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Solid video, Jack! Editing and included information is dialed in 👌

Can you do a video on what questions to ask when buying a home with solar already installed?

It's deflation time. That's what happens when you print and hand out $6 trillion for "free" at the top of a 10-year economic peak. Prices outpace wages by 40-50% over a 2-3 year period, then everyone stops spending money leading to millions of job losses, foreclosures and wage collapse. Not just batteries, everything money can buy will crash in value. Just my 2 cents haha.

Two key factors in the economics. No=one can say what the lifespan of a solar battery is. No-one can be sure how the price of electricity (hence savings ) will rise in the years to come.

Arizona beats California for sky high electric.

*There has been an uninterrupted decline in the price of solar batteries for 30 years.* In 2024, the decline was drastic at over 40% so far. Prices will certainly continue to fall. You should therefore wait until at least spring 2025 before making a purchase.

Sodium batteries are beginning to be used too, I would totally expect battery prices to drop further, and the technologies are still evolving rapidly. What is a good buy today might be the horrid buy just a year or two down the line… long before paying off a system. Also, do not forget the massive cost of financing over a 10-30 year period, and laws changing so that reselling excess power becomes less and less likely to compensate for the cost of the system IMHO the only way to go solar is to fully pay for the system at purchase time and to go 100% off grid, so that you are insulated from the games expected from power companies and the local governments that they so actively lobby.

I'm confused... isn't the whole idea of solar is to be off grid and have free energy ... Why are you on the PG&E grid still?

So you also prescribe the goal of solar energy. My friend ... Wow That's some Marxist, communist, central planning garbage. How would you possibly know what others goals are?

6-9 year payback? 6 years on a 15k is $250/month electric. Is that what the average is in CA? If so, no wonder people hate living there

Would have been great to compare EG4 batteries too. Paired with new gridboss that they showcased at RE+

Lol All these industry guys passing trouble with the big name brands and their AC batteries. Quit shilling for the big companies! Their products suck! Not cheaply made maybe, but lacking in capabilities that people want, and are obvious from a user standpoint. If you use DC side batteries with an open source string inverter you would have none of these problems. Most of those systems are essentially are plug and play. The hardest part is wheeling them in. Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes. DC batteries tend to be 2-3x cheaper than whatever AC batteries go for. So it often makes the difference between a consumer getting a battery and getting no battery at all. Or if they can afford the AC battery price, they can get 2-3x capacity for the dollar with a DC battery. Which is extremely important since DC side batteries still aren't cheap. Most companies bypass the AC battery labor issue by not offering them in the first place. It's too expensive! Which is usually true. The big brands offer completely noncompetitive "solutions". It's one step forward and two steps back with them. Easy power inversion, but batteries too expensive and difficult to install. It's prioritizing short term benefit at the expense of long term benefit. Which is not solar power's strength. Solar should be good short term and fantastic long term. The big name brands rely too much on you picking their inverters for being easy to install and you then getting stuck in their closed ecosystem and being forced to use their batteries and they make big margin on those. But the high price means low volume sales for them, and many people that could have backup power are having to go without. It's not a good solution. The electric grid is poorly maintained and grid failures get worse and more frequent. People died in those winter black out in Texas a few years back. They blamed it renewables! Renewables were just a blip on the radar of Texas power grid so that's not what failed! Most of the people that died did so from inhaling carbon monoxide from their gas generators. If they had batteries, CM inhalation wouldn't be an issue. If they had solar too, off-grid or hybrid, then a grid-down would no problem. The Texas grid could fail everyday forever and they'd be fine. They wouldn't need it. That's the beauty of solar plus batteries. Not needing the grid. The grid is run by greedy corporations that want to make the max dollars while putting in the least effort and expense. Specifically trying to impress and attract shareholders to increase investment.It's basically free money! But they maximize apparent profitability by cutting corner and letting things fall into disrepair instead of spending the money and labor to do preventative maintenance to keep things upright and in working order. When access to power means the difference between life and death, the less you need to depend on people like that the better off you are. The more that we can enable access to cheap battery power and self generation, the safer and more secure the people in our society will be.

I not only wouldn't live in California, I won't even drive through the state. California Sucks

From what I'm reading here and elsewhere, the government is almost forcing us to buy more efficient heating and cooling equipment, while pushing so-called renewables. Don't buy wood burning furnaces for heating air and/or water because there are only so many trees that can be grown. Then there are private companies that try to maximize their profits, because that's why they exist. California has just as many problems with Lobbyists as the federal government does. It's a racket run by corrupt politicians and corporations. This blog doesn't even mention that owning or renting a place to live is increasing in cost almost 10 time faster than what workers are getting in wage increases. BlackRock is the part of the worldwide scam that is most visible above the water's surface. What Elites give to the Poor Commoners, the Elites can also take away. Maybe the nomadic homeless are the smart ones, and us 'good citizens' are the patsies. When societies fail, they fail to their lowest common denominator, especially if they are individualistic. There is power in numbers and and being collective, but currently the elite rely on socialism while the commoners have to suffer capitalism.

