Solar Panels--whats your story

I've evaluated it several times but each time I turned it down.  I have come to the realization that the companies selling them are fluffing their margins too much and killing my ROI.  Each time I did the evaluation, I found several things which painted the picture much differently.

1.  I found that the warranty expired before I hit my ROI.  So what are the maintenance and repair costs when things stop working?  
2.  Their ROI numbers wanted to factor in projected increases in the value of my home.  Sorry but that doesn't help me because I don't intend on selling it.  Also, if you are telling me my home will be worth more, why are you not factoring in projected increases in property taxes?
3.  No NPV or IRR numbers?  It became apparent that a salesman, not a business person, wrote up their version of the ROI numbers.

Unfortunately, I found that putting my money elsewhere was more effective at this point.  I would love to have them but the benefit isn't there yet.

I'm not quite as concerned with ROI as Pector is (simply emitting less pollution is part of my calculation of value) but even still, I haven't been able to justify it either.  Mainly because I just don't use enough electricity. 

There is a company that supposedly is coming out with a plug-in system this year though that I'm very interested in seeing how it will work.  It's smaller than the systems that are available today so it'll just take a piece out of your energy use, it can't power your entire house.  But it's less expensive, and since you can just plug it into your wall outlet it doesn't have the same installation costs a bigger system would have.

Simple switch to LED lighting is a much bigger bang for your buck IMHO.   The ROI occurs in pretty short order compared to full solar instalation.

The huge bang for your buck would be to make sure your home is properly insulated and windows and doors aren't leaky.  If you're interested there's a website called hohm.com which allows you to enter info about your house & break down how you use your energy.  It will also provide ideas for ways to make it more energy efficient and estimates of how much money you could save.

Edited by drewb8 2011-03-01 3:48 PM

We're thinking about it, but are working on the low-hanging fruit now: new windows, cleaner living, high efficiency appliances, etc. We still use a fair amount of electricity. If it's not the TV, it's the computers or three. And on hot days, we run the A/C.

We haven't looked into the exact details as of yet. It's on our lists of things to begin working on this year. Several people we know already have panels, and they get enough sunlight over the year to generate more electricity than they use. I don't know what the cost of their panels were, so I can't say whether the ROI would outpace the warranty, or vice versa.

You certainly bring up some good points that I'll add to my list of things to research.

Do yourself a favor and invite a qualified and trained energy auditor in your home. RESNET or BPI certified inspectors can show you exactly where energy is being lost in your home and what the best way to fix these things. They also have software which will show you which improvement would be the most bang for your buck. Here is a tip, insulating and air sealing will get you much farther in energy savings than anything else you could do. Never replace windows for energy efficiency, the ROI on those is incredible!



Edited by Bradford 2011-03-01 9:37 PM

I have been interested in this for a little while now. How much should this audit cost? I know I have some issues, our master bedroom is usually quite a bit different temperature than other parts of the house.

So anybody actually get the panels? Can you comment on the sales process you went through with the company.

Unfortunatly the most effective things, which are really, really easy in a greenfield project are hard to do in an existing house: passive solar and superinsulation/heat sink walls depending on your location.

Most people won't add sun shading devices to their houses, even though they are some of the most effective devices to keep energy use down.

Solar water heating can be very cost effective as well, but if your spending $7500+ to replace a recent hot water heater ($520/yr costs), it'll still take 14+ years to break even.

Exactly!  I find it fun to look for improvements around the house.  Like someone else mentioned, I found a lot of low hanging fruit and quick wins that made more sense than the solar panels.  I wanted to go solar but forced myself to stay disciplined and logical. 

I am curious about some clarification on the window replacement.  You mention to never replace them but say the ROI is incredible? 

We did the windows more because the old ones had failed, and we got in on the federal tax credit program. I don't imagine it will help us with our electric bill, but we can keep the thermostat a bit lower now and still stay warm.

We will certainly get an inspector out to take a look around.

Sorry Sax!

