Has anyone jumped on this "free" solar energy thing?

walter

walter

Fourth Party
This is the third time my house has been solicited because I'm a "prime candidate" due to my location. The first time we went as far as having the inspections done but called it quits pretty much as they were about to submit their figures. Had a guy here on Wednesday again giving me the pitch, told him Id call him back.

I have a friend who lives on land in Jackson and years ago paid for his own panels and was selling credits back to the energy companies, but that's now a thing of the past.

Wondering if anyone has jumped on board and had positive results. I'm not against the panels, but the commitment time wise and the lack of long term answers concerns me.

What say you?
 
I think the catch with most of the companies is that you don't own the equipment so you don't own the credits (SRECSs, they're still getting $$ for them I believe). Not sure who's supposed to maintain them in that situation, but I guess your incentive is the lower bill in this scenario?

PSEG is running a program where you get a loan for about 50% of the setup cost which you then repay over 10 years using the SRECs. However you have to do all of the legwork from quotes to installation and they don't give you the loan $$ until it's all installed. Plus the application looks confusing as hell.

IIRC someone on the board is a solar installer, maybe they will chime in.
 
One of the companies in my neighborhood had a bad rep for increasing costs. Basically what I recall is they install the equipment and you owe them X credits per month, anything above X goes towards your energy bill, BUT if you're below X, you have to pay them AND your normal bill. They tried selling us on the idea that such a scenario almost never happens... but I found a lot of bad reviews and complaints to the BBB.

Not every company is shady. Just do your homework and make sure you're going with a good company and its a deal you're OK with. There's no such thing as "free".

I decided to hold off. Solar energy isn't going away.... I'm not convinced the current "rent" options are the best and want to see what the next phase is. Just like fatbikes... jump on the bandwagon too early and now you're stuck with 4" tires unless you upgrade your frame/crank/wheel
 
A company convinced many of the folks in my parents neighborhood to install the panels. My father did his due diligence and found the savings wasn't worth it at this time taking all factors into consideration. Mainly that the company benefits more than the homeowner. You have a lower bill, but that's about it.

One thing to keep in mind is that they install the panels, but are not responsible for your roof and any leaks or damage that result. If you do consider it, be sure to have your roof and the structure looked at. Many of the folks in my parents neighborhood are experiencing sagging trusses. In their case, the trusses weren't sized to accommodate weight of the panels plus the weight of snow for example. You may want to have your roof rafters assessed before pulling the trigger if you decide to go this route.
 
the only people around me that have them are $1m plus houses or government, so if you have money to burn go for it. if they were worth it everyone would have them and we all know nothing is free.
 
We looked into it a few years ago. Many of our neighbors have them. We talked to one guy who said he'd do it, then talked to another who said since our roof is situated east- west, we are not a good candidate. Still get calls from installers.
 
I bought into a solar farm in Colorado , I mainly did it to qualify my new home as a "green" earth advantage home , with minimal impact when up and running , plus it adds good $$ to the value for resale
 
walter said:
This is the third time my house has been solicited because I'm a "prime candidate" due to my location. The first time we went as far as having the inspections done but called it quits pretty much as they were about to submit their figures. Had a guy here on Wednesday again giving me the pitch, told him Id call him back.

I have a friend who lives on land in Jackson and years ago paid for his own panels and was selling credits back to the energy companies, but that's now a thing of the past.

Wondering if anyone has jumped on board and had positive results. I'm not against the panels, but the commitment time wise and the lack of long term answers concerns me.

What say you?
Click to expand...
Drive by my dad's house....he's prolly out in the garage. Stop and ask him
 
solar equipment is actually quite inexpensive in comparison to other utility equipment in your home. The Chinese as always have optimize manufacturing in a very short period of time like LED technology. Who makes the most money are the middleman suppliers and installers. As others have said, do your homework and get lots of quotes.
 
dnap said:
A company convinced many of the folks in my parents neighborhood to install the panels. My father did his due diligence and found the savings wasn't worth it at this time taking all factors into consideration. Mainly that the company benefits more than the homeowner. You have a lower bill, but that's about it.

One thing to keep in mind is that they install the panels, but are not responsible for your roof and any leaks or damage that result. If you do consider it, be sure to have your roof and the structure looked at. Many of the folks in my parents neighborhood are experiencing sagging trusses. In their case, the trusses weren't sized to accommodate weight of the panels plus the weight of snow for example. You may want to have your roof rafters assessed before pulling the trigger if you decide to go this route.
Click to expand...

that's so true, I don't think the local building codes factor in the potential damage panels can do to a roof. At my last home, we had to reinforce our roof due to snow and what was a 2nd layer roof weight
 
dnap said:
One thing to keep in mind is that they install the panels, but are not responsible for your roof and any leaks or damage that result. If you do consider it, be sure to have your roof and the structure looked at. Many of the folks in my parents neighborhood are experiencing sagging trusses. In their case, the trusses weren't sized to accommodate weight of the panels plus the weight of snow for example. You may want to have your roof rafters assessed before pulling the trigger if you decide to go this route.
Click to expand...

You also want to make sure your roof is relatively new. Don't want to have to take down the panels in 5 years to reroof and then reinstall the panels.
 
Bump- who took advantage of the free roof, free panel installs??
Lots of good information here to consider for my 110yr old roof trusses. I have a quote open right now. New roof, 26 panels and installed for $0.
Basically financing for 20 years at 0% giving me a payment of $168 to solar company. My pse&g bill drops to $2.26 for service fee.
Since i generate “about” 9000kwh a year, the system would generate all of my electricity needs. For every 1000kwh the panels generate I receive a $98 deposit to my bank account. This is a $69 monthly average credit, Bringing my monthly average cost for electric to $99 a month. I would still have the $168 monthly payment for 20 years but receive deposits as I generate, so after 20 years... I don’t have a payment and the system starts to make me money. I won’t be living in the house when it’s paid off. I question how this would go through with a real estate deal, what if they didn’t want that service? How binding Can this contract be?
I don’t think this house can handle the weight.. so I’m probably out... but I still need a roof.
 
The ”right” time for residential solar sailed a long time ago, back when SREC’s paid your way. Now it’s basically bragging rights to say you a low-to-negative electric bill. I don’t know how the future sale of your home would work, as the system is owned outright and not considered part of the house.
 
They stop me at Home Depot all the time, but then they go away as soon as they google map my address and can't see the house hidden under the oaks and sugar maples...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom