DH pushing for solar panels

[Anonymous]

He says it is $49,000 upfront and a $28,000 tax credit, so $21,000. We spend $150 average on electricity right now, so they will break even in 11-12 years. This seems like a really long time. We have a 5000 square foot home and the panels would be facing west, where a lot of large trees are. Tesla promises they will offset 100% of our bill. He also wants to get two batteries which are $5000 each, I think. I feel like he's being a doomsday prepper more than anything since Houston lost power for a week. What do you all think?

[Anonymous]

Economically, this sounds like a complete disaster.

[Anonymous]

If you're in DC you also have to consider the SREC value.

If you have enough panels to 100% power a 5000sf house, you'd likely be earning ~$400/month in SRECs.

[Anonymous]

Unless the payoff is less than 7 years, it is probably not worth it.

Your roof needs to point south for best efficiency of the panels.
Also, know that if you need to repair/replace the roof the panels need to come off and then get reinstalled. That can be up to $15,000. So, you need to make sure you have a new roof not less than 5 years old or you are likely to run into end of life issues on the roof.

When I got my Tesla solar panels 10 years ago, 90% of customers took the free/lease option.

[Anonymous]

Listen to DH and help save the planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're in DC you also have to consider the SREC value.

If you have enough panels to 100% power a 5000sf house, you'd likely be earning ~$400/month in SRECs.

We're in Maryland. - op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listen to DH and help save the planet.

show us your solar panels....

[Anonymous]

We get some money back on our solar panels for the summer month.

If you’re nervous about the cost, just do the leasing option which is basically free—you pay the same amount as always and the electrical savings go to the solar company.

The only reason is takes so long to “break even” is that we externalize the costs of energy in this country — pushing the cost onto society at large through climate change. One thing people don’t consider with the break even calculations is that energy costs will continue to increase and may well increase at a higher rate than inflation due to both shortages and policy changes—in which case you will “break even” sooner.

Sadly, so many people think of energy purely in terms of dollars and cents for themselves that we will really need to create policy and cost structures that incentivize people to change behavior.

The batteries are expensive and you don’t necessarily use them — but the Tesla batteries work as a generator so if you have power outages that comes in handy. We didn’t get them because I’d heard that battery tech is likely to improve significantly in upcoming years. The panel tech is less likely to change quickly at this point.

If you don’t want the Tesla battery, it may be worth considering other sources for the panels. We got ours through a MoCo buying cooperative that negotiated a lower rate for us.

[Anonymous]

Ours were much less expensive, and we kept our SRECs so they paid for themselves in about 4-5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless the payoff is less than 7 years, it is probably not worth it.

Your roof needs to point south for best efficiency of the panels.
Also, know that if you need to repair/replace the roof the panels need to come off and then get reinstalled. That can be up to $15,000. So, you need to make sure you have a new roof not less than 5 years old or you are likely to run into end of life issues on the roof.

When I got my Tesla solar panels 10 years ago, 90% of customers took the free/lease option.

Our contract included free removal and replacement if we needed to replace the roof. We did so 7 years into owning the panels, and they honored the clause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We get some money back on our solar panels for the summer month.

If you’re nervous about the cost, just do the leasing option which is basically free—you pay the same amount as always and the electrical savings go to the solar company.

The only reason is takes so long to “break even” is that we externalize the costs of energy in this country — pushing the cost onto society at large through climate change. One thing people don’t consider with the break even calculations is that energy costs will continue to increase and may well increase at a higher rate than inflation due to both shortages and policy changes—in which case you will “break even” sooner.

Sadly, so many people think of energy purely in terms of dollars and cents for themselves that we will really need to create policy and cost structures that incentivize people to change behavior.

The batteries are expensive and you don’t necessarily use them — but the Tesla batteries work as a generator so if you have power outages that comes in handy. We didn’t get them because I’d heard that battery tech is likely to improve significantly in upcoming years. The panel tech is less likely to change quickly at this point.

If you don’t want the Tesla battery, it may be worth considering other sources for the panels. We got ours through a MoCo buying cooperative that negotiated a lower rate for us.

Selling a home with leased panels is challenging - for several reasons.

[Anonymous]

We're not in the DC area, but when it's crazy hot here (midwest) our area does rolling blackouts. For that alone solar panels would be worth it. We plan on being in the house at least 10 years.

[Anonymous]

I've heard mixed reviews about the Tesla ones, but it comes down to economics. How long you plan on living in home vs. how much you'll save?

[Anonymous]

you live in a 5000k sq ft house and you are suddenly concerned about the environment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard mixed reviews about the Tesla ones, but it comes down to economics. How long you plan on living in home vs. how much you'll save?

We moved here 3 years ago. We are mid-late 30s with 2 young kids, 3 and 6 YO. I'd like to be here for decades, until my kids push me into a home. - op