OP
OP
Check out if you can get Tesla solar roofs. New roof and solar energy simultaneously.
(Not available for my part of the world, for example)
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I've installed solar panels, and I'm addicted to them now.
- Thread starter Isee
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Check out if you can get Tesla solar roofs. New roof and solar energy simultaneously.
(Not available for my part of the world, for example)
I have an east west system and it's awesome. Out last bill from July 15 to August 13th we used 450 kwh from the grid with two AC units a pool and a EV. And it's been overly cloudy and rainy this year.
it's not so much how much area you need. It's how much energy you want to offset. If you only use 800kwh a month but you only want to offset 50% of that you'd need a system half the size of one that you would need to offset 100% of your energy usage.
Maybe I am misunderstanding this, or is it saying you produce a little but take a lot from the regular power grid?
I really envy anyone who can have this stuff installed. I just don't have that kind of money to get it done and we will probably be moving in the next 3-5 years so it isn't really worth investing until we get to our new house.
Good job on this though, OP. I'm sure it feels really good to be self sufficient (for the most part), energy-wise.
Good job on this though, OP. I'm sure it feels really good to be self sufficient (for the most part), energy-wise.
Sorry, to clarify: for 10 out of 12 months I produce enough electricity to cover my own needs. I only have a (very small) electric bill in Jan and Feb when I don't generate enough and have to pull from the city grid. I'm lucky to live in an area with Net Metering and build up credits during the spring and summer, and only run out in the winter months. (Chicago)
I reaaaallly want this too. I live in the North East US and so I have crazy weather anxiety from about Dec to March of the power going out... I don't want a propane generator, even though they work I consider them sort of dying tech, and really want a whole home battery + solar.
Our roof has moderate tree cover on the South side of the house. We did have to have a dying giant oak taken down this year, so that's freed up a lot of sunlight on the house from about 9am - 11am, and then from about 11am to 630pm we have very solid sun cover on the roof during the summer months. We have some large pines in the back yard that partially block the sun in the evening, so the sun cover isn't great. Our old house was 100% blazing sun all day which would have been amazing for solar but that was before solar really took off.
My roof is also pretty new, 2018, so it would be a good time.
I'd love to put it on. Cost is the biggest factor for us. I don't want to lease because it adds complexity if we'd ever sell the house and move. I don't *think* we would, but who knows.
Anybody done solar in New England recently? If so, what company did you use, payment options, etc?
I've frequently seen solar panels installed on land around me in New England at houses, farms, etc. I think it's pretty common, might be a little more expensive running more wire and getting the infrastructure to hold the arrays. On the plus side you might be able to get flexible arrays that can turn with the sun, but obviously that's more $$$
Our roof has moderate tree cover on the South side of the house. We did have to have a dying giant oak taken down this year, so that's freed up a lot of sunlight on the house from about 9am - 11am, and then from about 11am to 630pm we have very solid sun cover on the roof during the summer months. We have some large pines in the back yard that partially block the sun in the evening, so the sun cover isn't great. Our old house was 100% blazing sun all day which would have been amazing for solar but that was before solar really took off.
My roof is also pretty new, 2018, so it would be a good time.
I'd love to put it on. Cost is the biggest factor for us. I don't want to lease because it adds complexity if we'd ever sell the house and move. I don't *think* we would, but who knows.
Anybody done solar in New England recently? If so, what company did you use, payment options, etc?
I've frequently seen solar panels installed on land around me in New England at houses, farms, etc. I think it's pretty common, might be a little more expensive running more wire and getting the infrastructure to hold the arrays. On the plus side you might be able to get flexible arrays that can turn with the sun, but obviously that's more $$$
fun fact your HOA cannot prevent you from installing solar panels, at least in the US. Do other countries even have HOAs?
you can get a loan for them, but as Transister said never lease them.
Instead of leasing them through the company can't you just remortgage your house (maybe the wrong word) to add on the est. cost? Since it adds to the value of the home I would think the bank would be A-ok with that.
