Solar Panels

[stratus]

Yeah. It was literally 9 months of bad experiences (they trashed my yard too) then a year of silence and finally an "oh, we never fixed this? well, actually, it's your fault for not knowing any better, so there is nothing we can do". And i still find bits of glass and small screws all over every time we have a lot of wind.

 

[martinmeyer]

I plan to get something like solar shingles when my roof eventually needs to be re-done. I would never buy another Tesla product having owned one of their cars and lived through the horrendous customer experience for 5 years, so that means I've got to go with an option like GAF's Timberline Solar. It doesn't look as nice as Tesla's shingles, but a) I won't have to be a Tesla customer, and b) it'll probably actually get installed. I have very little faith in Tesla after being a car customer of theirs for a decade. I hope the look and efficiency further improves in the next ~10 years before my roof is ready for this.

 

[hydbob]

I plan to get something like solar shingles when my roof eventually needs to be re-done. I would never buy another Tesla product having owned one of their cars and lived through the horrendous customer experience for 5 years, so that means I've got to go with an option like GAF's Timberline Solar. It doesn't look as nice as Tesla's shingles, but a) I won't have to be a Tesla customer, and b) it'll probably actually get installed. I have very little faith in Tesla after being a car customer of theirs for a decade. I hope the look and efficiency further improves in the next ~10 years before my roof is ready for this.

Gosh it's so ugly worse than panels imo.

 

[martinmeyer]

Gosh it's so ugly worse than panels imo.

That's why I said I hope they start to look better ;-)

I watched a few videos about them, and some solar installers were commenting on difficulty of installing raised panels b/c of wind updraft and the need to get the lag bolts in exactly the right place, lest they miss the rafter they're trying to anchor into. My biggest concern is that the best sun position for me is on the front side of my house, so the panels/solar shingles have to be put there. I can't hide them on the rear or anything like that.

 

[Steveinarizona]

If I were 20 years younger, I would do it.

 

[LCIDdreams]

I think now it is like 3.4/watt

In NY with state and federal incentives it is about $1.15/w! (Not including battery backup)

 

[rbbarry]

In NY with state and federal incentives it is about $1.15/w! (Not including battery backup)

Yea, big incentives here in NYS.

 

[LCIDdreams]

Gosh it's so ugly worse than panels imo.

Yea I think contemporary (all black, no prominent grid) panels look a lot better than that. I didn’t look at the GAF specs but I also have a feeling that their product would be less efficient.

 

[rbbarry]

Yea I think contemporary (all black, no prominent grid) panels look a lot better than that. I didn’t look at the GAF specs but I also have a feeling that their product would be less efficient.

Not Zenith Red panels?

 

[LCIDdreams]

Not Zenith Red panels?

Maybe Lucid will branch out into solar. They are planning a Powerwall type product after all.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Yeah. It was literally 9 months of bad experiences (they trashed my yard too) then a year of silence and finally an "oh, we never fixed this? well, actually, it's your fault for not knowing any better, so there is nothing we can do". And i still find bits of glass and small screws all over every time we have a lot of wind.

Thank you for this testimony. I was considering Tesla shingles and PowerWall after we got AGT and now shopping for another entry level EV for next year. Now we have to weigh in for more options. Being new to renewable energy world, I was assuming prestigious name as Tesla was the only way to go wouldn’t go wrong.

 

[GEWC]

Thank you for this testimony. I was considering Tesla shingles and PowerWall after we got AGT and now shopping for another entry level EV for next year. Now we have to weigh in for more options. Being new to renewable energy world, I was assuming prestigious name as Tesla was the only way to go wouldn’t go wrong.

Our other house has panels installed by Sungevity (now SunRun). Panels were installed in a day and we've never had any problems with them in 10 years. The systems works. When there are invertor issues, they come out right away and just fix it. No fighting, no no shows, no stress. We were originally planning to add powerwalls there, but now we're thinking of putting in SunRun's batteries instead.

 

[LCIDdreams]

Energysage.com has reviews for solar manufacturers and installers and is a fairly useful resource in general. As per usual you need to take reviews on there with a grain of salt (people are something like 10x more likely to review if they have a negative experience vs a positive one) but at least it gives a starting point.

I am considering Project Solar. The other quotes I have are 60%-100% higher (v high demand now). Tesla was about the same but only offer string inverters now- I am really looking for micro inverters which Project Solar does.

 

[extesla]

I was just quoted about 30k, but with incentives, and rebates, it will end up costing me closer to 12k. It will take me about 7 years to recoup the costs after all rebates and tax incentives...

I paid the same and figured about the same payback.

 

[rbbarry]

I paid the same and figured about the same payback.

my accountant feels like it is not worth it since the payback after 10 years is minor and then how long do these panels last and what are the costs to maintain them.

 

[HC_79]

I'm waiting to see what can be done using the V2H before doing anything with solar. I have no issues dropping $5K etc. on a panel upgrade if I can use the car to power the house a little in summer etc. It's all still new so don't really know the limitations. As you point out @rbbarry. with a 10 year ROI how long are the panels supposed to last along with maintenance costs etc. is the investment to go all in actually worth it.

 

[rbbarry]

I'm waiting to see what can be done using the V2H before doing anything with solar. I have no issues dropping $5K etc. on a panel upgrade if I can use the car to power the house a little in summer etc. It's all still new so don't really know the limitations. As you point out @rbbarry. with a 10 year ROI how long are the panels supposed to last along with maintenance costs etc. is the investment to go all in actually worth it.

I have a whole house generator, so I am not too interested in V2H. I just don't like the idea of draining my car's battery to power my home.

The panels supposedly degrade 0.5% per year. Also, dust forms on them, they get dirty and produce less energy over time.

 

[OCDC]

The ROI in California seems to be much quicker since we have such high kW/h rates. It's too bad Edison/PG&E/SDG&E lobbied so well for the time-of-use plans instead of net metering. Mine were installed about a year before the change over, so I got grandfathered into net metering (sneaky one-time email saying I had to explicitly refuse the ToU plan, good thing I was paying attention). The panels paid for themselves in about 6 years. Funny thing is, SDG&E periodically sends me emails trying to convince me to move to a ToU plan, and they include silly statements like "you could save -$520/year if you switch!"... Ummm, no thanks...

 

[LCIDdreams]

my accountant feels like it is not worth it since the payback after 10 years is minor and then how long do these panels last and what are the costs to maintain them.

Are they allowing for cost escalation of electrical rates?

Warranties are typically 25yrs on panels and equipment but only 10 for storage batteries.

 

[Sandvinsd]

my accountant feels like it is not worth it since the payback after 10 years is minor and then how long do these panels last and what are the costs to maintain them.

Had the solar for 17 years. No maintenance costs. Did replace an inverter that wen bad, but that was my only expense since the install in 2004.