero down usually implies a third party lease (of 10-20 years! - would you sign a rental lease for that long? buy-out painful)

Google solar panels, own or lease and there's tons of pro-con info. A lot to wade through, but I'd do it. In the same way that I no longer buy the green bananas, I personnaly decide not to lease. Up to you of coursse, just educate yourself well.

Cheers, BostonTim

There is an option for a yearly thing where the rate goes up 2.9% as in its 12.6 this year next year would go up 2.9% of that. We plan on revisiting house buying adventures in a couple years so we don't want to buy anything. I asked what happens when we move she said you can leave it for the next owners, take it with you, or just stop the service.

Also she said we would have a reverse meter. So I believe we pay for what we generate and they sell it to national grid as a credit to our account

 

[O_P_T]

Your system will be hooked up to the grid. You bill reflect net energy used. There will be a bi-directional or "smart" meter. Basically thinking in terms of old-fashioned metering, the meter spins forward when you use power and backwards when it flows back into the grid. But that, IIRC, is if you own it. The zero down usually implies a third party lease (of 10-20 years! - would you sign a rental lease for that long? buy-out painful)

Google solar panels, own or lease and there's tons of pro-con info. A lot to wade through, but I'd do it. In the same way that I no longer buy the green bananas, I personnaly decide not to lease. Up to you of coursse, just educate yourself well.

Cheers, BostonTim

If you generate excess electricity you get paid by everyone else to heat wires.

Huzzah!

The way the grid works is that the utility has to have a capacity in excess of the instantaneous demand at all times, so when you flip that switch there are electrons to make the lights go on, turn on the microwave, etc.

They can't micromanage the load enough to match perfectly the demand from moment to moment.

They also can't count on anyone's solar panels providing any amount of power at any moment in time, so they can't throttle back their generation to utilize that excess on a moment by moment basis.

So any excess electricity put back into the grid basically just heats the wires and doesn't reduce the power generation requirements of the utility to any significant amount.

If you want to do this to reduce your power bills, fine, but don't think you're going to effect the power generation situation by the utility.

Oh, and the way many systems are wired, if there's a power outage, your solar panels won't power your home.

 

[bmooney54]

Do NOT give up your rights to your SRECS (solar renewable energy credits)! If it sounds too good to be true, it is. These companies control your SRECS, which are a commodity. For every megawatt of electricity you produce you earn a SREC. In MA, these trade for around $360 (last time I checked.) You also save that megawatt off your electricity bill ($120 @ 12 cents/KW.) Find a way to buy the system outright. There is a 15% tax credit in MA and a 30% federal tax credit and possibly a utility rebate. Go to dsire.org for incentives, grants and rebates for your area.

Also, though solar panels increase the value of your home, if the SRECs are controlled by a third party, your house will lose value.

 

[TBrownslady]

Do NOT give up your rights to your SRECS (solar renewable energy credits)! If it sounds too good to be true, it is. These companies control your SRECS, which are a commodity. For every megawatt of electricity you produce you earn a SREC. In MA, these trade for around $360 (last time I checked.) You also save that megawatt off your electricity bill ($120 @ 12 cents/KW.) Find a way to buy the system outright. There is a 15% tax credit in MA and a 30% federal tax credit and possibly a utility rebate. Go to dsire.org for incentives, grants and rebates for your area.

Also, though solar panels increase the value of your home, if the SRECs are controlled by a third party, your house will lose value.

Thank you bmooney! I don't see is spending the money right now on a house we will be in for a few more years. We will just deal with 4 big bills a year.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Thank you bmooney! I don't see is spending the money right now on a house we will be in for a few more years. We will just deal with 4 big bills a year.

If your length of stay is that short rather than solar panels which carry potential burdens as stated you may want to look into converting to a natural gas or oil furnace.

There's generally credits with that as well. And it would actually offer significant investment value to your home when you go to flip it in 4-5 years.

I know personally, from growing up in a house with electric heat, that if I saw that on the listing I'd just say "NEXT!".

 

[TBrownslady]

If your length of stay is that short rather than solar panels which carry potential burdens as stated you may want to look into converting to a natural gas or oil furnace.

There's generally credits with that as well. And it would actually offer significant investment value to your home when you go to flip it in 4-5 years.

I know personally, from growing up in a house with electric heat, that if I saw that on the listing I'd just say "NEXT!".

I'm not sure we have that option on our street. They won't even pave our road.

The more I think about it, the more I'm not seeing what we have to lose with solar city. There is nothing out of pocket. I'd Sign up for the year to year program. We can opt out whenever we want. They maintain the panels and take care of any damages. Makes me wanna stop at the house down the road that just got theirs but they have only had them for a month

 

[Dwight Schrute]

I'm not sure we have that option on our street. They won't even pave our road.

The more I think about it, the more I'm not seeing what we have to lose with solar city. There is nothing out of pocket. I'd Sign up for the year to year program. We can opt out whenever we want. They maintain the panels and take care of any damages. Makes me wanna stop at the house down the road that just got theirs but they have only had them for a month

I would still stop and talk to them. They're freshly committed. Would they do it/ go thru it again? Have they noticed any billing changes since the cold has descended on us? What exactly are the cancellation/walk away details?

You've got a great resource to learn from there if you know them at all.

 

[TBrownslady]

I would still stop and talk to them. They're freshly committed. Would they do it/ go thru it again? Have they noticed any billing changes since the cold has descended on us? What exactly are the cancellation/walk away details?

