Solar Question

[BradSholl]

Not exactly a Lucid question, but with the AGT in the garage and an R1S on order, I’m looking for ways to make energy usage greener and more affordable. The roofline of our house is rather complicated (French Provincial-ish) and doesn’t lend itself well to traditional solar panels. One contractor recently proposed GAF Timberline solar roofing. Integrated photovolt strips coordinated with their installed shingles. Reported 22.6% efficiency and the smaller size should allow more to be installed.

Has anyone had any experience with these?

 

[Negan1000]

Tesla makes solar roof tiles but they are expensive. Not sure I understand the issue with your French Provincial-ish. Sunpower makes some of the most efficient solar panels. We had our solar system for 12 yrss. Very little degradation in the solar panel performance. I would recommend you get a quote for solar panels for comparison. Also make sure your roof is in good shape before adding a solar system.

 

[Spin Doctor]

No experience with the solar roofing you mention, but might flexible thin film panels be an option? We have a bunch of them, made by Uni-Solar, and I'm very happy with them.

 

[BradSholl]

Tesla makes solar roof tiles but they are expensive. Not sure I understand the issue with your French Provincial-ish. Sunpower makes some of the most efficient solar panels. We had our solar system for 12 yrss. Very little degradation in the solar panel performance. I would recommend you get a quote for solar panels for comparison. Also make sure your roof is in good shape before adding a solar system.

Not considering Tesla. My son inquired for his house and was told he’d have to pay for them to come out and evaluate his house to even give him a quote. He politely declined.

My roofline has numerous smaller “peaks and troughs” and very little south-facing square footage. Standard solar panels are fairly large rectangles whereas the GAF PVs are slender 5 foot strips. I’m thinking they can fit more of them, secondary to their geometry. Sunpower’s panels are 22.8% efficient, I believe, so the ones I am looking at are supposedly only 0.2% less efficient. Just wondered if anyone had any real life experience. And I am getting a standard panel quote as well.

Not familiar with Uni-Solar but the GAFs are also flexible and nailable.

 

[HariK]

The best solar panels right now seem to be Panasonic paired with enphase micro inverters. Best if you have shingle roof with a lifetime over 25 years.

 

[Drendino]

Not considering Tesla. My son inquired for his house and was told he’d have to pay for them to come out and evaluate his house to even give him a quote. He politely declined.

My roofline has numerous smaller “peaks and troughs” and very little south-facing square footage. Standard solar panels are fairly large rectangles whereas the GAF PVs are slender 5 foot strips. I’m thinking they can fit more of them, secondary to their geometry. Sunpower’s panels are 22.8% efficient, I believe, so the ones I am looking at are supposedly only 0.2% less efficient. Just wondered if anyone had any real life experience. And I am getting a standard panel quote as well.

Not familiar with Uni-Solar but the GAFs are also flexible and nailable.

I heard so many horror stories about Tesla and I’m glad I ignored them. I ended up spending $25k less and by 3/2 I’m pulling almost 40kwh per day. I’m going to crush it in another month or two. They didn’t charge anything until after it was installed. I’ll have PTO in another week and then I’ll really be doing well.

 

[borski]

The best solar panels right now seem to be Panasonic paired with enphase micro inverters. Best if you have shingle roof with a lifetime over 25 years.

Sunpower still beats them, iirc, but is more expensive.

 

[HariK]

Sunpower still beats them, iirc, but is more expensive.

Sunpower has the most efficient panel but price per KWh based on 25yr life of panels is what matters. That said the solar generation depends on the availability of south facing roof. So, in some cases fewer high wattage high efficiency panels facing south can lead to lower price per KWh. If the roof space facing south is not a problem, most likely Panasonic will be the lowest price per KWh.

 

[HariK]

I heard so many horror stories about Tesla and I’m glad I ignored them. I ended up spending $25k less and by 3/2 I’m pulling almost 40kwh per day. I’m going to crush it in another month or two. They didn’t charge anything until after it was installed. I’ll have PTO in another week and then I’ll really be doing well. View attachment 10560

My cost per KWh for a system in 2009 was 12 cents and for a 2nd system in 2018 was 5 cents. Adding a 2nd system was ridiculously cheaper than the tesla power wall. The cost per KWh for the powerwall over the life of the system was not even in the ballpark of my first solar system. The economics could change with net metering 3 in CA though.

 

[blueice89]

Have thought about just buying plain Tesla powerwalls with no solar? I believe they still get a. Tax credit cause it’s green energy just battery. Idea is to pay of off peak pricing and use the batteries in peak. Can save a lot depending how much your peak power cost is.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Sunpower still beats them, iirc, but is more expensive.

I have the Sunpower panels and have had zero problems. They are mounted on my West facing roofline which isn't optimum but I have not paid any electrical bills since my installation in the summer of 2017 (almost six years) so my installation has already more than paid for itself based on my 2016 electric bill (not even taking into account a few PG&E rate increases since then). I actually have made money each year because the SVCE annual check has been more than double the fixed $10/month PG&E charge (regardless of our actual usage). I only wish I had put on even more panels because soon we will be charging two EV's which will increase our electrical usage.

 

[Drendino]

My cost per KWh for a system in 2009 was 12 cents and for a 2nd system in 2018 was 5 cents. Adding a 2nd system was ridiculously cheaper than the tesla power wall. The cost per KWh for the powerwall over the life of the system was not even in the ballpark of my first solar system. The economics could change with net metering 3 in CA though.

I paid $11k per Powerwall. They can be 2 and 3 times that cost going through a 3rd party.

