Awesome! Thank you! If you assess after a year and care to share data, please post a video or add a follow-up comment here. It'd be interesting to hear another first-year solar experience.
I had solar installed on my house back in 2017 when my city was running a solar group buy. That's a program where the city signs up with a solar installer, who then orders the equipment in bulk, and installs solar on a lot of people's houses, which should theoretically be cheaper than if you got quotes on your own. Many places do it, and if you live in an area that doesn't have it, it probably wouldn't hurt to ask your city to start such a program. My installation was a 6.5 kW system, which cost around $18k. After the Federal tax credit and state rebates at the time, it dropped the actual cost down closer to $11k. They've saved me about $5k or so in electricity so far since I got it turned on back in Dec 2017, so in another 5-6 years, it should be paid off. I didn't get a battery back up as it was going to add a lot more cost and I didn't know if I needed one at the time. But I will likely add one in the near future, and switch to time-of-use, where it's more expensive during the day, but cheaper at night/weekends. Figure I'll use my solar/battery during the day, then charge it back up at night. I already charge my EV at night since I work 2nd shift, so that should help save even more.
I did some extensive research on going solar. Your system cost $32K, the system I was looking at was going around $44K with a basic battery system, however not sure if you included the cost of the battery system to your cost? What I found is that the cost far outweighs the cost and savings if you use electricity wisely, and modernize appliances and lighting in the house. I put LED lighting throughout the house, solar exterior lighting and automated motion control , upgraded appliances. I was able to decrease usage from an average of $220 per month down to $65 per month during the fall, winter and spring, and then it shoots up during the summer with the pool and AC but was able to decrease my previous summer usage from an average of $390 per month down to $285. At 57yrs old, purchasing that system now would have meant I would have paid it off in 12yrs with low interest loans I qualified for, or could have paid out the $44K upfront. With Solar Credits, NOT refund.. which is another important factor to consider, it isnt a refund, a lot of solar companies I spoke with tried to sell it as you get back the Federal credit as a refund, which isnt true. What I figured out was that with the cost of the system, estimated maintenance, batteries at best are rated for 12yrs, while panels are rated for about 20yrs, inverters, wiring etc isnt. It is much easier and better to control consumption, upgrade appliances. To each is own, I will compliment you on the video, nice job, but I would urge others to be careful about doing this, and really, really evaluate if you truly will benefit from it. I think if you are a young homeowner, starting out with a family, it may be a good option. If you are an older, close to retirement or at retirement person, whose an empty nester, probably not so good an option. Just my $0.02...
The $32K was after the 26% tax credit that we received back on taxes for the installation. It was just over $43K out-of-pocket (before credit) and did include the two batteries. For the tax credit, it depends on what your tax liability is. We actually received the full credit back for a 2021 installation when we filed our tax return. We've converted most of the lighting in our house over to LED already. I suppose if I didn't drive my Tesla Model Y as much (about 20,000 miles/year), then we would see a faster payback. But, it's nice having my gasoline budget drop to almost $0/month. Lawn mower/snow blower is still gas. Our Chevy Volt uses gas, but we rarely drive it enough to deplete the battery range to use gas. I appreciate the $0.02. We probably would have configured it a bit differently if we had more knowledge going into it. I agree with the phase-of-life wisdom and would add if you are not in settled into a long-term home (beyond the payback period), it probably doesn't make financial sense either.
Great video! It's amazing how much goes into one of these solar installations. I have a few questions. 1. Do you know how much more it is to install on a roof vs. in a field (or is it even more?). 2. How long will that battery backup system run your critical loads? 3. What's the life expectancy of those backup LFP batteries? Thanks!
Hi @Sean-ps8wg - thank you. For questions - I didn't have a comparison for ground vs. rooftop installation, but know that cost of the inverter and batteries isn't different with either setup. My guess is pretty comparable for cost. However, rooftop means it is part of the building, so there is a lot more with fire code and inspections that went into this system. For battery backup, my 2 x 5 kWh batteries will run for a few hours. Most of my critical load is car charging, so I can get places even if the power is out. For that, it lasts about 2 hours when charging our Chevy Volt, but only just over an hour with the Tesla. If running things like A/C or refrigerators, it'd last about a day. For life expectancy - about 10 years.
