Anyone Have Solar Panels On Your House?

[Huntn]

I put in solar panels a little over two years ago. Paid about 24k cash and got about a 7k tax credit. I got in under the old net energy metering (NEM) 2.0 rules in California where Southern California Edison pays me the retail rate for excess power I feed back to them. The net of that is for two years I have paid zero for electricity. Each year I have ended up with about a $170 credit on my annual true-up electric bill. So no regrets here.

As @bousozoku mentioned, the California Public Utilities Commission changed up the whole solar structure with the power companies in April 2023 by created NEM 3.0, which only reimburses at the wholesale rate. So any extra power you generate back to the power company is credited at around seven cents a kwh rather than the old NEM 2.0 retail rate of 30-40 cents. So unless you pay big bucks for batteries to store your excess power, it is pretty hard to justify solar in California any longer. My system is grandfathered in at the old NEM 2.0 rates for 20 years, so I'm good, but NEM 3.0 really wrecked solar here for most people.

I think the key for you will be what the reimbursement structure is where you live.

Reddit has a pretty active r/solar section that was really helpful when I was researching.

Thanks! The last time I spoke about solar with a sales person, the question was, “how much will the loan cost me monthly as compared to my old electricity bills”? There is a chance, but if I get my way, I would not remain in Texas for the rest of my life, and last time, I was concerned about wanting to sell within 5 years and eating the added cost of the panels. It’s like a pool, you can pay $30k for it, but you can’t just tack $30k onto the price of the house, maybe $10k if the buyer want the pool.

Yes I could pay cash, by pulling from my 401k. I recently paid $14k for a natural gas standby generator. That seems hard to justify, but the last hurricane, that hit Houston, the neighbors generator ran for 5 days, some areas where out of power for 2 weeks. There’s a price to pay for convienence.

The irony would be if the generator or solar panels got damaged during the weather event. Note, I live in a location that has never flooded (knock on wood).

 

[Apple fanboy]

One thing I do know, at least I think I know, that batteries are a must, it’s the only way to keep your solar panels working when the grid goes down, when you really need/want them to work.The batteries are charged by the panels, provide power when the solar panels are not, provide a reserve of power, and provide the current that allows the panels to function.

In the UK at least that requires a much more complicated set up. Keeping the lights on in the event of a power failure.

But batteries can actually work even without solar. We get cheaper electricity off peak here so it is possible to charge your batteries off peak and use that power in the more expensive time.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks! The last time I spoke about solar with a sales person, the question was, “how much will the loan cost me monthly as compared to my old electricity bills”? There is a chance, but if I get my way, I would not remain in Texas for the rest of my life, and last time, I was concerned about wanting to sell within 5 years and eating the added cost of the panels. It’s like a pool, you can pay $30k for it, but you can’t just tack $30k onto the price of the house, maybe $10k if the buyer want the pool.

Yeah... if there is chance you will want to sell and move in the not too distant future, I don't think I would do solar. Especially if there is a loan attached to it. I have a couple acquaintances who leased solar panels and it made it really tough to sell their house. The new owner has to take over the solar lease and many buyers don't want to do that.

Be VERY careful with any of the loan/lease deals the solar companies pitch. There are a lot of shady operators out there.

 

[Huntn]

Yeah... if there is chance you will want to sell and move in the not too distant future, I don't think I would do solar. Especially if there is a loan attached to it. I have a couple acquaintances who leased solar panels and it made it really tough to sell their house. The new owner has to take over the solar lease and many buyers don't want to do that.

Be VERY careful with any of the loan/lease deals the solar companies pitch. There are a lot of shady operators out there.

The last time I looked at solar when I said no, they said "how about lease"? Their lease price was the same that I was currently paying for electric though my provider CenterPoint.
I asked what happens if I sell my house? They said, "we'll talk the new owners into keeping them, or we'll remove them at our expense and repair the roof."
This struck me as a compilation as people may not want a house with a repaired roof vs a new roof...