OP
OP
not at all.
Good old, flat ground will do just fine.
It should also be a lot cheaper, for example I needed to pay for a framework to get roof access in the first place.
Ha, I put myself on their waitlist a year or two ago to be notified when Tesla roofs are available in my state and haven't heard a peep since. Might be worth following up on though.
it means peak, but it typically doesnt. You're supposed to oversize the systems by 30% of the inverters max output, this maximizes the inverter on cloudy days. Like my system is 18kw peak, but its actual max it can ever output is 15.2 kW.
nope, you can do on the ground arrays. you could even do one that follows the sun that has motors on the panels.
I wish my condo had solar panels. There's some condos in my city that have them and pay like $150 in maintenance fees per 1000 sqft whereas my building is closer to $600.
has solar installation prices gone up in the last 18 mos like other building/material/labor costs? We were going to put a deck on the house this year but got priced out, and I was thinking about doing some other equity-adding project instead.
That's a good point. Even though we just bought a few years ago the equity in the home is pretty significant, home value prices being wild and all. I'd like to refinance and cash out some of that for projects like that, though I also am comfortable with my current mortgage price and don't really want to bump it up, haha.
I also sort of wonder how much value it actually adds to your house from the bank's perspective. SOlar companies always advertise that it adds equity but so do like, rain gutter companies and roofing companies, and that's usually a bunch of malarkey.
That's a good point. Even though we just bought a few years ago the equity in the home is pretty significant, home value prices being wild and all. I'd like to refinance and cash out some of that for projects like that, though I also am comfortable with my current mortgage price and don't really want to bump it up, haha.
I also sort of wonder how much value it actually adds to your house from the bank's perspective. SOlar companies always advertise that it adds equity but so do like, rain gutter companies and roofing companies, and that's usually a bunch of malarkey.
I think with solar it does, because to the average buyer if the houses are equal in most ways except A has solar installed and B doesn't then A is the "higher value" home. Gutters sure are useful but not to the same extent.
I have a condo so no solar for me. I do wish the HOA would look into it as we get plenty of sun for it. If I had a home I'd definitely look into it. My grandpa was a very early adopter of solar, he had panels on the roof since way back in the 90s, I think they were installed in the 80s.. not sure I was a little kid, but I always thought it was very cool. I guess they mostly just powered hot water heater and furnace back then.
New homeowner here (not even a month in yet):
any tips for getting this going? I see my city has what they call a PACE program to setup sustainable power, but I'm unsure if this is worth it or not. Longterm I want it, but I'm unsure how early would be smart to jump in.
any tips for getting this going? I see my city has what they call a PACE program to setup sustainable power, but I'm unsure if this is worth it or not. Longterm I want it, but I'm unsure how early would be smart to jump in.
I've had solar for a few years, and am mid way through the process of adding a couple of Tesla Powerwalls to the system. I've got the approval from the electricity company and am waiting on my contractors to receive the batteries and get the work scheduled. I'm really hoping we can get them in and signed off on and in use before the end of hurricane season up here in the north east.
My system is 11.25 kWp
We generated about 8500 kWh last year.
55kWh is about the best I do around the summer solstice.
We run two EVs, and only pay for electricity for like November through April.
The batteries are mainly going to be for energy reliability, since we get extended outages (multi day) every year or two after bad storms in both the late summer and winter.
My system is 11.25 kWp
We generated about 8500 kWh last year.
55kWh is about the best I do around the summer solstice.
We run two EVs, and only pay for electricity for like November through April.
The batteries are mainly going to be for energy reliability, since we get extended outages (multi day) every year or two after bad storms in both the late summer and winter.
You've got some options I'm sure. If you want to research what your state offers, and which providers support it, you can go that route. The other option is to see if you have any local installers, as they will be up on that stuff too and will help you through the whole process.
Is it pretty easy to add batteries on later, or do you wish you had just done it all in one go if price/supply afforded it?
