I am now running on solar.

[Dave Gray]

It took over a year to finally get everything turned on and done. 

I can see that I'm generating power but it will be a while until I can compare bills.  I'm so relieved it's finally done.

[Pappy13]

I've been interested in Solar for a while but every time I've looked at the numbers, I couldn't justify the initial investment. Sure, I'd save a couple hundred dollars from my electric bill, but I'd have an even bigger loan payment for the installation. I might break even in around 15 to 20 years. What's the point? If I was going to build a new home, then I'd do it in a heartbeat and roll it up into the Mortgage, but switch to Solar? Can't see it.

[Dave Gray]

The way the numbers worked for me was that I get my investment back after about 11 years.  Then, it's free electricity.  Good deal.

Also, in my case, if I were to finance the panels, they'd pretty much be offset by the electricity savings.  Have someone come do an estimate for you.  There is a 30% tax credit.

[pondwater]

I have a solar water heater on the roof of the house I inherited. But my Dad had the valves shut off going to the tank water heater. I asked my brother about it and he said that he thought my Dad told him there was a slow leak somewhere and it was leaking off the side of the roof. I've been meaning to get it pressure tested, but it hasn't been a priority since it hasn't been used in a few years.

Fast forward to last Monday and I woke up to a flooded garage. The 20 year old regular water heater finally bit the dust. Anyhow, when the plumbing guy got here he said he didn't have the correct mixing valve parts. So we decided to just do a straight install on the new water heater. So he just cut out all of that pipe spaghetti that was there to accommodate the solar water heater on the roof. He just terminated the 2 pipes coming out of the garage celling from the solar water heater and put quarter turn valves on them incase me or the next owner wants to hook it back up. Anyhow, $2400 later I own a new water heater LMFAO. If I would have thought to replace it earlier I would have saved about $750. Can't really comparison shop when you have a guy standing there that charges $100 just for the service call.

At this point, I don't really know if it's worth it to bother to test and fix the solar water heater on the roof. Since I don't plan on staying here more than a couple more years, I'm not sure the money and effort will be worth my while.


EDIT, any of you guys know about water heaters? When I took a shower this morning I was out of hot water by the end of my shower. Can't I just turn up the temperature on both elements on the new water heater and that should increase hot water time? I'm thinking they're set on the lower range from the factory.

[Spider-Dan]

Yes, increasing the temperature on the water heater will use less hot water to heat your shower to your desired temperature.

The drawbacks are 1) increased energy usage by your water heater and 2) increased risk of scalding (if you have children or the elderly in your home).

[pondwater]

Yes, increasing the temperature on the water heater will use less hot water to heat your shower to your desired temperature.

The drawbacks are 1) increased energy usage by your water heater and 2) increased risk of scalding (if you have children or the elderly in your home).

It's the same size water heater, so I figure it shouldn't increase energy usage any more than the 20 year old one. They're probably more efficient now anyhow and it won't have 20 years worth of build up inside reducing the heating capacity. As for scalding, it's just me and the inherited geriatric diabetic cat LMAO...

[Pappy13]

The way the numbers worked for me was that I get my investment back after about 11 years.  Then, it's free electricity.  Good deal.

Also, in my case, if I were to finance the panels, they'd pretty much be offset by the electricity savings.  Have someone come do an estimate for you.  There is a 30% tax credit.

There are online places that will do it for you. I've done it. Several times. My house doesn't get enough direct sunlight to make my electric bills even out the cost of the panels. Not even close really. I'd be losing money for the first 15 to 20 years. Hell I might not live that long let alone keep my house that long. Maybe it makes more sense in Florida. In Texas, don't really see a lot of people doing it. Not sure if that's because of the costs, the sunlight, whatever but it's just not the be all and end all that we'd all like it to be at this point.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I've been interested in Solar for a while but every time I've looked at the numbers, I couldn't justify the initial investment. Sure, I'd save a couple hundred dollars from my electric bill, but I'd have an even bigger loan payment for the installation. I might break even in around 15 to 20 years. What's the point? If I was going to build a new home, then I'd do it in a heartbeat and roll it up into the Mortgage, but switch to Solar? Can't see it.

there are solar companies that do what is called ppa (power purchase agreement) they own the panels and sell you the electricity the panels produce at a discount vs the power company.  you start saving money from month 1 and there is almost no risk.

[Spider-Dan]

The cost/benefit analysis turns almost entirely on your electricity bill.  My general rule of thumb is if you average less than $150/month for electricity over the year, and you're not planning to get an EV, it's probably not even worth considering solar.

[Dave Gray]

My costs have also gone up greatly.  I'm sure we're just using more power than we did (not sure why).  But here's the usage by year for the current house.  I'm only including full years that we've lived here.

2019: $154.24/mo
2020: $160.99/mo
2021: $172.00/mo
2022: no data
2023: $224.27/mo

[Dave Gray]

I'm just thinking that it's probably because I work from mostly from home ever since COVID.  A/C is now on 24/7 whereas I would turn it hotter when I went to work.  I also have a big fish tank running pumps and am running my PC all day long.   

[Spider-Dan]

Dave, I got solar at the end of 2017.  When I was doing my cost/benefit analysis (CBA), I pulled my electricity bills for 4 years.  My average electricity price per kW/h increased by 50% from 0.14 in 2013 to 0.21 in 2017.  I'm sure it would be radically higher now.

Electricity costs are definitely going up.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'm just thinking that it's probably because I work from mostly from home ever since COVID.  A/C is now on 24/7 whereas I would turn it hotter when I went to work.  I also have a big fish tank running pumps and am running my PC all day long.   

Instead of just looking at $$$$ look at kWh per month.  Some of it could be increase in electricity use, but some of it is probably an increase in cost per kWh. 

[Dave Gray]

^ I have no doubt that it's both.

I do not have my cost/kwh readily available.  I was looking at my budgetary spending by year.  I'm sure I could look it up though.

[Pappy13]

The cost/benefit analysis turns almost entirely on your electricity bill.

And the amount of direct sunlight you get. If you don't have a roof with a lot of space for panels that's pointed in the right direction with no trees around to block the sunlight etc, then the panels just can't produce enough electricity to make it worth it. This is step 1 in determining if solar is right for you.

https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/

Here's the results using my address and selecting the loan option:

Up Front cost: $0
Total payments over 20 years: $79,335
Total cost of electricity over 20 years: $58,731
Total 20 year saving: -$20,604.

After 20 years I'd have lost $20,000. How is this a good deal for me? Now if I buy it outright, then yeah I could save around $11,000 after 20 years with a break even around 16 years into it, but I don't have around $50K to spend on solar at the moment and if I did I certainly wouldn't spend it on Solar as there are a lot better investment options.