Solar Power Advice

[Dante]

So I'm thinking of getting solar panels but a little overwhelmed as I know not much about them.  I'm sure lots of people here have experience with them. Specifically anyone in Cali? Need advice or at least a good source to find info.

[Ann]

There are a ton of them in the subdivision one over from me, but I am in NYS. Oh, and we keep getting solicitations to put a solar farm on the hunting land, but again, NYS.

Good luck!

 

[Foxx]

I got panels back in '15. Love 'em.

 

I don't know about Cali but here in NYS, there are or were three programs that you can get to help offset the costs. Federal, NYS and NYSERDA. Calculated at the time to have out of pocket expenses repaid after 6 years which are slightly off, but we are still on course to have that outlay completely recouped at some point in '22. After that it is free electricity. 

 

The set up generates enough power to supply an entire year's worth on a yearly basis. You bank overage for those months when you don't generate enough to cover consumption and if by chance you generate more than you use, you get it back in the form of a credit at years end. 

 

Not ideal placing them on the roof but if your parcel is small, it works just fine. I would however not recommending putting them over an older roof that would need to be replaced within 20 or so years.

[CarpetCrawler]

On 3/12/2021 at 2:58 PM, Foxx said:

I got panels back in '15. Love 'em.

 

I don't know about Cali but here in NYS, there are or were three programs that you can get to help offset the costs. Federal, NYS and NYSERDA. Calculated at the time to have out of pocket expenses repaid after 6 years which are slightly off, but we are still on course to have that outlay completely recouped at some point in '22. After that it is free electricity. 

 

The set up generates enough power to supply an entire year's worth on a yearly basis. You bank overage for those months when you don't generate enough to cover consumption and if by chance you generate more than you use, you get it back in the form of a credit at years end. 

 

Not ideal placing them on the roof but if your parcel is small, it works just fine. I would however not recommending putting them over an older roof that would need to be replaced within 20 or so years.

 

I almost went for that same kind of deal a couple of years ago, but then I was finding complaints about how the efficiency really begins to degrade after 10 or 12 years, then it gets harder and harder to meet your quota, and you end up paying big for the shortages.

 

I'm not crazy about that stuff being on my roof either. Although they've opened up a couple of collector farms nearby and you can buy into those and get some of the same benefits.

 

Your opinions are greatly appreciated.

[KD in CA]

I'm in Marin County.  I looked into it when we did a major reno 2 years ago, but the cost was so high (even with the tax credits), I really couldn't justify it.  Also, one outfit said they wouldn't do it because we have a tar & gravel roof.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by KD in CA

[Hedge]

On 3/12/2021 at 8:30 AM, Dante said:

So I'm thinking of getting solar panels but a little overwhelmed as I know not much about them.  I'm sure lots of people here have experience with them. Specifically anyone in Cali? Need advice or at least a good source to find info.

If you are thinking about it so that you don’t fall victim to the power outages due to WIND and our California overlords, make sure you install a system that has solar battery storage. I know there were some people who were surprised to realize that their solar energy system was worthless without it during those first outages.

[Dante]

11 hours ago, Hedge said:

If you are thinking about it so that you don’t fall victim to the power outages due to WIND and our California overlords, make sure you install a system that has solar battery storage. I know there were some people who were surprised to realize that their solar energy system was worthless without it during those first outages.

Yes I would say that is a must.