12 kilowatt seems like a solid amount. I think someone told me on TH-cam, to plan for a 2.1 kilowatt to charge a model Y 300 mile range. But go to 2.5 because of phantom loss.. inverters and such. This is calculated with 5 hour sunshine
When I charge, the load is typically 7.5 kW. (at 32A set in the car). At peak, my system produces about 9.6 kW, so if the sun is full out, I don't pull any charge from the grid.
I wonder sometimes if investing in something that is useful everyday to meet your needs outweighs dollars in the bank that depreciate in buying power. It seems that having land to grow food or raise food when food is extremely expensive or not available is worth more than dollars somewhere in a computer. I think of solar panels this way.
Geeze, you were routinely using over 2,000 KW a month. What are you powering. Your house is a about twice the size of mine but even in the heat of the summer we are only using about 600 KW a month. In the winter being that we use gas, our electric usage is 300-400 KW a month. We are even using an electric water heater. EDIT: You have two electric cars. That explains it.
Yes - it is the electric cars 😎 Before that, we were much lower, having already replaced most of the lights in the house with LED lighting. Our other big draws are an electric oven/stove in the kitchen and air conditioning in the summer, electric clothes dryer, and electric hot water heater.
@@JohnVanDeVoort Yeah, electric clothes dryers use a lot. Resistive heat is very inefficient. I have been looking into heat pump water heaters and dryers. But the prices are kinda high. I have been thinking about getting a grid tie growatt converter and adding about 2KW of panels. But even though that would be a pretty cheap setup, the permits and inspections are the larger hindrance. I suspect it would cost around $5k if I did most of the work myself. But it might only save us $30 in the winter and $50 in the summer per month.
Really well edited! Enjoyed the video :) I'm still in my first year of solar.
Awesome! Thank you! If you assess after a year and care to share data, please post a video or add a follow-up comment here. It'd be interesting to hear another first-year solar experience.
really in-depth, high quality video
Thank you very much! My hope is that the knowledge will help someone else.
I had solar installed on my house back in 2017 when my city was running a solar group buy. That's a program where the city signs up with a solar installer, who then orders the equipment in bulk, and installs solar on a lot of people's houses, which should theoretically be cheaper than if you got quotes on your own. Many places do it, and if you live in an area that doesn't have it, it probably wouldn't hurt to ask your city to start such a program.
My installation was a 6.5 kW system, which cost around $18k. After the Federal tax credit and state rebates at the time, it dropped the actual cost down closer to $11k. They've saved me about $5k or so in electricity so far since I got it turned on back in Dec 2017, so in another 5-6 years, it should be paid off.
I didn't get a battery back up as it was going to add a lot more cost and I didn't know if I needed one at the time. But I will likely add one in the near future, and switch to time-of-use, where it's more expensive during the day, but cheaper at night/weekends. Figure I'll use my solar/battery during the day, then charge it back up at night. I already charge my EV at night since I work 2nd shift, so that should help save even more.
Excellent. Thank you for the info on the potential community install option.
I did some extensive research on going solar. Your system cost $32K, the system I was looking at was going around $44K with a basic battery system, however not sure if you included the cost of the battery system to your cost? What I found is that the cost far outweighs the cost and savings if you use electricity wisely, and modernize appliances and lighting in the house. I put LED lighting throughout the house, solar exterior lighting and automated motion control , upgraded appliances. I was able to decrease usage from an average of $220 per month down to $65 per month during the fall, winter and spring, and then it shoots up during the summer with the pool and AC but was able to decrease my previous summer usage from an average of $390 per month down to $285. At 57yrs old, purchasing that system now would have meant I would have paid it off in 12yrs with low interest loans I qualified for, or could have paid out the $44K upfront. With Solar Credits, NOT refund.. which is another important factor to consider, it isnt a refund, a lot of solar companies I spoke with tried to sell it as you get back the Federal credit as a refund, which isnt true. What I figured out was that with the cost of the system, estimated maintenance, batteries at best are rated for 12yrs, while panels are rated for about 20yrs, inverters, wiring etc isnt. It is much easier and better to control consumption, upgrade appliances. To each is own, I will compliment you on the video, nice job, but I would urge others to be careful about doing this, and really, really evaluate if you truly will benefit from it. I think if you are a young homeowner, starting out with a family, it may be a good option. If you are an older, close to retirement or at retirement person, whose an empty nester, probably not so good an option. Just my $0.02...
