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!

[Lzen]

[Lzen]

[Lzen]

[Lzen]

https://www.solar-estimate.org/residential-solar

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by 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.

Do you have some companies you'd recommend?

[Miles]

It’s been a few years since I’ve looked into this but it seems like the technology isn’t quite there yet to be practical and actually save money. Still super interesting and get why some are paying to be early adopters.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Miles

It’s been a few years since I’ve looked into this but it seems like the technology isn’t quite there yet to be practical and actually save money. Still super interesting and get why some are paying to be early adopters.

Not sure where you came to that conclusion. Everyone I know who has done it has done the lease option, and the lease cost + off-hours electric has been less than they were previously paying for electricity.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Miles

It’s been a few years since I’ve looked into this but it seems like the technology isn’t quite there yet to be practical and actually save money. Still super interesting and get why some are paying to be early adopters.

Whomever you go with really investigate them. There are a ton of solar scams out there locking you in to big loans and garbage equipment...

[Phoneix]

Been using Solar for about 6 months love every minute of it. It has reduced my electric bill. Haven’t seen full benefit yet because haven’t had it during summer months.

Attached my live stats.

[BWillie]

Thinking about debating get Solar Panels again. My home uses alot of energy and I like to jack my ac down quite a bit in the summer so I may see a good cost benefit.

I think Sun Solar came to see me 4 years ago and I almost pulled the trigger, but didn't. Are they any good?

[Couch-Potato]

I work with an organization that can help you acquire the best possible solar deal in your area. Typical deal results in paying approximately 50% of your current average bill with a fixed 2.9% yoy increase for 25 years. As a reference electrical went up 14.5% this last year in CA. No money down, no installation fees, system is fully warrantied and maintained by the company, credits produced during day cover you at night, they'll even upgrade your electrical box complimentary if needed and fix any minor issues related to the roof, system is attached and transferred with the house without a lien or loan required preventing any hurdles related to home sales process. You just pay the new low fixed rate of electrical for 25 years, afterward the unit produces free electrical for the house. Very simple. I have seen many folks with estimated $100k savings over 25 year period.

[Couch-Potato]

I work with an organization that can help you acquire the best possible solar deal in your area. Typical deal results in paying approximately 50% of your current average bill with a fixed 2.9% yoy increase for 25 years. As a reference electrical went up 14.5% this last year in CA. No money down, no installation fees, system is fully warrantied and maintained by the company, credits produced during day cover you at night, they'll even upgrade your electrical box complimentary if needed and fix any minor issues related to the roof, system is attached and transferred with the house without a lien or loan required preventing any hurdles related to home sales process. You just pay the new low fixed rate of electrical for 25 years, afterward the unit produces free electrical for the house. Very simple. I have seen many folks with estimated $100k savings over 25 year period.

Happy to help, feel free to contact me.

[Rainbarrel]

Need grass roof for dog to keep away squirrels and drones

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by Couch-Potato

I work with an organization that can help you acquire the best possible solar deal in your area. Typical deal results in paying approximately 50% of your current average bill with a fixed 2.9% yoy increase for 25 years. As a reference electrical went up 14.5% this last year in CA. No money down, no installation fees, system is fully warrantied and maintained by the company, credits produced during day cover you at night, they'll even upgrade your electrical box complimentary if needed and fix any minor issues related to the roof, system is attached and transferred with the house without a lien or loan required preventing any hurdles related to home sales process. You just pay the new low fixed rate of electrical for 25 years, afterward the unit produces free electrical for the house. Very simple. I have seen many folks with estimated $100k savings over 25 year period.

Happy to help, feel free to contact me.

I've looked at stuff for 5 years, and I just can't find any way to get an ROI that makes any sense.

The property I bought has an existing mobile home and water well on it, and I just ran a line from the new house to the well, and it's on its own meter. $27/month (the minimum) and I just consider it my water bill.. The primary residence averages about 25KWH/day, completely dependent on the temperature outside. My highest combined bill in the 5 years I've been here is just under $160 (last month). I've been told that my electric coop gives credits, so assuming I can net a $0 cost electric bill per year, my installation payments are still going to be higher than my electric bill.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

We're getting a 17.6kWh system installed in our new build which should offset 95-ish percent of our use along with EV charging.

Here's the cost breakdown:

Panels+Install+Converter that allows us to use energy directly from the panels when the grid fails: $52,000

City rebate for solar install: $0.50 per watt, which ends up being about $8800
Federal tax credit for solar install:30% subtracted from the cost of the system minus the local/state rebates: ~$13,000

Total cost of the system after credits/rebates is just a touch over $30,000.

Now, on top of that, the city will give me a $15,000 loan for solar install at 1% interest if I pay it back within three years. Given the rate of inflation, it makes more sense to take out that money than to pay it in cash.

By most projections, I should pay the system off around year 6-7. If the cost of energy increases at the traditional rate of slightly less than 4%, I'll save around $100,000 in energy costs over the life of the panels. If the price of energy never changes (LOL), I'd save about $30,000.

On top of that, the city uses net metering that pays me back at the retail cost of electricity rather than wholesale, so before I get the EV, we should bank sizeable credits to offset reduced capacity in the winter months, and because we're installing an air source heat pump, our electricity cost is billed at a lower rate by the city.

On top of that, solar panels increase property values by around 4-5% in most areas, so if we ever sell the house, we'll have extra equity there as well.