View Full Version : Solar panels for your house
Major Tom
10-08-2022, 06:07
Our neighbor had a State solar 'expert' tell him all about how the State and Federal government would help them financially to put solar panels on his roof. Neighbor swallowed his advice hook, line and sinker! In the end it cost him $35,000 for the complete install. His roof had to be reinforced (not included in the 'deal' to support the panels (his entire roof is covered in solar panels). A electrician had to be hired to do the electrical work (also not included in the 'deal'. His previous electric bill was $240 p/month. Now, it is $220 p/month! Grand total savings of $20 p/mo. Plus monthly payments for the solar panel install of $786 p/mo. All those solar panels were made in China BTW! Now that's a good deal??
Retrofitting is always more expensive than building with desired elements included in the initial design. Sincerely. bruce.
"But he's saving $20 a month" is all you would hear if this story was publicized.
There are a lot of scam artists in the solar roof business. One thing they don't tell you that if you have a house in which the panels can't be installed facing north/south they aren't nearly as efficient. Then of course, as the op says, there are all the unexpected costs of installation. We have some friends who have panels on their roof and are actually happy with the savings result but would be the first to tell you that when it comes to this particular home improvement believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. In fact when our friends are asked how they like their "free" solar panels their answer is they're satisfied with them but there is nothing "free" about them.
In a lot of cases a solar array in a back yard can make more sense than on your roof, everything figured in.
I had a solar panel salesman come to my door. He gave his talk and I repied; I think they're ugly and I'm old and I don't care about saving money.
One of my thoughts are: what do you do about roof repair after the panels are installed? I'm talking about normal wear and tear years afterward. Shingles still would have to be replaced and metal roofs often leak requiring the need to be replaced along with the wood underneath.
More added expenses down the road and it would be difficult to find someone to do an un-install then a re-install after repairs. You would also have to switch over to an alternate power source while the repair work was going on.
Like many of you here, I'm getting on in age to where I don't need this kind of "what if's" going on.
Living in hurricane country (like me) would make the above scenario more apt to occur. Another "what if" would be hail stone damage.
In the near future I could see buying a small solar panel placed out of the way someplace in the yard to charge or partially charge an EV.
Maybe 20 years from now most of the "bugs" will be worked out and such panels will become popular. If I'm still alive then I will care even less about them.
I have a solar system,
it is a small bit, about half the size of a sheet of paper, and it does a great job keeping the battery charged in my outside security camera,
otherwise, I pass,
if I was building a new home, I might consider,
Johnny P
10-08-2022, 08:08
Local real estate agent said roof mounted solar panels were the kiss of death in selling a home.
Re: Kiss of death. Why? Sincerely. bruce.
Johnny P
10-08-2022, 10:52
Re: Kiss of death. Why? Sincerely. bruce.
Simply, according to the real estate agent who makes her living selling houses, no one wants the roof mounted solar panels on their new home. I guess the original owner fell for the solar panel salesman's spiel, but no one has sold the second owner on why they are great.
barretcreek
10-08-2022, 01:56
a small solar panel placed out of the way someplace in the yard to charge or partially charge an EV.
Do the math on that.
looked at some online ads and installer information. they had a payment plan of 25-30 years, my choice. started looking into the panels themselves and they had a life expectancy of UP TO 25 years which means failure probably around 20-22 years...
yeah no thanks
Actually, I'm kind of intrigued with solar panels. I see all these van travelers who have, either panels on top of the truck or portable to set up in camp. They charge up the battery pack and run LED lights (which seem to work well with low drain). Charge up the phone and the camera. They can keep a little ice chest cold. That's a blessing. I hate buying ice. There's a guy who with his very educated wife have a huge solar panel array on top of a shipping container. Using Generac batteries ect. they have power for their whole homestead, welding and laser cutting. That's impressive.
It's Ambition Strikes if interested. Of course it's Utube but they are fun to watch.
Look on the bright side.
Look at all the improvements made on rechargeable batteries the past 15 years or so.
Maybe the same will pan out for the solar panels. Just like using an magnifier glass to start fires and burn ants maybe the solar panels of the future will be multi-paned and act as an amplifier to produce more power to the batteries even on overcast days.
