Solar Power around the KC area ***MEGATHREAD!!!!***

[Mephistopheles Janx]

Wondering if anyone here had any first hand experience in getting solar panels installed onto their home, cost, upkeep, value (are you now independent of the energy co or supplemented by), and if there is anyone you would recommend here locally for that kind of work.

I have a beautifully pitched metal roof that looks east and west with nothing to keep the sun from pounding away at the panels on the roof other than clouds. I'd like a system with a battery bank that can handle about 1,500 kWh per month but can draw from the pole if needed.

TIA!

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm pretty interested in getting solar panels soon, but my roof is ~25 years old, and I'm just hanging on in case I can get a random hail storm to help pay for it. (We usually get about one a year in the Denver metro, but somehow my place has been spared all this time.) I'm sure they can remove the panels and replace them, but it seems like a huge hassle.

I used to be a contractor that did reroofing from hail claims and if you haven't already called out your insurance company to look at your roof, then you should.

You have a 25 year old roof in an area that gets hail multiple times every year. You have about a 90% chance of getting your roof replaced by the insurance. Just call in and say you had some hail last spring and would like someone to come look at it. Find a reputable contractor to meet the adjuster at your house and boom, should have a new roof.

[Dunerdr]

Dont most solar panels just refeed the grid? Unless your keeping and using that energy using a tesla power panel or whatever they are called it seems like a PITA.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

I used to be a contractor that did reroofing from hail claims and if you haven't already called out your insurance company to look at your roof, then you should.

You have a 25 year old roof in an area that gets hail multiple times every year. You have about a 90% chance of getting your roof replaced by the insurance. Just call in and say you had some hail last spring and would like someone to come look at it. Find a reputable contractor to meet the adjuster at your house and boom, should have a new roof.

I've called. No luck. I haven't technically filed a claim, but I've had multiple contractors look at it and say they don't think it would be covered.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I've called. No luck. I haven't technically filed a claim, but I've had multiple contractors look at it and say they don't think it would be covered.

Oh, then you're just one unlucky mother****er lol. If multiple contractors are saying that, then your roof must be in tip top shape.

[BWillie]

I'm definitely going to buy some when I move into my next house. It'll be the first thing I do once I'm settled in.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by DaFace

1. Somewhere around 25 years.
2. Your energy company shouldn't charge anything to do the install (that will be on the company you go with). However, your utility may add some extra fees on an ongoing basis. It's essentially to help cover the cost of the lines, as you basically use the power grid as a "battery" when you have solar panels.
3. I don't think it should change anything, but others may know that one better than I do. The panels are covered under a warranty, so insurance doesn't have to mess with it.

To expand on #2 and your final point, most utilities credit you for the cost of the excess energy you generate and put back onto the grid, so in a hypothetical scenario where you generate exactly what you need (but not at the exact TIME you need it), you could end up with a $0 bill from your utility even though you actually used their infrastructure a ton (e.g., giving the grid power during the day and draining it at night). So they add those fees to help compensate for that. Not all utilities do it, but I don't necessarily have an issue with those who do.

Note that most of the places I've seen structure the solar panel costs as a long-term loan rather than having you pay the entire cost up front. The idea is that the cost of the loan payments is usually less than you were paying for electricity, so you see immediate cash flow savings even though there's a huge cost for the panels.

Yes, as far as #2, I knew that. I just didn't word it properly, I guess. I was talking about whatever fee they would charge to access the grid or whatever.

And I like the last paragraph. That is exactly why I've been interested in this. I just need some customer reviews, I guess. Sounds like I already know one company that I won't bother with after reading Bearcat's post. Very helpful, btw.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I was pretty sure they charged the sellers to remove and put the panels back, and yeah.... $3800 for that work.

Geez, that seems really, really high for that.

For me, I just had to replace my roof last year. I sprung for the 50 year shingles so unless we get a major storm (tornado?) that pulls off my roof, I should be good.

I wonder how long warranties usually are on solar panels.

Oh, and DaFace, I mentioned insurance because if a storm damages the panels then I assume my homeowners insurance will pay for that.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Oh, and DaFace, I mentioned insurance because if a storm damages the panels then I assume my homeowners insurance will pay for that.