 

[CapHillDC]

I think this is relevant to this discussion. One thing that helped us with the decision to go solar is the passive income we receive through the sale of SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates).
In SREC state markets, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires electricity suppliers to secure a portion of their electricity from solar generators. I'm not sure how many states participate in this program, but I know ‎that Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey participate as does DC. For every 1 MWh of solar electricity generated, a broker sells those credits for customers at market rates. DC has the highest (I think) value of SRECs in the country. We have sold 15 MWh since we installed our system in June of 2021. As of the end of last month, we have received about $5,100. SRECs sales have nothing to do with the monthly savings on utility bills from solar power generated. The Federal tax credit of 26% at the time was also a huge incentive to go solar.
Unfortunately, we only have street parking, so we can't have a home charger as I mentioned in a different post.

 

[HariK]

I have the Sunpower panels and have had zero problems. They are mounted on my West facing roofline which isn't optimum but I have not paid any electrical bills since my installation in the summer of 2017 (almost six years) so my installation has already more than paid for itself based on my 2016 electric bill (not even taking into account a few PG&E rate increases since then). I actually have made money each year because the SVCE annual check has been more than double the fixed $10/month PG&E charge (regardless of our actual usage). I only wish I had put on even more panels because soon we will be charging two EV's which will increase our electrical usage.

My 2009 BP panels are still working as good as they did back then. So, all of them are reliable. BTW. you can add capacity without informing PGE. You add a parallel system to your existing system. You can claim 30% tax credit.

Best Solar Panel Guide: SunPower vs. Panasonic – NuWatt Energy

This article provides information about 'Sunpower SPR400' vs 'REC400 Alpha Pure' helping you decide which solar panel is best for your home.

nuwattenergy.com

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Yeah but for me the payback doesn't make sense. Once we have to start charging at home I may revisit but most likely we will just live with having some future electric bills.

 

[HariK]

Have thought about just buying plain Tesla powerwalls with no solar? I believe they still get a. Tax credit cause it’s green energy just battery. Idea is to pay of off peak pricing and use the batteries in peak. Can save a lot depending how much your peak power cost is.

Unless the battery prices fall a lot, you are better off paying PGE here in Northern CA for excess use once you max out on Solar on your roof. I came to the conclusion that paying for a disconnect and installation using Lucid and Fisker Ocean 100kWh battery in case of emergency is the best for me. Ideally we need a CCS to CCS connector from the EV to a box which outputs 240V 2 phase. That box must have the power company connection and then it connects to our home distribution panel. By default, it is connected to the grid. When the box senses no power from the grid and senses a CCS 240V input, it should switch. Again, when it senses the power coming from the grid, it should switch to that power. Then if we have 2 cars V2H capable, we can connect any one of them, drive the other one to a DCFC and so on.

 

[Drendino]

Unless the battery prices fall a lot, you are better off paying PGE here in Northern CA for excess use once you max out on Solar on your roof. I came to the conclusion that paying for a disconnect and installation using Lucid and Fisker Ocean 100kWh battery in case of emergency is the best for me. Ideally we need a CCS to CCS connector from the EV to a box which outputs 240V 2 phase. That box must have the power company connection and then it connects to our home distribution panel. By default, it is connected to the grid. When the box senses no power from the grid and senses a CCS 240V input, it should switch. Again, when it senses the power coming from the grid, it should switch to that power. Then if we have 2 cars V2H capable, we can connect any one of them, drive the other one to a DCFC and so on.

Nem 3, which will be here by April 14th in PGE areas makes solar panels 75% less affordable unless they are coupled with batteries. There is no point in getting solar without batteries. I agree with you that battery price is key. I know people here love hate Tesla, but they are still the best option if going through Tesla directly. Enphase are also good, but too expensive. Nobody who doesn’t already have PTO applied for is going to make it into NEM 3.

 

[Bobby]

Not exactly a Lucid question, but with the AGT in the garage and an R1S on order, I’m looking for ways to make energy usage greener and more affordable. The roofline of our house is rather complicated (French Provincial-ish) and doesn’t lend itself well to traditional solar panels. One contractor recently proposed GAF Timberline solar roofing. Integrated photovolt strips coordinated with their installed shingles. Reported 22.6% efficiency and the smaller size should allow more to be installed.

Has anyone had any experience with these?

Do you have a space for a ground based system without eating into your usable outdoor area? My roof also has very many cuts and dormers… A ground based system worked out best. They can put the system all the way to the property line because setbacks do not apply to solar.

 

[Steveinarizona]

Do you have a space for a ground based system without eating into your usable outdoor area? My roof also has very many cuts and dormers… A ground based system worked out best. They can put the system all the way to the property line because setbacks do not apply to solar.

There was an episode of This Old House where a home owner did just that. One variant was a building built on the empty spot with a southern exposure; the other was an interesting new product which looked like a flower that opened up to spread out the solar panels.

 

[Negan1000]

Nem 3, which will be here by April 14th in PGE areas makes solar panels 75% less affordable unless they are coupled with batteries. There is no point in getting solar without batteries. I agree with you that battery price is key. I know people here love hate Tesla, but they are still the best option if going through Tesla directly. Enphase are also good, but too expensive. Nobody who doesn’t already have PTO applied for is going to make it into NEM 3.

With NEM3 you won't get paid much for your excess generation.. Even with NEM 2.0 you did not get paid for excess at the same rate that you are charged for consumption. You need to size your new solar generation to be about what you expect to consume. Solar is still worth it as long are you don't buy a bigger system than you need. It works without the battery.When bidirectional charging is available, it will support any excess/surplus solar generation.