Anyone Have Solar on his House?

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shanez

Lifer
Jul 10, 2018
5,188
24,081
49
Las Vegas
I'm looking at putting solar on my new house and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with it.

I'm familiar with solar in a physics class/lab setting and portable setups so what I'm really looking for is actual efficiency vs energy usage in a home setting.

It used to be the ROI was far too long to make it worthwhile but now the ROI is much better. I've been told as little as 4-5 years but I'm projecting more like 8-9 years. With an expected 20-25 life expectancy for the system and a 25 year warranty to match I'm really interested.

Does anyone here have any experience?
 
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username

Lifer
Dec 24, 2014
2,084
14,235
Tucson Az
My parents have it. Az here and they love it. It’s a no brained in our state atleast it feels that way to me. I’d have it but I plan move once COVID is over so don’t want to put money into the current place I’m in.
 
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Reactions: lukasstrifeson
May 2, 2020
4,664
23,771
Louisiana
I'm looking at putting solar on my new house and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with it.

I'm familiar with solar in a physics class/lab setting and portable setups so what I'm really looking for is actual efficiency vs energy usage in a home setting.

It used to be the ROI was far too long to make it worthwhile but now the ROI is much better. I've been told as little as 4-5 years but I'm projecting more like 8-9 years. With an expected 20-25 life expectancy for the system and a 25 year warranty to match I'm really interested.

Does anyone here have any experience?
My cousin is an electrician. I asked him about it about a year ago. He seemed to agree with your assessment of ROI, and didn’t have a lot of confidence in the longevity of the panels, and fixing them is apparently costly. Like I said, this was about a year (maybe longer) ago, so maybe things have improved since then, but at the time, he didn’t seem to think they were worth it. ?‍♂️
 

scloyd

Lifer
May 23, 2018
5,938
12,031
In the past year or so I've been seeing more and more solar panels on roofs here in northern Illinois. The issue I have is that whoever is installing them locally are doing a terrible job...they're scattered all over the roof. There's one house I know that has 6 panels on the house roof and 4 on the attached garage roof. Sometimes they have to skip a panel due to a vent coming out of the roof. I don't like the look of them.

What happens when you need a new roof? Do they all have to be removed first?

I need to post some pictures of these installations.
 
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Reactions: LotusEater
Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,597
66
Sarasota, FL
In the past year or so I've been seeing more and more solar panels on roofs here in northern Illinois. The issue I have is that whoever is installing them locally are doing a terrible job...they're scattered all over the roof. There's one house I know that has 6 panels on the house roof and 4 on the attached garage roof. Sometimes they have to skip a panel due to a vent coming out of the roof. I don't like the look of them.

What happens when you need a new roof? Do they all have to be removed first?

I need to post some pictures of these installations.

They do have to be detached and reset when you replace the roof. It's a PITA and costly. You're also putting additional holes in the shingles which adds to the risk of leaks. Whenever the technology will justify itself without subsidies and tax incentives, I'll give it a serious look. Northern Illinois, that's ridiculous.
 

rajangan

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 14, 2018
974
2,809
Edmonton, AB
I got a boiler system and added roof insulation and new windows. I figure that's enough investment for now. We're too far north, I think, for decent solar power, although I do see others doing it. Maybe they sleep better at night. I don't know.
 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,378
70,055
60
Vegas Baby!!!
My cousin is an electrician. I asked him about it about a year ago. He seemed to agree with your assessment of ROI, and didn’t have a lot of confidence in the longevity of the panels, and fixing them is apparently costly. Like I said, this was about a year (maybe longer) ago, so maybe things have improved since then, but at the time, he didn’t seem to think they were worth it. ?‍♂️
Here’s the advantage of the company I’m using. Since having solar for just over two years, we’ve had two panels go out. The company monitors your system and emailed me that a panel wasn’t producing peak watts. They came out and fifteen minutes later were gone. A few months later another panel had a problem. Same result. I don’t do a damn thing and I save money.

My brother owns his system and has to deal with all his own Maintenace
 
May 2, 2020
4,664
23,771
Louisiana
Here’s the advantage of the company I’m using. Since having solar for just over two years, we’ve had two panels go out. The company monitors your system and emailed me that a panel wasn’t producing peak watts. They came out and fifteen minutes later were gone. A few months later another panel had a problem. Same result. I don’t do a damn thing and I save money.

My brother owns his system and has to deal with all his own Maintenace
Well that’s a pretty sweet deal then. I’m not aware of anything like that in my area, but maybe I need to look into it.
 

daveinlax

Charter Member
May 5, 2009
1,989
2,651
WISCONSIN
At one time we thought of leasing a system for our home in SoAZ but but the state/utilities lowered the credits to where it not worth the pita to us anymore. It think the solar farms make more sense for the utilities now. ?
 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,378
70,055
60
Vegas Baby!!!
At one time we thought of leasing a system for our home in SoAZ but but the state/utilities lowered the credits to where it not worth the pita to us anymore. It think the solar farms make more sense for the utilities now. ?
They tried that in Nevada. Then they lost the case in a voted on ballot issue. So Solar companies came back and started cranking.
 

3rdguy

Lifer
Aug 29, 2017
3,472
7,293
Iowa
I guess a great setup would be a metal roof then solar panels but at age 50 I am not interested in laying out that type of cash.
 

edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
2,988
22,299
74
Mayer AZ
I got an estimate last year even though it wasn't particularly cost effective for me. The amount of hardware they needed to put on the front of my house to comply with regs was obscene. No thanks.
 
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