Anyone have Residential Solar Panels?

[jcardona1]

We installed an 11kw array on the barn roof, which covers 30-50% of our electricity needs depending on the time of year. The leasing option came to about $180 a month after state subsidy. That covers the panels, the installation, the inverters, new meter, everything.

Now, a lot of people will complain that the leasing option is total BS, its a bad idea, etc etc. the deal through this particular company is that you enter into a contract for 15 years at a set price (in this case, the $180 per month). At the end of 15 years, you can either return it back to the company, or extend the lease at the same price for an additional 5 years. At that point, you have the option of either returning the panels back to the company or buy them outright for fair market price. The idea is that in 20 years from now, solar panels manufactured today are going to basically be worth dirt, so the buy-out option should theoretically be super cheap.

Out of the box, we saw about a $15-20 savings on the bill, so off the bat (i.e. we pay $180/month to lease the panels and they create a net $200 worth of energy), so we're not really saving a huge amount right away. However, as things tend to, electricity costs (along with most other forms of conventional energy) will most likely increase, so the margin between the price of that same amount of energy will increase while the lease stays the same price.

You can see some pics of the installation and finished product here:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202133

good lord so these panels will end up costing you $43,200 (20yrs x $180/month)?!?! i didnt know they were that expensive. actually, theyll end up costing even more than that since you still dont own them at the end of 20yrs

 

[TheCanuck]

I have heard solar panels cost anywhere from 20-35,000 for a full set up. Drop the initial amount, and start saving....

You get write offs with them and much more benefits.

 

[sploke]

good lord so these panels will end up costing you $43,200 (20yrs x $180/month)?!?! i didnt know they were that expensive. actually, theyll end up costing even more than that since you still dont own them at the end of 20yrs

Thats about right. The state subsidy was actually ~40% of the entire cost, so the total cost of the system was closer to 80k. This is a fairly large array though, the power bill for the farm is usually on the order of 700-900/month. A normal sized house would probably not need an array that size.

And, you have to remember that without the panels, we would be paying for an extra $200/month of electricity, so the net effect is actually positive, and increasingly so as electricity prices increase (anyone here think electric power is going to get cheaper?)

 

[TheCanuck]

Thats about right. The state subsidy was actually ~40% of the entire cost, so the total cost of the system was closer to 80k. This is a fairly large array though, the power bill for the farm is usually on the order of 700-900/month. A normal sized house would probably not need an array that size.

And, you have to remember that without the panels, we would be paying for an extra $200/month of electricity, so the net effect is actually positive, and increasingly so as electricity prices increase (anyone here think electric power is going to get cheaper?)

This is true, but i think you could have gotten a better rate. But like you said your in the positive so why complain?

 

[sploke]

Better rate as far as... the amount the state subsidized, or the total cost of the system?

 

[jcardona1]

Thats about right. The state subsidy was actually ~40% of the entire cost, so the total cost of the system was closer to 80k. This is a fairly large array though, the power bill for the farm is usually on the order of 700-900/month. A normal sized house would probably not need an array that size.

And, you have to remember that without the panels, we would be paying for an extra $200/month of electricity, so the net effect is actually positive, and increasingly so as electricity prices increase (anyone here think electric power is going to get cheaper?)

yeah, i guess it all depends on how much electricty you use. your monthly electricty bill would have to be more than the cost to lease/finance the cost of the panels to even make sense. otherwise, you wont realize the benefits of the system until you pay it off, which could be anywhere from 10-20yrs.

for me, my electric bill is normally $140ish, peaking at about $200 in the summer when the AC is going. so i'm not sure if the cost-benefit would even make sense in a case like mine. but good job though!

 

[TheCanuck]

Better rate as far as... the amount the state subsidized, or the total cost of the system?

Better %tage on the covered electricity. Does that change your monthly rate? Wonder if now since your an existing customer you can get a better rate on covering more electricity to 100% coverage saving more.

 

[sploke]

The only way to cover more of our electricity usage would have been to put up more panels. That's certainly an option, but with the way the state subsidization program is currently set up, we maxed out on the size of the array they would help pay for. Anything additional would have come 100% out of pocket. If you look at the pic, we've obviously got room to add more, but the price of electricity would have to go up somewhat (or the state program would have to change to cover more) in order to make it economically feasible.

 

[sploke]

your monthly electricty bill would have to be more than the cost to lease/finance the cost of the panels to even make sense. otherwise, you wont realize the benefits of the system until you pay it off, which could be anywhere from 10-20yrs.

Not necessarily - you would only have to wait long enough for the price of electricity to increase enough that your bill would be more than the lease. This is effectively what you are betting on when you put up a PV array, that the price of electricity is going to stay the same/increase in the future (which would depend on whether you were breaking even at the time of installation or not).