Why get solar battery's right now.. WEF will be still pushing EV's that wont change. US war in sandbox will make oil price go up. That will up all the prices.. Getting mineral transporting making stuff all will cost more.. If WW3 will get bigger good luck getting anything from china and all the cheap stuff go bye bye.. They really like to have bigger war so chance that will happen is high. Very high. Getting ready for 10 year long WW3 war right now is just smart. Most likely next year will be more bad than this year. If not very good and nice. I hope that.. But I plan and do everything like next year will be more bad than this one. And someday comes that time you won't get anything from anywhere for long time.. Before that I like to get my minimum setup ready. Good luck and godspeed to all of you.. Water Food heat security 1-2 years plan for it that won't cost anything.

Well done. Very understandable explanation. Thanks.

This guy has no idea. Please talk to a SolarEdge tech and get your facts correct before posting this rubbish. SolarEdge Home Battery is standalone offgrid capable. SolarEdge uses power optimizers, not string inverters!

The only way to make solar work is to disconnect from grid completely. Install a suitable number of panels and a battery bank to store the excess. Buy it outright or borrow from a reputable lender, never from a company involved in the solar system!!! Be careful though. Here in Australia if the electrical grid runs past your house in a town or city you are charged fees for access you don't use. Corruption by Corporation!!!

"The companies were not just going to take a loss..." You let these private companies off the hook to easily. None of the actual PUBLIC utilities have that problem. My sister lives in Inglewood and has sce. Her neighbors ACROSS THE STREET in Los Angeles have LADWP and not only do they have lower rates, but they are encouraged to use solar. Infrastructure upgrades are part of regular maintenance when that money is not thrown away in dividends and stock buybacks or 8 figure executive salaries. These huge corporations would not take a loss by doing their maintenance. They would just profit a ittle bit less. They dont want a little less profit because then their executives might have to take lowly 7 figure salaries. This is also why NONE of the actually "public" utilities in California have EVER had a "rolling blackout." Not once. But the private companies act like "deferred" maintenance which leads to these adverse effects are just a natural part of running a utility. They act like doing what they are contracted to do is an added burden and hardship. It's a choice to behave this way. Not an inevitability.

Can you gave us a check list of what is important or must have, when we look for a new solar with and w/o battery backup? Thank you.

What about how it affects your homeowners insurance.

Very informative! Alas, my wife is never going to go for solar because she is concerned about EMF exposure. I think that's ridiculous on her part, but that's my situation.

Do you operate in Michigan?

I'm just old school. Fans and window coolers. Save tons of money for my travels. ❤

Off grid $15k system (paid cash)charging my hvac's split units & EV's ONLY!! Minimum dwp bill ..no more gasoline or car charge bills

EG4 is killing it with there new equipment

These are only "batteries" in that they store energy. They are not batteries. They are individually and specifically designed battery packs. If you want real batteries, don't buy it if it isn't listed as a battery. Never buy a "system" for batteries. You don't buy a battery system for your car, your phone, your big rig, your you hauler, but he wants you to buy a battery system for your home. Battery "systems" are overtly expensive, intended only for rich people, and incapable of proving their warranty viability in 10 years, as promised. If you want to buy batteries for your home, buy batteries not systems. LiFePO4 batteries are dirt cheap (average price is about $100/kW for new batteries). If you're paying 10k for batteries, you're part of the wealthy elite, and you're not wanted in America anymore.

within a year, the panels will be covered with dirt and the rated capacity will be cut in half and keep dropping until you get your roofer out to wash you panels. While the roofer is there, he can fix the roof leaks caused by the panels vibrating in the wind , oh yeah, got to take the panels off to get to the leaks !

Rooftop solar is among the many causes of escalating energy prices. It’s part of the problem, not the solution. It’s the least efficient way to deploy an already unreliable, weather-based energy source. As this video outlines, the cost of installation, finance, warrantees, transfers, batteries, inverters, etc. is a money pit.

In NY being unable to get in touch with a solar company contributed to the sale of a house to fail.

I got a much better solution: STAY AWAY FROM SOLAR PANELS, PERIOD. LBV

Cecil's stupidity

The CA PUC has fuc*ked the SOCAL customers. They are supposed to protect consumers i thought!

NEM 3.0 really screwed over the California solar market. Now you are stuck getting at least 2 batteries. Minimum 30K. NEM can get revised again & again. The CSLB is trying to block contractors with a C-46 license from installing batteries to a solar setup. A C-10 license would be required. Batteries limit how much of that essentially free NEM 3.0 electricity is resold at market rate to customers. Including yourself.

A smart home buyer looking at a home and sees solar on the roof. Is it a own, loan, or a PPA (power purchase agreement)? How old are the panels, inverter, batteries? Who installed it? Is the warranty transferable?