Better have it in your policy

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

I used to be a contractor that did reroofing from hail claims and if you haven't already called out your insurance company to look at your roof, then you should.

You have a 25 year old roof in an area that gets hail multiple times every year. You have about a 90% chance of getting your roof replaced by the insurance. Just call in and say you had some hail last spring and would like someone to come look at it. Find a reputable contractor to meet the adjuster at your house and boom, should have a new roof.

This is good advice. One year at my old place, we had a big storm in May. I didn't notice any damage so I didn't think anything of it. When we went into our yearly meeting around March with our insurance agent, he suggested we have an adjustor come out and look at our roof just in case. If there was damage from that storm in May of the previous year, we would still be able to claim on our insurance because it was good for a year. Turns out, there was damage and insurance replaced the house and garage roofs.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by ptlyon

Better have it in your policy

Definitely!
I plan to talk this over with my agent before committing to anything.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Definitely!
I plan to talk this over with my agent before committing to anything.

Would be interesting the difference of insurance + panel implementation cost vs. Reward from said panels

[Titty Meat]

Cum 4 me clay

[KS Smitty]

The local home show was this past weekend and we talked to all the solar people. There are a variety of options out there.

The coolest thing we saw was the Tesla solar shingles, they work like the big solar panels but are in shingle form. Brilliant idea, they have matching non-solar shingles since you wont want/need them on the whole roof. It's about 6X the cost of a conventional shingle type roof and includes a battery pack which you will need to be off grid.

You can also have solar that only works when it is solarized and then connects to your energy provider the rest of the time. Good for those on a budget or unsure of going full solar.

Link to Tesla solar roof: https://www.tesla.com/solarroof

[Rukdafaidas]

This is going to be long.
I sold solar here in Missouri for about 7 years and I have it on my home. Actually it's on an outbuilding. Yes, it works well. My system will produce enough power to cover and/or exceed my electric bill from March through October. I have an all electric home and use a lot of electricity in the winter. Solar also doesn't produce as much power in the winter because the days are shorter and the sun is further to the south. But, the credits that I receive during the summer months help offset my winter bills.
Basically how it all works, is the solar installer puts the panels on the roof or on a ground mount and they collect sunlight and turn it into DC power, the DC power goes to inverters which switches it to AC power, which is what your house uses. The electric company will come out and install a bi-directional meter, which will allow the meter to spin forwards and backwards. During a sunny day, your meter will spin backwards (if you have a decent amount of panels), then at night, when they don't produce power, your meter will spin forward. When the meter is spinning backwards, that means you currently have excess power that is being sent back to the electric company. At the end of the month, the electric company reads the meter and it shows how much you used that month and how much you sent to them and they bill you accordingly.
The system size comes down to how much power you want to offset. It all comes down to how much power your home uses. Some 1,000 sq foot homes have a $75 electric bill, some have an $800 electric bill. You'd need a way bigger system to offset an $800 bill than a $75 electric bill.
A good solar company has a lot of technology at their fingertips to figure all of that out. There are good software companies that utilize satellite images to figure out how many panels will fit on your roof. They can also figure out shading issues, etc. and they have a system that figures how much energy your panels can generate per month based on historical weather data in your area and solar irradiance figures.
Most panels have a 25 year warranty. The panels degrade over time, but it's minimal. The warranty states that the panels are guaranteed to produce at least 85% as much power in 25 years as they do when purchased. Most systems don't have batteries, but that's changing. Batteries are expensive and they don't usually last a long time. Tesla has probably the best battery system called Powerwall. Battery costs have come down quite a bit, but they don't yet make a lot of sense if your goal is to save money. Why not use the electric company as your storage for nothing. But, if you don't have batteries, your home will not have power if the grid goes down.
Yes, contact your insurance company to let them know you had solar installed. I think it raised my bill around $5/month.
If anyone is interested, let me know. I no longer sell solar, but I know some good companies that cover most of Missouri and the Eastern half of Kansas. Heck, I might even be able to get a referral credit, which would be nice.

[Lzen]

I have been looking at this for awhile and I think I want to get some estimates. I have used the Energy Sage website. The problem is that their network says they don't yet cover my area (Topeka, KS). Anyone know of where I can get bids in KS?