Anyone have solar?

[BlueC]

Generators, if done correctly, have to have an interlock or an ATS, right? So for them to back feed the grid requires some asshole to rig up a cord with two male ends to plug into an outlet and then leave his main breaker closed.

Yes, legally there has to be something that will stop it from back feeding, but that can't/won't stop someone from feeding a house via dryer reciprocal and "suicide cord", then it's a matter of if they flipped the breaker or not.

I'm not a lineman or even electrician, but I do know a specific two-way meter has to be installed around here for a system to back feed. I assume that the meter will automatically shut off the flow if power is down.

 

[ColoJeep]

We have dual solar installations on our roof and we are quite happy with it.

Now granted I inherited a 20 year lease with 4 years of the lease already paid off, but I've done the math and we are saving quite a bit, especially in the summer months.

With AZ heat and A/C loads that make the meter spin like a table saw , solar might make sense in a niche application. You dodged the main depreciation of the system buying in at 80% of the cost.
I wonder if this would work if starting from scratch ? My neighbors have solar but one guy only did it to dodge a huge tax hit , the other is somewhat of a wingnut. He's 5'4" , has a "man " bun , a turbo diesel pickup and a TJ on 35's with a very bent Dana 30 , ( camber is 4.5" out at the bottom vs. top of tire ) .
Of course Everything he / has does is better than everyone else.

 

[Zorba]

Even if the solar is not damaged but just the roof, the solar will have to be removed and reinstalled for repair.
We looked at solar but being in our 60s and the amount of power we use it does not make monetary sense. Also your warranty is only as good as the company that supports it. MANY solar companies have gone out of business leaving owners fucked and still making payment to who ever bought their assets. Most of the time its a financial company not a solar company that buys them with no responsibility for the waranty.Also solar is not maintenance free and the amount of output diminishes over time. Solar salespeople are just Time Share salespeople reincarnated. Hefty commissions on both. Crunch your numbers not the ones they give. If you have large daytime usage, such as a pool, it might be beneficial. Otherwise you need to add the cost of a battery system. Solar does not increase the value of a home especially if you lease it or have 10 yrs of payments left and you have to pay it off if the buyer does not officially take the payments over. Solar pans out for some but not for all.

That's what I'm finding out. My 'lectricty bill is $200/mo average. Even the "first contact" gal told me that was on the low side for Solar, she's more used to $500-$600/mo - although I have ZERO idea how the Hell you spend that much money on electric.

 

[ColoJeep]

That's what I'm finding out. My 'lectricty bill is $200/mo average. Even the "first contact" gal told me that was on the low side for Solar, she's more used to $500-$600/mo - although I have ZERO idea how the Hell you spend that much money on electric.

Grow House ?

 

[BlueC]

Grow House ?

Now there's where solar might make sense, especially if this grow house needs to be off-grid for reasons.

 

[roverhi]

Inherited a SunRun Lease when we bought the house. Supposedly the PO's son was a salesman for them and put in an over spec'd system with battery. We were selling electricity back to SDGE at a great discount to the benefit of the utility. Had a $500 bill for gas heating and water for one month last winter. Electricity rates, including standby, are supposed to rise significantly in the Peoples Republic. Decided an electric heat pump heating/cooling system would make sense to make use of our excess electricity production. This past summer broke even on electricity usage and gas bills dropped to or equalled single digit. Yet to see what heat is going to eat up this winter in the solar output but projected numbers look to be close to or break even.

Lease Payment is $178 a month for 16 more years. House is in Oceanside, CA about 6miles inland so near perfect weather for solar.

One thing to be conscious of is the solar is a 20 plus year investment but how old is the underlying roof??? Most houses in our neighborhood have tile roofs which I thought were lifetime. Turns out the the tile is more UV protection for the water proof tar paper underlayment than rain. The tile is lifetime but the tar paper is pushing it at 20 years. You might want/need to at least replace the roof under the solar panels whether it's tile or Asphalt which seems to be a common extra expense with solar I've noted being done. Individual Panel metering is also a good idea to identify any panels that may crap out and hurt production more than the loss from the bad panel.

 

[BlueC]

One thing to be conscious of is the solar is a 20 year investment but how old is the underlying roof?

That's a lender requirement I recently learned about. Most lenders, at least the ones I've been told about, stipulate that a shingle roof surface cannot be older than 5 years when installing a roof mounted system. Metal also has an age limit, but it's like 10 or 15 years. Some roofs cost a significant amount.

 

[cliffish]

$56k no wonder I get 3 or 4 spam calls a day trying to sell it to me !!!!!

Well I just added up my last 12 months of electric and it was $6842.10 for the year and we cook and heat the house with NG. I did take down 8 fish tanks and that seemed to drop the $300/mo.

 

[BlueC]

I did take down 8 fish tanks and that seemed to drop the $300/mo.

300/mo for fish tanks? Did they also produce income?

 

[ColoJeep]

300/mo for fish tanks? Did they also produce income?

A front for the Grow house operation .

 

[Chris]

With AZ heat and A/C loads that make the meter spin like a table saw , solar might make sense in a niche application. You dodged the main depreciation of the system buying in at 80% of the cost.
I wonder if this would work if starting from scratch ? My neighbors have solar but one guy only did it to dodge a huge tax hit , the other is somewhat of a wingnut. He's 5'4" , has a "man " bun , a turbo diesel pickup and a TJ on 35's with a very bent Dana 30 , ( camber is 4.5" out at the bottom vs. top of tire ) .
Of course Everything he / has does is better than everyone else.