You've got a great resource to learn from there if you know them at all.

I don't know them at all but I have no problem stopping and introducing myself either lol

 

[Dwight Schrute]

I don't know them at all but I have no problem stopping and introducing myself either lol

There ya go.

Bring a notebook. And post what ya dig up.

 

[patfan64]

Solar City guy left the house about two hours ago.

Offered no out of pocket cost to us. Increase of 2.9% per year for 20 years (my local utility has gone up 20% in the last three) Wants to put 19 3' x 5' panels on the front of my house (yuck)

I have three zoned central air in my house (Southwestern Connecticut) and a 33,000 gallon built in pool that requires the filter to run 7 hours per night to circulate. Oil heat subsidized by two wood burning stoves.

I potentially could save big in the summer by running the pool and A/C during the day when the sun is on the panels. Also, laundry and dishwasher during the day all year round. At night, I would only be watching TV or the computer while sucking kilowatts from the grid.

Does this sound too good to be true?

 

[shirtsleeve]

We did studies here at work about solar power as an option to reduce overall campus heating and electrical demands. Even with all subsidies, credits, etc., the systems never would generate a return on investment. True that we purchase power here at a lower rate than the average homeowner. Still, one of the most important things we learned was our area, and to a similar extent, the region, has far less available sun than other locations in the country. And of that available sun, we actually receive only a fraction, due to clouds, rain, snow and other weather factors. True the panels will work on a cloudy day, but efficiency is reduced considerably.

As much as this campus would love to use as much renewable energy as possible, we decided against any major solar projects. (The college is completing one small solar project for teaching purposes, mostly). Instead, we are going with a CHP project that will bring overall energy efficiency for all fuel consumed well over 70%. This is opposed to an average efficiency of 33% from the grid.

 

[TipRoast]

Solar City guy left the house about two hours ago.

Offered no out of pocket cost to us. Increase of 2.9% per year for 20 years (my local utility has gone up 20% in the last three) Wants to put 19 3' x 5' panels on the front of my house (yuck)

I have three zoned central air in my house (Southwestern Connecticut) and a 33,000 gallon built in pool that requires the filter to run 7 hours per night to circulate. Oil heat subsidized by two wood burning stoves.

I potentially could save big in the summer by running the pool and A/C during the day when the sun is on the panels. Also, laundry and dishwasher during the day all year round. At night, I would only be watching TV or the computer while sucking kilowatts from the grid.

Does this sound too good to be true?

I would be hesitant to do this. That twenty-year contract goes with the house - when/if you sell your house you have to find a buyer willing to take over the contract. This diminishes the value of your house.

 

[O_P_T]

Solar City guy left the house about two hours ago.

Offered no out of pocket cost to us. Increase of 2.9% per year for 20 years (my local utility has gone up 20% in the last three) Wants to put 19 3' x 5' panels on the front of my house (yuck)

I have three zoned central air in my house (Southwestern Connecticut) and a 33,000 gallon built in pool that requires the filter to run 7 hours per night to circulate. Oil heat subsidized by two wood burning stoves.

I potentially could save big in the summer by running the pool and A/C during the day when the sun is on the panels. Also, laundry and dishwasher during the day all year round. At night, I would only be watching TV or the computer while sucking kilowatts from the grid.

Does this sound too good to be true?

I assume this is a lease agreement?

I can't say if everything at this web page is true, but assuming it is a lease, it raises questions you should consider.

The tax credit issue is absolutely correct.

The leasing companies get to take that credit that you otherwise would be able to use.

Granged, you may not have the money to buy a system outright, but it should be a factor you consider when looking at a buy vs lease choice.

 

[TBrownslady]

I would be hesitant to do this. That twenty-year contract goes with the house - when/if you sell your house you have to find a buyer willing to take over the contract. This diminishes the value of your house.

We have solar city coming to put panels on in May. We can opt out at any time. If and when we sell our house we can choose to bring it with us or leave it for the next owners or just have them taken down.

Quite honestly with the amount of sun this house gets and the fact that everything is electric including our heat it would be silly not to go for it. We figure we've got nothing to lose. No money down and we can opt out if we find it to not work.

 

[patfan64]

We have solar city coming to put panels on in May. We can opt out at any time. If and when we sell our house we can choose to bring it with us or leave it for the next owners or just have them taken down.

Quite honestly with the amount of sun this house gets and the fact that everything is electric including our heat it would be silly not to go for it. We figure we've got nothing to lose. No money down and we can opt out if we find it to not work.

^This.

Pretty much verbatim what we were told. It might be a lease but we aren't paying anything up front. The only money out of our pocket is the kilowatt per hour charge that starts at $.248 in year one and will grow by 2.9% per year for the next 20 years.

Again, three central air units and a pool filter pump that runs 7 hours a day. Every day. I can't imagine that we won't save the $1,000 per year that they estimated.

 

[TBrownslady]

^This.

Pretty much verbatim what we were told. It might be a lease but we aren't paying anything up front. The only money out of our pocket is the kilowatt per hour charge that starts at $.248 in year one and will grow by 2.9% per year for the next 20 years.

Again, three central air units and a pool filter pump that runs 7 hours a day. Every day. I can't imagine that we won't save the $1,000 per year that they estimated.

.248?? We are getting .129. You're in MA right?