13 years after I first looked into it, I'm finally getting solar panels installed on my house. 22, to be precise, which should cover over 95% of my annual production. After the ~16% cost increases the power companies enacted this year, and the 10-15% expected for next year, I'm definitely looking forward to having my costs become basically fixed. Any of y'all have solar? What have your experiences been? Anyone have any difficulties with net metering, or see any production decreases? Anything I should know that "Big Solar" would have neglected to tell me?
One of the main things that has always made me not want to do it is that since they screw it onto your roof, you are more susceptible to roof leaks.
Interested to know how it all goes and what pros/cons you discover over time. I’m more interested in the technical side and the in and outs of integrating it into the existing infrastructure. I built a watermill when i was younger that used a car alternator to charge a 12v battery bank to power some lights in my hangout shed. It worked for a short time, but poor craftsmanship, shitty used batteries and a flooded creek eventually doomed my project.
Yeah, I will definitely be doing a new roof when I get solar panels so that the roofing is designed with the mounts in mind. Metal roofing has some fantastic solutions for this.
Can't deny that that's at least a minor concern for me. I will say that my roof will probably need to be replaced in the next 10 years anyway (it's already 25 years old, but we've maintained it well and is still in great shape), and I know that this is going to make that process more difficult, but by that point my second kid will be through college, so I'll likely be in a much better position financially to get that done and done right.
...we looked into last year in Central Oregon (mainly because bestfriend started working at Earthlight Tech) and the numbers seemed to make sense with a break even point within 4yrs (pay approx 8k out of pocket, get 3k tax credit...so about 5k cost) but what I didnt like was that the "fixed" rate isn't guaranteed for any duration of time and that it too could be arbitrarily increased every year This was also not accounting for adding a $8k Tesla power bank to store more of the excess. We also need a new roof within the next few years and we will definitely revisit this again... Please post updates!!
For this project, I opted against paying extra for home battery storage, so I'm unfortunately still connected to the grid. But once they're done (tomorrow, presumably), I'll essentially be selling my solar over-production back to Pacific Power for the next few weeks. I'm honestly really disappointed that it took so long for the engineering/permitting to go through. I was hoping to have this done in June; instead I missed out on three prime months of production.
Yeah I've been super interested in doing it, just have cheap electricity here in Texas so haven't done it. When a roof is being replaced its a great time to do it. Might also be a good time now in this market as I think with high interest rates solar companies and manufacturers have better discounts. I wouldn't worry about roof penetrations, it just needs very good materials and a good installer then it's part of the general process to have a watertight roof. If you might later change the amount of panels then micro inverters are worth exploring. If it was a one time system then a central inverter is probably more economical. I wouldn't get battery backup unless there were regular power outages every year. It is good if you can get net metering setup, some areas are taking away that option so it might be something eventually you can't save near as much on solar. Anyone who gets setup for net metering will likely stay grandfathered into it. Will be very interested in what system you choose and how the install goes.
Net metering is very good, only concern would be if you oversize your system it doesn't provide the $ to make selling extra back to the power company worthwhile. Something to keep in mind when sizing the system and a reason you don't need to exceed or even expect to meet your usage. If you can just get your electricity to a very low cost that's great.
System's already chosen--22 420-watt panels with 22 7.678 kW micro-inverters, no battery backup. Total system size of 9.24 kW, with estimated annual generation of 10,012 kWh. Once it's done, I'll even post pics if anyone wants to see.
My FIL had them installed on his house when he bought it. He pays about $10 in fees each month for a electric bill. One thing he learned is to monitor your production, there is usually a app. He received a call saying his system wasn't working and hadn't been for several months because a fuse had blown. He had no clue, but they figure it out before his banked electricity ran out. I think he has 8 panels, which is plenty because it is just him in the house. One thing I wish they did with all new construction was install the panel needed for solar. That would save a lot when you go to install the system, usually you have to upgrade your electrical panel. If they just did it at construction the cost could be figured in and would save on the installation of solar down the road. Realistically I think all new construction should just have solar as part of construction, but the power companies would not like that.
I bought half a giant panel from the electric company I use and get a chunk of a discount on my bill which is really not expensive as is...I've had a 12 volt system in my cabin before in the Sierras....I charged deep cycle batteries in my truck and swapped them out with the panel hookup and had simple 12 volt lights and stereo...etc
Been trying to (lightly) convince my wife to go solar especially because it's sunny down here 300+ days out of the year but she thinks the panels are a giant eyesore. She pays for the electric bill and from time to time complains about how much we use, especially in the summer when the AC is basically running 24/7, but it hasn't swayed her to go solar yet. Always interested to hear another story though about the pros and cons.