That Sunroof thing from Google is really cool.
My wife and I are in the process of buying a house down here in San Diego and adding solar panels is one of the first things we're going to do (... after we repair the roof). We currently live in a condo and our electricity bill has been hitting over $200 due to the heat, so can't even imagine what it'll be like in a house in a slightly hotter area. Even though we could technically afford to pay for it upfront, we're planning on taking out a loan from a credit union to pay for it so we can keep more money on hand for potential emergencies.
We're also currently awaiting a Tesla Model Y and will probably get another EV down the road, so solar + EVs is going to be an awesome combo.
My wife and I are in the process of buying a house down here in San Diego and adding solar panels is one of the first things we're going to do (... after we repair the roof). We currently live in a condo and our electricity bill has been hitting over $200 due to the heat, so can't even imagine what it'll be like in a house in a slightly hotter area. Even though we could technically afford to pay for it upfront, we're planning on taking out a loan from a credit union to pay for it so we can keep more money on hand for potential emergencies.
We're also currently awaiting a Tesla Model Y and will probably get another EV down the road, so solar + EVs is going to be an awesome combo.
Something I really want to look into for the next house in TX. Selling back or "banking" is good with me. Actually seems like banking would be better if when you sell back you only get the electricity portion of the cost. Or does banking require that you still pay the "delivery" charges? Would love to not have to rely on our shitty grid. The only hangup is that I need a gas stove. I hear induction is decent, but there are temperature control criticisms I've seen out there that concern me.
For Powerwalls its pretty easy as one of the selling points of them is that they work with just about any invertor, which I don't believe is the case for most other options. But doing it all at once is optimal. Probably less total cost etc. Only going through one set of permitting and final approvals etc. But with Powerwalls it's a very easy to add them into the system, and to add additional units if we decide to down the line.
yeah the modularity is definitely a selling point for those powerwalls just so damn expensive. Thanks, don't own a house yet but trying to factor the cost of solar installation while house shopping. You can use tesla powerwalls with whatever panels you want to right?
I'm hoping to buy a house in a couple years and I've always thought about getting solar panels installed. Would anyone have a link to a good YT video briefing on installation and benefits, specifically in Texas?
I've barely a year in this house but being a tech enthusiast and suffering through the Texas grid nonsense in February has me seriously looking at solar sooner than later.
I think it depends on your local laws. For me, 'selling back' gets me energy credits essentially. So, if I put 1kWh extra into the grid today, when the fall comes around, if I generate 1kWh less than I use, I'm not charged for that 1kWh I banked (delivery *or* generation). I have net metering, which I don't believe everywhere still has.
Once I have a battery, the power company will pay me to put power into the grid during peak evening hours (for up to three years, I think), which I plan on taking advantage of.
You can. You will however have to work with an authorized third-party installer though, as Tesla no longer sell powerwalls by themselves directly to customers as they used to. I believe that's the only way to add them to an existing installation at this time. I don't know how common such third-party installers are because I didn't have to look any further than a mile from my house to find one.
We're looking at solar and just got quoted a month ago. I hate that they base it on your previous 12 months usage and because of covid and everybody working in the house, our usage was through the roof.
They have us looking at a 14.40 kWh, 36 panel system that will cover all angles of the roof. The system is supposed to produce 105% of our usage based on the last 12 months, so 21,471 kWh a year.
If we go with the plan, it will cost approx $70k total, but they're offering it 0 upfront cost and the monthly cost is $225 for 25 years. I'm not completely sold on that duration of time and have another company offering a 15 year plan, less panels with a larger output, but they have less financing options and have been dodging me with getting responses to my questions.
They have us looking at a 14.40 kWh, 36 panel system that will cover all angles of the roof. The system is supposed to produce 105% of our usage based on the last 12 months, so 21,471 kWh a year.
