Is solar worth it?

Question

I got a quote from solar city to put solar on our personal residence. Our house is pretty large and our average electric bill is $275 a month.  If we got solar the total costs for the system would be $33,000.  But according to solar city that is all tax deductible meaning I would save $11,000 on my taxes. They offer a 30 year payoff program that basically means we pay $280 a month total (pay them and electric bill). The solar would save us $130 a month in electric.

On the surface it looks like a decent deal.

1. I pay a little more each month, but save $11,000 on 2015 taxes.

2. I am helping the environment and using less energy.

My questions are.

1. What happens if we sell the house? Does the pay off transfer or are we stuck with those payments for 30 years.

2.  They claim this loan des not show up on credit reprt as debt, but I doubt that.

Anyone have experience with solar or see anything I am missing?

Timothy Gleason · Answer

I don't want to be the "Wet blanket" on this party, but I disagree with going solar.

My background:  I work in facilities on large U.S. military bases.  We must meet US directives to reduce energy consumption & secure minimum percentage of our power use through renewables.  Solar is an oft-cited method we explore to meet these requirements.  The installs are usually met with great press & fan-fare, but the lifecycle costs of these systems usually FAR exceeds the initial estimates.

Solar is a huge headache.  
1.  The systems rarely perform as advertised.  (Lab conditions are used to quantify the output, real-world conditions rarely equate to lab conditions).  
2.  Maintenance is critical.  I'm glad you've got a maintenance contract during the lease period...but will that solar company be around to honor it for the next 30 years?
3.  Does your roof have 30 years of life left?  If not, you'll pay significantly more for removal & re-install of your roof.
4.  Are you in favor of penetrating your existing roof to accomodate the necessary mounting brackets?  
5.  Do you live in a hazardous weather area that may prematurely end the expected lifespan of your system?

These are just some thoughts.  I think that Solar is inevitable, but any industry that is ABSOLUTELY reliant on government incentives is not a viable commercial endeavor in the long time.  With technology improvements, I can see a day...we're just not there yet (in my eyes).

Whatever you choose, good luck

Account Closed · Answer

6,600 finished square feet........ wow, wow. My wife and our kid were living in a 880 SF house. then moved into the 2,200 SF house we currently live in, dont like it and want to go back to something smaller! lol. Do you have to put up maps with the " You Are HERE" spots on it?  :)

Jean Bolger · Answer

BTW my roof was not penetrated by the installation, but they did get up in the attic and add extra reinforcement to the rafters/bracing to bring it up to modern code for the added weight (house is 1958 vintage). There was no extra charge for that. I will say the whole install was done very quickly and efficiently on the part of Solarcity. Getting the regular electric company out to do the final install of the new meter so we could hook in to the grid and turn the system on took about three months though.

In reference to @Wilson Churchill 's point #2: I haven't followed this whole issue super closely, but I do know there's been a lot of resistance from the public utility here (Xcel energy) about net metering (that's what the "sellback" is usually called). Unfortunately, some utilities perceive net metering policies as lost revenue opportunities rather than as a way of managing peak usage and distribution. My deal allows me to have a net metering credit for the energy my system produces- in other words, I can get a credit to "use" some of the energy I generated in July (system pumps out more electricity than I can use) in January (when my system has less output than I use). But I can't "sell" it to the utility for a monetary gain, and I can't "bank" any energy credits for more than a year.

Tanya F. · Answer

That does sound like a good deal. What size system are they proposing for $33k?

Something else to consider.  Don't take this the wrong way, and don't mean to derail, but unless you have all electric appliances, electric water heater,  electric heating and you use the A/C a lot, there might be other ways you can save.   I could be off base, but an average of $275 seems like a lot to me, even for a huge house. Energy $ are well spent by also looking into getting your bill down by upgrading appliances, insulating, and conserving in general. People interested in installing solar are usually better than average at conservation measures, but take a look at conserving as well.  The best dollar savings will come from an efficient house with solar on the roof.

Mini-case study here:

I found in a table somewhere in a govt doc that national average energy use for SFH detached is 55,000 BTU per square ft. Converting, that's 16 kWh /SF if an all-electric house. For a 1000 SF house, that's 16 MWh per year, or $2000 per year average (at .13 per kWh), or $167 per month on average.  We live in a small house and it's mostly electric. Our average electric bill is $85 per month.  The biggest chunk of that comes from our electric water heater.

Wilson Churchill · Answer

It sounds very expensive. I can imagine that it might be worth it if you could:

1. construct the system yourself or otherwise save on materials (maybe get the price under 10k?), and

2. produce enough electricity to where you are PAID every month by the electric company for the power generated. This might be supplemented with a wind turbine.

Rusty Thompson · Answer

Personally I am going to wait until building codes change to require the installation of a certain sq.ft. of solar panels on every new construction. Which will drive the price down. it will also change the technology. Its never made sens to me to have fixed panels, mounted on a frame work, mounted to the roof. A house built with solar in mind would have a roof pitch optimized for solar & the panels would be used as the roof covering.

It's all inevitable unless a superior technology comes along.....

Jon Hopper · Answer

Do they have an outside company doing the financing? Maybe you could just confirm that there's no penalty to pay it off early if you sell that gigantic house. Assuming it works as advertised I would think that would help you when you go to sell it. I suppose it would hold it's value or even improve in value is energy prices rise. If they'll be servicing it for 30 years at that sales price will they give you in writing that it's transferable to the next owner?

I looked into solar as our house is fairly big but ultimately it doesn't make as much sense as energy costs are lower here than in most of the country. They're not a lot higher where you are so you may want to look into that.

Mark Ferguson · Answer

it is a brand new roof.

Tanya F. · Answer

Absolutely agree with point #3 above. Make sure your roof is in great or new shape.

Re:#4, there are several kinds of mounting brackets. Some require long bolts down to 4x4 framing members, others don't.

I disagree with point #1. What's your source for making this statement? Our system has exceeded calculated production expectations, each of the last three years.

Mark Ferguson · Answer

It is a 7.75 kw dc.  It takes a lot to offend me!  I know we can conserve more, but our house is 6600 finished square feet.

Is solar worth it?

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