Adding Solar pros and cons so far

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Adding Solar pros and cons so far

Cameron Johansson
Real Estate Agent · St. Petersburg/Tampa · Member since 2021 · 57 posts · 21 votes

Hey everyone!!

I am adding solar to my home for a few reasons. 

1. To get away from the corrupt company called FPL who now runs the areas power.

2. To add value to my home 

3. To prevent lose of power if a hurricane or anything else knocks out the grid

4. Possibly make some money if they buy it back. 

Pros

- Have added value to my property and I hope to transfer most if not all of the loan to whoever buys it

- I know have a battery run my house with if power goes out

- I will not have to pay the ever increasing price for power which i love!

- No longer constantly turning power off behind me when other leave it on

- Getting my power from a cleaner source

Cons

- FPL has done everything they can to delay the process

- For the time I have some new debt

Tips for those going solar or thinking about it

verify the upgrades, techs had some issues the inspector told them to finish before passing and due to myself asking him to go after everything I know have a very safe system

techs did not know about some local codes due to them being out of county contractors so that had some complications 

call power company to verify process, there was miscommunication and the request for inspection which is needed to turn my power back on was not submitted. If I did not call I would have gone a lot longer without power

These are my reason for going solar has anyone ever had issues with their solar?

If interested in doing your own research below is a link for who I used and an educational video link as well. Hope this helps someone!!!

https://powur.com/whysolar?ref...

Education 

https://powur.com/robert.morse...

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Bruce WoodruffPro Member
Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y

Solar is great...if 1) the $$ works out for you and 2) if your house has ample sunlight on a year-round basis, and 3) if you do a battery back-up! I did a self install on one of my vacation homes and it is so nice to get 'free' power from the sun. Well it is free once you pay off the install costs :-)

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  • Josh Von Hoene
    Contractor · Denver, CO · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    This is great Cameron! I am a residential solar panel consultant, and it is fantastic to hear all of the praise for this straight from the horses mouth. I am based out of Colorado, but do business in a number of states. It is mind blowing to me to hear people blatently spread misinformation about solar. If you don't mind me asking, here are you located, and which company did you use? I'm also curious how they explained the tax incentives.

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  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
    4y

    Solar is great...if 1) the $$ works out for you and 2) if your house has ample sunlight on a year-round basis, and 3) if you do a battery back-up! I did a self install on one of my vacation homes and it is so nice to get 'free' power from the sun. Well it is free once you pay off the install costs :-)

    1Reply
  • David Van Singel
    Real Estate Agent · Orlando, FL · Member since 2020 · 39 posts · 20 votes
    4y

    This could be just a Florida thing however, my office is rather pessimistic about solar. Not in the idea of it, the application. Here are some of the rough reasons I remember why it isn't as well received in practice:

    1. Utilities: Is there a way for the system to not feed into the grid if a line is down or power is out? This is for the safety for the linemen.

    2. Insurance: It, in theory, weakens the integrity of the roof because there is something puncturing the roof. This makes it so that it lowers the lifespan an insurance company can deny insuring the roof. The numbers vary based upon the material used on the roof. This means that it's ok if you plan on staying long-term but when it comes time to sell, you may need to replace your roof in order for it to be insured for the new buyer.

    3. Banks: Many people who get solar panels will lease them. This creates a lien on the home. As this is separate from your mortgage, if you were to get foreclosed on, the bank will get first dibs. If you then sell, the mortgage is paid off but the solar lien may still remain. Now the new financing bank doesn't want to play second fiddle when it comes to getting their money back. This means that if you lease your panels, and you try to sell, it may be very difficult to sell. 

    Don't get me wrong, I'm very hopeful for solar but these are the biggest reasons I am hearing preventing of a broader adoption of solar in the marketplace.

    1Reply
  • Chris Martin
    Investor · Willow Spring, NC · Member since 2009 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    3y

    My opinion is 99% of the time a ground mount system beats a roof-top system. The only time it doesn't is if you just don't have room, like in the case of a small yard with lots of trees. There are lots of variables, but the good news is that most jurisdictions have heard of solar PV now. That was certainly not the case 5+ years ago. Yes, lots of places put major restrictions on solar, but that is also the case in general for much of real estate... like STR bans and restrictive zoning laws.

    UL 1741 addresses the on-grid safety issue if the power grid goes down. Independent power producers (including small solar farms) do not back feed if the power provider (grid) is down. All on-grid inverters have this 'feature'. Off-grid and hybrid, though, you can still charge local batteries and self-consume, so there is certainly value in battery backup. 

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Chris Martin:

    My opinion is 99% of the time a ground mount system beats a roof-top system. The only time it doesn't is if you just don't have room, like in the case of a small yard with lots of trees. There are lots of variables, but the good news is that most jurisdictions have heard of solar PV now. That was certainly not the case 5+ years ago. Yes, lots of places put major restrictions on solar, but that is also the case in general for much of real estate... like STR bans and restrictive zoning laws.

    UL 1741 addresses the on-grid safety issue if the power grid goes down. Independent power producers (including small solar farms) do not back feed if the power provider (grid) is down. All on-grid inverters have this 'feature'. Off-grid and hybrid, though, you can still charge local batteries and self-consume, so there is certainly value in battery backup. 


    this works in parts of the country with very large lots.. so much of the west lots are 3K sq ft to max 7k sq ft in the new subdivisions and then you have HOA issues etc.. I like the concept of the Tesla solar roofing with their battery back up.. but its not cheap I could see putting it on 1.5 m mil plus homes but your average 250k mid America home not sure that pencils in any fashion.. but that would be what If cost was in line .. certainly like the picture you posted though that is much better than roof mounted.

    For hot water I like what they do in the Mediterranean cities virtually everyone has a black water tank on the roof that water gets hot and stays hot. 

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  • Tom Fidrych
    Member since 2020 · 241 posts · 179 votes
    3y
    Cameron. You will only be able to use the solar power during an outage if you have a back up battery. In several years time, most electric cars will act as back up batteries and be able to back feed into your home to provide power during an outage.
    David. As Chris stated, the UL 1741rating of a system prevents the solar from back feeding during an outage. This has been code for 30 plus years so it's interesting that it's still a concern. Likewise, generator back up systems have a transfer switch that prevents back feeding.
    In the past, a system would cost $10 or more per watt of face plate production capacity. So a 5,000 watt system would cost $50,000. Due to the high price, leases became common but the contract's fine print would kill real estate deals and cause a lot of pain for the lessee upon sale of home. Now days, the system cost is closer to $3 per watt so a 5,000 watt system is $15,000 minus a 30% federal tax credit. Most people buy the system outright these days and is the recommended option.
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