Yep, we dodged it big time. I run my A/C at 74 in the day time and 68 at night. If I ever have an electric bill in the summer it’s no more than $20. My monthly Solar payment is $204 a month for dual installations. I feel pretty good about that especially after seeing my neighbors electric bill which sometimes reaches $500 in the summer!

I’ve got 13 more years left on the lease at this point.

 

[cliffish]

300/mo for fish tanks? Did they also produce income?

I was breeding for a whle but was losing interest. Down to 3 tanks and a Koi pond

 

[bucky]

That's a lender requirement I recently learned about. Most lenders, at least the ones I've been told about, stipulate that a shingle roof surface cannot be older than 5 years when installing a roof mounted system. Metal also has an age limit, but it's like 10 or 15 years. Some roofs cost a significant amount.

We thought our tile roof would last along time also when we bought our track home in 83. Being a track home they used the cheapest tar paper and we had the tiles removed and new thicker tar paper put down for $5k this spring. I can’t imagine having a $500+ monthly bill. Our electric bill is $35 in the winter and $100 in the summer with AC going. Solar salesmen hang up when I tell them my costs. Here in Ca you can only install a system that matches what your usage is. 2 of us in a 4 bed now but if we sell to a family they would be screwed. If I were getting solar, I have clear space on the south side of the house and would put in a ground installation.

 

[CreepinDeth]

I'm not sure I'll ever install solar with TVA's hold on the market. It is nice that they keep rates low but I'd rather not have to install a huge amount of batteries just from a cost standpoint. What happens if the line is down and you have batteries at max capacity and it's the middle of the day and you are pulling in more energy than you can use?

You must think of this in simple terms of how does your cell phone know to stop charging??

Same concept, theres a controller that detects it and stops the charge, and excess bleeds back to the grid which you are compensated for at a very very low rate OR its held in a “energy surplus” account for your usage later.

What if your battery bank is FULL and the utility line goes down?? First it self isolates for obvious reasons.

Id assume it redirects excess to the copper rod that goes 8 feet into your ground outside your utility panel with the rest of the imbalanced voltage (ala Earth Ground)

In other words, thats a non issue, no need to worry

 

[Zorba]

Yep, we dodged it big time. I run my A/C at 74 in the day time and 68 at night. If I ever have an electric bill in the summer it’s no more than $20. My monthly Solar payment is $204 a month for dual installations. I feel pretty good about that especially after seeing my neighbors electric bill which sometimes reaches $500 in the summer!

I’ve got 13 more years left on the lease at this point.

That 68 at night is probably what would kill you if you didn't have the solar. We run 75 by day, and 76 at nite, and it still peaks at about $260/mo during the summer. I'm on the balanced plan, so I pay about 200/mo year round - the actual charge in the winter is around $125 or so. $40/mo for gas.

 

[CreepinDeth]

I thought solar back feeding the grid is just the normal way they install it.

Theres many ways solar is setup
Feeding the grid without a battery bank is the most commonly used due to battery bank costs. I personally believe a Tesla powerwall is a better option to look into but….subjective

However, that does not mean there isnt an intelligent set of relays that shut directional flow of electricity down when conditions are not NORMAL.(i.e. utility line goes dead)

Every substation has relays that also detect abnormalities and OPEN contacts when things go “abnormal”. These are for system protection, and household systems also employ them especially with generation options added

 

[Chris]

That 68 at night is probably what would kill you if you didn't have the solar. We run 75 by day, and 76 at nite, and it still peaks at about $260/mo during the summer. I'm on the balanced plan, so I pay about 200/mo year round - the actual charge in the winter is around $125 or so. $40/mo for gas.

Absolutely! I like it cold as a tomb when I sleep so that’s why I run it that low. Of course the Summer temps are finally gone so I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

 

[RHanna]

You must think of this in simple terms of how does your cell phone know to stop charging??

Same concept, theres a controller that detects it and stops the charge, and excess bleeds back to the grid which you are compensated for at a very very low rate OR its held in a “energy surplus” account for your usage later.

In other words, thats a non issue, no need to worry

My question was more about the scenario when the batteries can't take more, the power is out so the electric company doesn't want you feeding the line, and it's the middle of the day full sun beyond what you can consume.

Does the solar panel just stop creating electricity?

It would be a rare occurrence.

 

[Zorba]

Absolutely! I like it cold as a tomb when I sleep so that’s why I run it that low. Of course the Summer temps are finally gone so I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Wife and I get sick if we breathe cold air at nite. We always ran a heater at nite most of the year in Commiefornia. Here, I notice a difference between 75 and 76 at nite.

 

[CreepinDeth]

My question was more about the scenario when the batteries can't take more, the power is out so the electric company doesn't want you feeding the line, and it's the middle of the day full sun beyond what you can consume.

Does the solar panel just stop creating electricity?

It would be a rare occurrence.

I edited my post because I forgot to answer that
See above

Very good valid question. Theres thousands of people retired and well off that own “off the grid” homes in rural areas with solar and battery banks. They are not always present obviously, so the systems are not bein used & MUST be self sufficient. This is how they operate.

Many nowadays can be remotely monitored for if/when a system failure occurs and get someone there quicker then later