Got my proposal yesterday for a 4.5KW residential solar system...

[NeoGreen]

...and after state and federal incentives & tax breaks, the net cost to me ~$6,500 (installed).
Reported total cost before any incentives: $17,250 (installed).

14-ft by 20-ft stand-alone array "out in the back 40".

I have a few questions (mostly about future additions) that I sent to the Solar Rep I met, but in general I am inclined to move forward with the project.

Any comments, suggestions, insights or helpful hints?

[PoliticAverse]

1. What's your typical monthly energy consumption (in kWh)?

How does it vary between summer and winter?

What do you pay per kWh? Will your electric company be paying you for any excess
electricity you send to the grid (and if so at what rate)?

[NeoGreen]

2. The 4.5KW system is sized to match my annual consumption...

...and I pay ~$0.14 per KWH delivered.

My March to April 2016 Bill (which is typical):

Delivery Costs
Basic Service (not including usage) $17.00
Delivery 0.04839 x 469 kWh $22.70
Incr State Assessment 0.00078 x 469 kWh $0.37
SBC 0.00657143 x 469 kWh $3.07
Legacy Transition Chrg 0.002241 x 469 kWh $1.05
RDM -0.00023 x 469 kWh -$0.11
Transmission Rev Adj -0.00343 x 469 kWh -$1.61
Tariff Surcharge 2.04082 % $0.87

Total Delivery Services $ 43.34

Supply Services
Electricity Supply 0.02347 x 469 kWh $11.01
Merchant Function 0.00186006 x 469 kWh $0.88
ESRM 0.018135 x 469 kWh $8.51

Total Supply Services $ 20.40

As I understand it, on an annual basis on my "anniversary month", they will send me a check for the net amount produced, but I am not sure if that is my loaded (with delivery costs).

My understanding is that the $ payback is supposed to match my annual cost for electric.

But, good question, time to send another email to the Solar rep.

Thanks for the question!

NG

[Electric Monk]

3. What's your plan for batteries?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3117621/Move-Tesla-Mercedes-Benz-takes-Powerwall-home-battery-own.html

[NeoGreen]

5. Already asked...

...I have to wait 3-years as condition(s) for the State/Agency incentives.

After that I can go off-grid if I so choose.

However, if I expand my capacity then I might want to stay connected as long as my State's net-metering rules are in effect.

After that, I charge batteries with my system and deliver them to stranded drivers (at a cost)

[Duppers]

4. Excellent.

Hope to do this in our new home.

[Zorro]

6. Go for it!

Sounds like a heck of a deal to me!

Keep in mind you'll need to wash/scrub the panels about once a year to get all the dirt, dung, and crud off them.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Watch out for the contract.

I don't know what state you are in, but a friend is in Nevada, and they have changed the rules significantly to really screw people with solar panels. Originally, the utility was paying him for excess electricity in credits to his bill. Now, because they want to take advantage of the sustainable energy credits, they charge him for the electricity at their rate, and they then pay him at a much lower rate than they charge him. There are a lot of complaints online about the ways that the electric companies are treating solar producers. Just be careful.

[mackdaddy]

8. It might be worth getting a competitive quote from a local independent installer.

Many of the big outfits have some pretty complicated contract terms. Who gets the Solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) that are produced by the operation of the system. Who is responsible for reading the production meter and reporting it? What happens to the contract when you sell your home? Who actually owns the equipment : is it leased or purchased outright, and who pays for and performs any maintenance? If the equipment is leased, what happens to it at the end of the lease? What happens if the utility or state changes the rules or the value of the SRECs? How does this affect property taxes in you locality? What about homeowners insurance coverage?
There is quite a bit of replacing components (inverters) going from grid tie only to battery or hybrid grid tie/battery if you do decide to do this in the future. If you might want to do this then a central inverter grid tie system is easier to convert that a distributed micro inverter type setup.

The complete package pricing seems generally in line with what I am reading about. The hardware cost is currently around $2/watt ballpark and the rest is installation & registration costs. This sounds like a very straightforward package and installation. Depending on where you are located the system should actually generate about 5,300 kilowatt-hours a year. This also produces 5.3 SRECs per year. SRECS in Ohio used to be worth over $300 each. With Kasich and the Repubs they are now worth $16 each. You may need your own separate meter to keep track of the SREC production.

If you go the Solar industries installers certification website you can also find NABCEP certified installers for the whole country listed. This is a good way to find good local installers. http://www.nabcep.org/certified-installer-locator

Sorry, I know this is a bit overkill from your original question, but these are some of the important details you or anyone buying or leasing one of these packages need to be aware of. In general I lean toward purchasing and owning the system, but the higher up-front costs do put many out of the market which is where the lease does have its place.

[NNadir]

10. Thank you for this honest post. Question...

...how long did your inverters last?

How man replacements were required?

What became of the failed inverters?

[mackdaddy]

11. My inverters are going on their fourth year. No maintainance required.

I did wash away some wasps nests.

I have "name brand" Fronius inverters that have a 10 year warranty. The PV panels themselves should last at least a couple of decades. The average quality inverter has a service life of 10 to 15 years, much like most quality "industrial" electronics. An inverter replacement is often not thought of in home systems. They can cost 10% of the project to replace.

Obsolete or failed inverters should be recycled just like any other electronic devices. The inverters have nearly the same exact components as an audio power amplifier, TV, or computer or computer UPS. Transformers, circuit boards, IC's, and Aluminum heat sinks.

I have a fairly large system for an individual home, 10kw dc rating. I make about 12 thousand KW-Hrs per year, actual measured AC energy output. I still use 14 thousand KW-Hrs per year since I have an all electric home with electric heatpump. I am an engineer and taught solar, so I did my own design and installation for under $1.50/watt and did get a "subsidy" on my federal taxes. (which was about what a corporation would get for any equipment investment.) It will pay for itself about 3 to 4 times over, during its expected life of 20 plus years vs paying retail electricity rates to the power company.

Overall it is much less maintenance than any other of my home systems like HVAC, plumbing, water heater, roofing, or other electrical have been. And I have in 3 years and 2 months made the same amount of energy as would have required burning 41 thousand pounds of coal at the AEP plant.

[roody]

9. I've had a net meter system for 15 years.

Don't know about the money, but I still barely get an electric bill. 2.66 was the last one, but I live very simply.

[NNadir]

12. It is terrible that we are taking oney out of schools and social programs to subsidize this...

...stuff.

It is, I think, given the awful environmental cost of electronic waste, a crime against the future.

We ought to subsidize clean energy, and the biggest lie in modern history is that solar energy is clean and sustainable.

It isn't, and it never will be. After a trillion dollars was "invested" in this stuff in the last ten years, much of it out of public funds that would be better spent elsewhere, the rate of accumulation of dangerous fossil fuel waste in the planetary atmosphere is the highest ever observed.

Solar energy didn't work; it isn't working; and it won't work.

In twenty or thirty years after your solar stuff has transformed into landfill, future generations will pay the real cost of your subsidy, not that we aren't paying right now.

[appleannie1943]

13. That is cheaper than the estimate we just got on a propane furnace.

We have electric, hot water now but it keeps blowing out the mother board at $600 a pop.