If we go with the plan, it will cost approx $70k total, but they're offering it 0 upfront cost and the monthly cost is $225 for 25 years. I'm not completely sold on that duration of time and have another company offering a 15 year plan, less panels with a larger output, but they have less financing options and have been dodging me with getting responses to my questions.
thanks for the info. With all these crazy storms due to climate change I'm just super paranoid about power outages. We had a week long power outage for 500K households here in Detroit last week which is just... insane to me. That and the power issues in TX it feels like these are getting more common so hoping to have some sort of energy backup plan and theirs do seem the best atm.
Yeah, a key thing with solar is to remember that if you take one of the 0 upfront cost options (as I did) you're going to be signing a loooooong contract. If like me you're pretty confident you aren't moving, it's not a problem. Otherwise, you're either looking at paying off the contract when you want to sell or making transferring the contract to the new owners as part of the sale (which is obviously an extra headache).
For me, I wanted solar as soon as possible and 0 dollars down to save money on our monthly bills made all the sense in the world with our income situation at the time. I had everything lined up so that I could get the ball rolling the moment we closed our house sale. I literally called the solar company on the drive home from closing to tell them I was now the owner and to start moving forwards. It was a twenty year contract, and five years in, if anything I'm more certain that we won't be moving in the next fifteen years than I was when we bought the house.
Luckily (after a very uncertain 2020) our income situation is in a much better place, and we've been able to pull together all the funds for this project upfront. I'm still really wary of adding any additional monthly bills after all the ups and downs we had last year, and knowing we get some annual checks from the power company, and a nice big income tax rebate next year, means that I'm moving forward with zero concern.
just FYI anyone looking for batteries. Tesla wont sell you batteries anymore unless you buy solar with it. I *Technically* have an order for two powerwalls since march and tesla still hasn't even confirmed our order.
you can still get powerwalls from third parties but i imagine your going to pay even more than if you got them from tesla. its really shitty what tesla did. when i contacted them they said my order is valid but they have no idea if or when they'll get me powerwalls.
you can still get powerwalls from third parties but i imagine your going to pay even more than if you got them from tesla. its really shitty what tesla did. when i contacted them they said my order is valid but they have no idea if or when they'll get me powerwalls.
That's one of our issues, we still haven't decided if we will be in this home past the next 10 years which is why I'm not too thrilled to jump into a 25 year contract. I'm trying to see if it's worthwhile renting this place out and downgrading in size as they kids will start becoming adults and hopefully start to transition out of the house.
Plenty of options are out there, but everyone is rushing to get us to sign cause of the tax rebate reducing or going away. With this setup I think we would get $18k back, but they also build out the finance plans with you giving them all that money in order to keep the lower monthly payments.
I heard this as well and Tesla is prioritizing battery deliveries to customers ordering their solar system over rivals. When I asked about adding one to my quote, they suggested waiting cause Tesla is coming out with the gen 3 powerwall which is supposed to have a huge improvement over the current gen.
i haven't heard about gen 3, but thats precisely why i didnt get batteries with my system in 2019. By that point the gen 2 was a few years old. I thought they would have had gen 3 out by now.
instead we're probably going to use the Ford F150 lightning as our battery backup.
There's no official word out yet, but when I looked into it, rumors suggested we would see it in the next year or 2 at the latest.
The new Lighting definitely caught my attention, very curious to see where ideas like this lead with more electric vehicles.
I should look into this, our roof is E/W but I guess it's worth getting a few professional opinions on the feasibility for our humble home.
where are you located?
ours are east/west and we produce slightly less than a southern facing system in our area in winter, but in summer, my system was actually producing more than a south facing system based on comparative math.
actually had a guy in our tesla group arguing with me that east west was useless, so we compared our systems directly and my system was 2x the size of his but in summer months it did 2.5x what his did. in winter months is was like 1.8 or 1.9 of his so his did better in winter cause the sun is lower in the sky.
I wanted to go solar and my brother in law even works for a solar company. I had them come by to give me an estimate and I, unfortunately, have far too many trees. I'd have to cut down 3 70+ year old oaks and I'm not doing that. So for now, no solar, but I support the adoption when possible.