The $32K was after the 26% tax credit that we received back on taxes for the installation. It was just over $43K out-of-pocket (before credit) and did include the two batteries. For the tax credit, it depends on what your tax liability is. We actually received the full credit back for a 2021 installation when we filed our tax return. We've converted most of the lighting in our house over to LED already. I suppose if I didn't drive my Tesla Model Y as much (about 20,000 miles/year), then we would see a faster payback. But, it's nice having my gasoline budget drop to almost $0/month. Lawn mower/snow blower is still gas. Our Chevy Volt uses gas, but we rarely drive it enough to deplete the battery range to use gas. I appreciate the $0.02. We probably would have configured it a bit differently if we had more knowledge going into it. I agree with the phase-of-life wisdom and would add if you are not in settled into a long-term home (beyond the payback period), it probably doesn't make financial sense either.
Great video! It's amazing how much goes into one of these solar installations. I have a few questions. 1. Do you know how much more it is to install on a roof vs. in a field (or is it even more?). 2. How long will that battery backup system run your critical loads? 3. What's the life expectancy of those backup LFP batteries? Thanks!
Hi @Sean-ps8wg - thank you. For questions - I didn't have a comparison for ground vs. rooftop installation, but know that cost of the inverter and batteries isn't different with either setup. My guess is pretty comparable for cost. However, rooftop means it is part of the building, so there is a lot more with fire code and inspections that went into this system. For battery backup, my 2 x 5 kWh batteries will run for a few hours. Most of my critical load is car charging, so I can get places even if the power is out. For that, it lasts about 2 hours when charging our Chevy Volt, but only just over an hour with the Tesla. If running things like A/C or refrigerators, it'd last about a day. For life expectancy - about 10 years.
12 kilowatt seems like a solid amount. I think someone told me on TH-cam, to plan for a 2.1 kilowatt to charge a model Y 300 mile range. But go to 2.5 because of phantom loss.. inverters and such. This is calculated with 5 hour sunshine
When I charge, the load is typically 7.5 kW. (at 32A set in the car). At peak, my system produces about 9.6 kW, so if the sun is full out, I don't pull any charge from the grid.
I wonder sometimes if investing in something that is useful everyday to meet your needs outweighs dollars in the bank that depreciate in buying power.
It seems that having land to grow food or raise food when food is extremely expensive or not available is worth more than dollars somewhere in a computer. I think of solar panels this way.
Geeze, you were routinely using over 2,000 KW a month. What are you powering. Your house is a about twice the size of mine but even in the heat of the summer we are only using about 600 KW a month. In the winter being that we use gas, our electric usage is 300-400 KW a month. We are even using an electric water heater.
EDIT: You have two electric cars. That explains it.
Yes - it is the electric cars 😎 Before that, we were much lower, having already replaced most of the lights in the house with LED lighting. Our other big draws are an electric oven/stove in the kitchen and air conditioning in the summer, electric clothes dryer, and electric hot water heater.
@@JohnVanDeVoort Yeah, electric clothes dryers use a lot. Resistive heat is very inefficient. I have been looking into heat pump water heaters and dryers. But the prices are kinda high.
I have been thinking about getting a grid tie growatt converter and adding about 2KW of panels. But even though that would be a pretty cheap setup, the permits and inspections are the larger hindrance. I suspect it would cost around $5k if I did most of the work myself. But it might only save us $30 in the winter and $50 in the summer per month.