Mathme
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Matt
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2022
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 1,378
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- 1,815
- Location
- Los Altos, CA
- Vehicles
- R1T: El Cap, OC, 20AT, Off road package
- Occupation
- High Tech
Here in CA, where electrical power runs upwards of $.40 per kWh, it makes sense to go solar. We have two homes and have added solar to both this year. Make sure to look around and see what types of financing are available in your area. Here's what you basic systems are:
Financing: 25 years, 0% interest 0% down, 25 year warranty on all components. Free money, so why not? There is a 26% rebate through the federal govt (at tax time) for installing solar. I believe it drops to 23% in 2023. Note that the finance companies write the loans so that there's a balloon payment on month 18 -- if you don't apply your federal rebate toward your loan. if you apply the rebate, then your payments will be steady over the 25 year term. There is no early payment penalty and if you sell your house, you then pay off that system at that time.
Costs: Our total monthly electric bill on the main house has dropped to about $30-40/month (this includes natural gas). All electric companies do a "true-up bill" on you anniversary of the system going live (this means the electric company either cuts you a check, or you write a check for the difference). We haven't done a full year yet, so we will be curious to see how it works
System: We went with Enphase systems in both houses. Most people in the ins try know "Tesla Powerwall" but those systems are typically a miss-mash of components and operating systems. Enphase (based in CA) designs all of their own components.
Battery Backup: on our main house, we use about 50kWh per day (have a swim spa) and it'd take about 5 backup batteries to power the entire house. The alternative was to buy 10 kWh, and we run both refrigerators, and several outlets in the kitchen. The general thought is to keep the fridges running, and then have some other outlets available for electricity. With rolling blackouts out her, we keep our battery as a backup so it's fully charged. If the power goes out, we become our own power grid. If it's daytime, then we have enough solar output to run all the outlets off the solar panels. The battery is really designed to carry our electrical needs through the night until we can generate enough power to recharge the battery again.
That's just what we've learned.
- Main Home: 34 panels + 10 kWh battery backup. Total price was about $60k. Price per month: $155. Electrical bill/month before electric: ~$400. Throughout the summer, the only days we draw more power from the grid than we produce are the days we charge the Tesla (and that's only by a few kWh).
- Vacation house: 14 panels. Total price was about $25k. Price per month: $85. Electric Bill per month before: ~$80. Adding a battery backup would have been about $15k more. We didn't do a battery here as we really aren't up there that often when the power goes out.
Financing: 25 years, 0% interest 0% down, 25 year warranty on all components. Free money, so why not? There is a 26% rebate through the federal govt (at tax time) for installing solar. I believe it drops to 23% in 2023. Note that the finance companies write the loans so that there's a balloon payment on month 18 -- if you don't apply your federal rebate toward your loan. if you apply the rebate, then your payments will be steady over the 25 year term. There is no early payment penalty and if you sell your house, you then pay off that system at that time.
Costs: Our total monthly electric bill on the main house has dropped to about $30-40/month (this includes natural gas). All electric companies do a "true-up bill" on you anniversary of the system going live (this means the electric company either cuts you a check, or you write a check for the difference). We haven't done a full year yet, so we will be curious to see how it works
System: We went with Enphase systems in both houses. Most people in the ins try know "Tesla Powerwall" but those systems are typically a miss-mash of components and operating systems. Enphase (based in CA) designs all of their own components.
Battery Backup: on our main house, we use about 50kWh per day (have a swim spa) and it'd take about 5 backup batteries to power the entire house. The alternative was to buy 10 kWh, and we run both refrigerators, and several outlets in the kitchen. The general thought is to keep the fridges running, and then have some other outlets available for electricity. With rolling blackouts out her, we keep our battery as a backup so it's fully charged. If the power goes out, we become our own power grid. If it's daytime, then we have enough solar output to run all the outlets off the solar panels. The battery is really designed to carry our electrical needs through the night until we can generate enough power to recharge the battery again.
That's just what we've learned.
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