Congrats, OP - solar panels are awesome. I've had a 9.45 kW system for 3 years now. I typically generate about 10 MWh per year, which more than covers my usage. I think I have -$1200 or so balance with the power company. Batteries are still prohibitively expensive over here though.
The next level is to get a heat pump for your heating / cooling needs. I replaced my heating system last fall, and unless it's < 30 F the heat pump handles it. My utility bills were about $300 (for the gas furnace) in total last year.
It all depends on what state you're in. MA has a pretty good set of incentives (net metering, SREC/SMART, rebates) but I don't know what NH / CT / ME offer.
The next level is to get a heat pump for your heating / cooling needs. I replaced my heating system last fall, and unless it's < 30 F the heat pump handles it. My utility bills were about $300 (for the gas furnace) in total last year.
I'm in the Boston area, and I used this company called Brightstar Solar. They're a husband and wife team that lives and breathes solar, I really liked them. I didn't qualify for the solar loan from the state, so I took out a heloc from a local credit union to cover the costs.
It all depends on what state you're in. MA has a pretty good set of incentives (net metering, SREC/SMART, rebates) but I don't know what NH / CT / ME offer.
it depends. you can run powerwalls in backup mode, meaning they'll only run if the power goes out. or you can run it in a mode i forget the exact name, where it powers your house until the threshold you set of it being empty. and yes its seamless, you have to get a transfer switch with battery/solar for it to work. But if the power goes out, based on everyone ive talked to they dont even notice its that seamless.
vs solar panels have to turn off if you dont have a battery backup and transfer switch. during our freeze in texas in febuary, i would have done 80kWh the day we were without power, based on the fact that i did 80kWh saturday of the same week. but they had to turn off because we had no power.
I would push for it with my wife but our state has disincentives for installing solar rather than incentives.
OP
OP
high fives
Yes.
Mine is even turning on whenever there is more demand than the solar panels can handle. So, let's say my power usage suddenly spikes to 4000W because I thought it is a promising idea to turn on the washing machine, the AC and our induction stove at the same time and there is only 3000W coming from the roof. The missing 1000W will come from the battery. The grid is only being used when the sudden spike is too fast and the Battery + Inverter cannot react quickly enough or when the battery is empty.
Modern home Batteries never allow you to drain them to zero or to overcharge them. That's why it is important if the Batterie manufacturer is giving you the "usable" capacity or the total capacity.
While south is still better, E/W isn't bad anymore.
You get less total output per day, but you are producing for a longer period.
At around 6:50 am, I'm often already producing ~1kW on a sunny day.
Coffee and breakfast are already free.
But there are obviously more factors to this. Getting professional perspective is wise. Also ask more than one company.
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OP
OP
That sounds excessive for ~15kWp.
I paid 25k € for my 8kWp and the 10kWh battery. But that included extensive digging works in front of my house because I also wanted a Wallbox in my garage (which isn't physically connected to the house and had no electricity at all).
I get around 6k € back from the state (~4k€ for the solar installation, 1k€ for the battery and 900€ for the wall box) this year and additionally get significant tax cuts for the next ten years.
Strange, I spoke to a friend in California and Solar prices appeared to be similar to prices over here. I assumed it would be similar for the entire united states.
Not sure about a loand from KfW, but at least every other bank will gladly give you money for solar panels. They know how fast they are paying off.
No matter what you do, at least you can get a bit of Zuschuss from KfW anyway.
Thank you
Looked into them as well. Promising tech, but not available over here.
And solar panels are sexy... ^^At least those "new", black ones.
Not our house, but the same panel model
What model/manufacturer are these panels?
Interesting you say this and that's why I'm still looking. This was one of the neighborhood door to door salesmen running through the program and letting us know what we could fit on our roof. I know they wanted to use higher quality/cost panels too which may be adding to the price.
Definitely going to do some more research before we commit.