Here is a place that I looked at:  http://www.astrumsolar.com/home_pa

We have a neighbor who put them on their house.  I will ask for information on what their results have been. 

We replaced our old solar panels in 2009 in our condominium complex partly because of age, and partly because they should have been replaced when the roof was replaced several years ago.  Since they weren't replaced, the roofers were unable to properly seal properly around the old rotten mounts (yes, wooden mounts!)...anyway, it was a nightmare that was best dealt with by replacing the old panels and re-doing the section of the roof underneath the panels.  The new panels replaced our 20+ year old panels (23 years, if I remember correctly), which are used exclusively to heat the swimming pool.  We used a local solar panel sales and installation firm.  We were not presented with a sales pitch at our HOA meeting because we already had panels that simply needed to be replaced.   However, the owner of the company presented comparisons between the old and new solar panel materials.  

Someone mentioned maint & repairs.  In the 3+ years I've been on my HOA, we've never called a repairman for solar panels, nor did I see any evidence the panels required repair when I read the old HOA minutes prior to buying 4 years ago.  Unfortunately, our panels are mounted on top of a 3 story low rise, so we had to rent a huge crane to hoist the panels to the roof & remove the old ones, which accounted for a significant chunck of the cost of replacement.  Given the existing cost of our electricity it's probably for the best we have panels to heat the pool.  The new panels are smaller & a lot lighter, which is good for our existing roof which no longer leaks.   If I am remembering correctly the job ran somewhere around $11k.

Edit:  And the roof repair was dealt with by a roofer.  We learned to never call a roofer to handle solar panel mount issues. 

Edited by betyoursilver 2011-03-02 4:43 PM

Sorry about the hijack

I meant to say that the ROI on windows is usually in the 20-30 year range. So, I usually do not recommend replacing a window unless it is broken or not functioning as intended.

I charge $300 for a comprehensive energy audit here in Virginia and that seems to be the market rate. Your mileage may vary, but just make sure the inspector is either BPI or RESNET certified, anybody else is just looking around. You will be shocked and amazed when the inspector turns on the blower door and depressurizes the home.

I need a large panel that shows how much we are spending per minute on electricity. I shiver at what my wife does when I'm not home for 3 days. When I come home near bed time, she and my daughter will be watching TV in the master bedroom room. Upstairs. The lights will be on downstairs in the play room, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, and the foyer. Upstairs will have the upstairs hallway, the master bath, and she will have the overhead and nightstand light on. At least my daughter's room will be off because I have her trainer to turn off the lights when she leaves. I just need to train her to follow my wife around and turn out lights.

My dad is an electrician. He's not overly concerned about the environment, but he's a cheap SOB. He has evaluated solar panels, but still hasn't gotten to the point where the numbers make sense to install them. That's including doing the work himself and buying the panels from a friend at a discount.

Sounds interesting, hehe, do you really think you may be leaking energy somewhere? OR maybe the energy company is just charging you the miniumum or average rate per month. Anyhow, yes solar power can be a great ROI, as long as you stick with it, and it usually takes about 3 years to start making money back from your investment. Check out the governmane rebates for you area also.

My solar panel set up is for emergency situations only.  I have an 80 watt system that I have put together piece by piece.    I live just outside  a very small town and until recently power outages in the winter were way too common.   I have a 900 amp hour battery setup.  This set up  will allow me to run for three days or so a small tv, cell  phones,  laptops and a small  dorm style refrigerator.  

All the essentials, when one comes down to it...

Edited by MadMathemagician 2011-03-03 7:15 AM

You should just hook a generator up to your trainer, kill two birds with one stone.

The ROI is highly dependent on the cost of electricity in your region.

For instance where I live, Austin, electricity is cheap.

The electrical utility company does offer rebates.  That is something to check into in your region.  The utility probably also has a list of solar panel contractors.

The next "big thing" here is wind generation.  I've seen residential sized turbines.  I don't know how that will work with HOAs though.

A local college (Texas State) was supposedly the first to have their treadmills set up to generate energy.