If they can be made to be more efficient maybe they could eventually take the place of common household windows instead of being aimed at the sun. Even if they couldn't be viewed through they could still let light in. These days who has a view anyway? Most people seem to live 10' from their neighbors house now.
One thing for sure. If they are ever perfected and become free energy (per se) the gov't on all levels will find a way to tax them.
Dryheat - you and I are both in PHX, and the valley of the sun has experienced multi day storm outages. Twice I've lost several hundred $$$ of food; I could not grill nor eat or give it away before it went bad.
Like I said in another thread here, 4 Patriots makes a great emergency / temp generator with inverter with a lithium/ion battery and 1 foldable 100w solar panel. I bought an xtra 100w panel. My tests run my large upright freezer, under normal use, 6 hrs, and my refer under normal daily open and close use for 3 hrs. I only ran it down to 1 bar, then recharged fully in 3 hrs. I believe judicious use will get me thru an emergency.
It will run any normal 115VAC appliance (fans, radios, TV, charge phones and stuff, depends only on your priority) It won't run whole house, AC or any normal 220VAC appliance.
This would be a good fit for camping or other outdoor activities.
I'm not connected with 4 Patriots except as a satisfied customer. They also sell survival food, but I know nothing about that.
Johnny P
10-09-2022, 11:16
A small inverter generator works wonders in power outages, plus safer source of power for sensitive electric devices and more economical to use.
Major Tom
10-09-2022, 11:39
Another thought. You might want to check with your home insurance guy about possible storm damage, is it covered? Here in the Mid section of the U.S, we get a lot of high wind and tornados. Trees and large tree branches are a common sight lying around people's property. Most insurance companies are slow or even won't cover damage to shingled roofs.
Vern Humphrey
10-09-2022, 01:44
I used to have a 1.5 Kw generator for my freezer. I upgraded to a 7.5 Kw, and then to a 48 KW propane backup generator which goes on automatically when power fails. I really don't even notice power failures anymore -- except when I step out on the porch and hear the generator running -- or when I check the propane level.
Everytime one of these threads comes up I think, I really need to look into this. It's just whistling in the dark not to be prepared. I've been lucky. We've (east valley) had a half dozen failures this summer and they only lasted minutes.
Vern Humphrey
10-10-2022, 12:19
Everytime one of these threads comes up I think, I really need to look into this. It's just whistling in the dark not to be prepared. I've been lucky. We've (east valley) had a half dozen failures this summer and they only lasted minutes.
When I built my house, I knew about ice storms and power outages in the Ozarks. I put in a fully-finished basement with a wood-burning stove, and the wife and I would move down there when the power went out. One year (early Feb 2008 to early Feb 2009) we spent a total of 30 days and nights living in the basement.
Major Tom
10-11-2022, 06:57
To heck with Chinese solar panels! I vote for a whole house propane generator!
jjrothWA
10-11-2022, 08:23
My cousin husband run a farm entity in Medina County, Ohio.
He bought into the solar panels for his farm and HASN'T made the saving projected. Also, every tax filing he submits the paperwork for the FEDERAL ta credit and ot get rejected and he has to make a complete new filing before he get the yearly credit.
You know that the War Department opened the Ravenna Arsenal at the start of WWII, because the records of the Weather Bureau, up to that time indicated that the NE Ohio location, was rated a eighty-five percent [85%] of being under CLOUDS!
Vern Humphrey
10-13-2022, 02:50
To heck with Chinese solar panels! I vote for a whole house propane generator!
That's what I've got -- 48Kw. It isn't cheaper than drawing power from the grid (which, of course, I still do) but when there's a two-week long power failure, it's a life saver.
That's what I've got -- 48Kw. It isn't cheaper than drawing power from the grid (which, of course, I still do) but when there's a two-week long power failure, it's a life saver.
Yup, no gas runs. Seven days after hurricane Ike I had to make a gas run. almost 60 miles to an open station (why you top off the tank before a storm.) LOL, then a few hours after I came back the power was back on.
Yup, no gas runs. Seven days after hurricane Ike I had to make a gas run. almost 60 miles to an open station (why you top off the tank before a storm.) LOL, then a few hours after I came back the power was back on.
I've done that a few times myself. At least the gas doesn't go to waste. There's always something to put it in.
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