He speaks the truth. So. Cal Edison pays even less for your excess power. I doubt its because it could over load the grid. You are using your solar power by day and none by night. They are losing money because people have their own electric utility. I leased a small system then a few years later refinanced and paid it off. Problem is if something fails its on my dime to replace. After that did a diy solar system with batteries. Ground mount huge 12kw for as much as my lease small system. Tons of videos. Lots of panels on FB and Craigs. It just takes muscle to install and it saves $$. Because of my lease they already installed the net meter so I have no utility company blowback. Without net meter utility company will notice meter going backwards. Payoff in 3 years. Summer $600 bill all electric. Big savings was on new windows, door and mini split system. Bills each month are zero or winter $10. Get solar smart. Cook, do cloths. Shower during sunlight as much as possible. Don't cook (heating kitchen) with the ac on during peak cost 5-8 pm.

Don’t forget remodeling roof to support panels. Also there are taxes and fees electric companies charge even if you don’t buy electricity from them.

This guy is full of sh-t. Nuff said

First of all solar and wind has proven to be a totally flawed concept when appleid at scale to any city. On small installations like a an RV, Boat or Cabin both sort of work "in the right location" with consistent sunshine and consistent wind. Based on cost vs effective value it's pricy due to the essential large lithium based battery bank and related electronics needed to convert DC current to AC current as required by the battery bank at stoves, refrigeration and heating etc. Solar and wind always needs a dependable generator in the system to compensate for long winter nights and bad weather. All Cabins, RVs and Boats have a back-up gas or diesel generator.and gas tank which is generally run once a day as needed. The Calif politicians have extracted the just about all the money they can from the solar and wind mfg and install people and will eventually fess up to the fact that a few billion more of Calif tax payer buck will be spent on dozen or so nuclear gen stations. That is the inevitable reality and one of the reason millions of people have fled the state.

Jack you do a very good job. I have solar and I did buy the solar I would never do a lease

Solar edge optimizers smoke the pants off of micro inverters all day long.

Stupid is as stupid does, that's me. I assumed a solar lease on our new home. We wanted to downsize and purchased a single story home that had a 1 year old solar lease. The remainng lease had 19 years to go. The solar company placed a mechanics lein on our home. The warrenty on the solar was 6 years. On the 7th year we had heavy rains and our roof leaked under the solar panels. It took me 3 months to find a solar company to remove and reinstall the 28 panels as the original solar company dripped the mess in to my lap. The cost was $8000. The new roof was $37,000. This included the interior repairs also. I also never know how much my lease will be month to month. I can't sale the house without the solar company approving the buyer and they assuming the lease. I figure I will loose $100,000+ on the sale of my house. I figure I will pass away before the system is off lease and someone would want the house. Don't be a sucker like I was.

I have Sunrun… Solar, Tesla Powerwall 3, and SPAN for the past year and it’s been an AMAZING ride. I’m completely energy independent of the grid and in COMPLETE control of the energy that my home is now producing and I’m able to store it when the sun sets and have enough battery capacity just in case there’s a power outage (Which I had for 12hrs a few weeks ago). Yes- I’m on a PPA, but not only is my price 20% lower than my highest bill, but my utility company would NEVER offer me this type of high-end tech in my home with a 25yr warranty on them. Even IF I end up paying slightly more at the end (Which I wont cuz the price of my utility will always outpace my yearly 2.9% increase) I’ll be happy with the peace of mind, control, security, and the idea of having my own infrastructure on my home is a flex instead of relying on outside parties to provide my family with energy. Nice try, Jack! 😅

You are not buying solar to replace your power use. You are buy that part of solar to replace your top tier (tier 4 I think it is called) power, which is 10% to 25% of your power use, the peak late noon power. If everyone is at work then, you have no important tier 4 to justify solar.

100% put a lien on your house to secure their asset, but they use word salad to call it something else.

Any thoughts on Anker SOLIX X1?

China still subsidizes shipping of goods, and although they have heavy tariffs on cars, there are still ways to get other stuff around the laws.

this business model of putting panels on your roof, selling excess daytime production, and using this credit to pay for your night time needs leave one issue out of the equation. What's in it for the utility company? They are not a charity, somebody has to pay for the wires, the cost of managing and running the system, and, remember that they need to keep a generator running all the time just in case a cloud hovers over your house and the panels zero out. OK, buy the panels plus the battery, but you still want to stay plugged in to the utility to cover for the four day rainstorm that happens every winter, yeah, same issue. go to the extreme example, panels become cheap so everybody in CA buys a lot of them and make so much excess power in the daytime that the utility has an excess itself, what do they do with it? Does the contract with their suppliers provide for buybacks? at what rate? remember some of these are out of state and not regulated by the state commission. Many of the utilities in CA are not in good shape financially and this issue is just another uncertainty. If they're not making money and need investment funds for new capacity, system repairs and upgrades, etc., the only place to turn is the loan market, remember if you really need a loan, it's going to be very hard to get one.

Lithium-ion battery pack price dropped to 139 U.S. dollars per kilowatt-hour in 2023, down from over 160 dollars per kilowatt-hour a year earlier. Statista Oct 2024. According to to the past 4 years, Lit-Ion has been very similar numbers 160,150,161, 139. Flattening out, it appears. I'm holding.

I bought solar and pay $50.00 a mo th and $1,100 at the end of year, now they say to buy a battery. This sucks!