Notaskibum
Member
Thinking about tossin some panels on my roof. Anyone have any experience or tips? Not sure if the cost is really worth it but digging the idea of being semi off the grid
Anyone know anything about solar?
- Thread starter Notaskibum
- Start date
SendyMcSendyface
Active member
I know fuckall about it, but its a pretty bright idea, go for it bud.
14325252:HypeBeast said:
Most if not all local power companies offer credits if you push some of your energy into the grid, usually it's why people get solar panels is because these credits often offset their cost, usually get some tax credits from the state as well.
ASSholebomber22
Active member
14325252:HypeBeast said:
Yep. Grid works both ways. A small percentage of overall power sold from a power company is bought from other power companies and/or residential units.
Edit: also it is beneficial to pump it into the grid, especially at peak demand times because that energy sold can credit back to you when solar isn't available. Allowing someone else to use the energy you produce when you don't need it can give you funds for energy from a power company for when you do need it. Like a financial battery, of sorts.
**This post was edited on Sep 26th 2021 at 10:22:41pm
soup
Active member
Big upfront but will pay for itself in electricity savings and in generating back into the grid. Electricity, depending where you live, is only getting more expensive. A drawback is battery technology hasn't caught up to store the power indefinitely, but Tesla is working on it.
CabbyArrant
Member
Nobody is talking about the inverter and that is arguably the most important part. Probably more important than the panels themselves
Notaskibum
Member
14325285:Elcheapo said:
This was helpful but also not. Just because I'm looking to be on the grid.
Notaskibum
Member
I did the math and talked to the electric company and a couple installers and it doesn't make sense because power is too cheap where I live so we're staying on the grid, coal power ftw
Dustin.
Active member
14327101:Notaskibum said:
I have panels on my house in the Phoenix area, and they essentially break even just about anywhere you go and any way you slice it. That's probably the best place in the country to have panels too, so there you have it. I save a bit, but we are not talking about a noticeable amount of money, and the whole "off the grid" idea is both falacious and pointless 99.9999% of the time since you will need another source of power or a very large/expensive battery, I can only think of one time I've lost power in the last 6 years, and in the months that you don't run an AC or heater you'll want to get a few bucks back for what you generate and don't use. The system averages to about $85/month when I break it down after 8 years, and it makes me an average of $100 of energy each month.
You'd make a lot more money investing that money, and the home value will not increase enough to justify the cost. The problem with green energy like solar and wind is that they are garbage economically. The ones that work out are often federally subsidized, so we spend 10x more than the energy/carbon savings are worth to feel good about it. We need to focus on making things like solar substantially cheaper if they are ever going to be useful, but mathematically we could make a much much bigger impact by investing in nuclear technologies instead.
Bottom line, solar will make you feel good, but it's essentially a carbon and economic break even at best when you go through the numbers. If you can do slightly better than break even without a large up front cost, I would do it if you plan to stay in the house. Otherwise it is unfortunately a waste of time and money.
Monsieur_Patate
Active member
14327457:Dustin. said:
This aligns with my findings when I researched it a few months ago (Utah). After doing the math, for a new installation, you're looking at very little savings at the end of day (if any), and when you factor in the time you'll spend during the installation process to research/coordinate/etc. didn't seem worth it to me.
I have read about some people who installed solar at the beginning of the trend and were able to benefit from insane incentives, as well as lock in some ridiculous rates to sell back their extra power to the grid, so for these people looks like it was a good choice, but the parameters have changed, and it's no longer the case.
The only application where solar makes sense today is for someone building a truly off the grid home. I was reading about this guy who was building something in the middle of nowhere, the power company was basically telling they wouldn't get him on the grid, or at least not unless he was willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money, so he ended up going the solar route. It's a great alternative if you have no other choice, but if you're already on the grid, it's just not worth it financially. Hopefully this changes in the future.
Dustin.
Active member
14327473:Monsieur_Patate said:
Yep, electric cars are becoming the same economic situation. Can’t save money with them, the incentives are from tax dollars that should go to measures that can actually make a dent. We aren’t going to get anywhere focusing on cars and solar panels, it’s just not that much carbon in the grand scheme of things so we can’t spend all our time and effort on it to be successful. At the consumer level, it’s just a dumb decision to spend $45k on a car because it has an iPad as the screen. Neat…
Evantheshredster
Member
put in a few here for the toaster, cuppa there for the microwave, and u gotta have a few for the tesla charger
14327473:Monsieur_Patate said:
we installed about 8 years ago the last year the state and feds offered a great rebate
our lectric bill is 8 bucks a month
except july aug when the ac runs nonstop and net metering doesnt cover the difference so this summer it was an extra $100
during those 8 years rocky mountain power has increased their rates every year ussually 7-14%
but we just made the same tax deductible payment on a home eq loan for the solar system
refied last year payed off and closed the home eq loan
now we have a paid off solar system that costs $8x12 + a hundo
vrs. a 12x $100+
that does the same damn thing
Without payin rmp to burn coal chunks and fuck all of our air
so our math seems to differ from yours and cleaner air matters to us and id recomend solar in utah
Notaskibum
Member
14327997:SFBv420.0 said:
My utility doesn't do net metering, any excess is at the wholesale price which destroys the economic case
Monsieur_Patate
Active member
14327997:SFBv420.0 said:
I can't really tell you without knowing the specifics of the solution you installed and your power consumption. I can just tell you that after crunching the numbers a few months ago, comparing around 5 different solutions, with our very low power usage (we're not the "crank the AC" type household, our current bill is around $50-60/month during the summer and like $25/month during the winter, also in Utah). And the best option was breaking even after roughly 20 years for a product life expectancy of around 20-25 years, so it wouldn't lose us money either, but it just seemed like it wouldn't be worth the time and effort, especially considering this isn't our forever home, but if it worked for you, then great, different situation.
Also, if cleaner air matters, you can also get power from renewable energy sources from RMP, not sure if you knew, you have to enroll into their program, it's a tad more expensive but not that much, also an alternative.