Solar Panels for the home - school me - why isn't everyone doing it?

[Johnny]

I would check with your insurance company. Hail storms are a fact of life here. If they don’t cover it. You will be making payments on the panels that don’t work or paying out of pocket to replace them plus paying the electric bill.

If they do cover them I am sure it will affect your premiums.

 

[ttown]

Your The first person people wii raided IMO, those with panels or a generator as in 2007. A lot of desperate people deftly logic.


The simple power outage a few days your ok…..what are you trying to avoid?

 

[swampratt]

Type of Solar panel education below.
https://unboundsolar.com/blog/monocrystalline-vs-polycrystalline-solar-panels
I have a few small panels in the shed and never put them up.
I have often thought of the wind spinning a car alternator and probably have all the stuff laying around to build it but so many projects.

Buddy just had panels put on his roof and a battery bank in the garage.
20 or 25 years of $180 a month payments.

In my mind NO THANKS.
I would do it myself before spending that much coin and my electric bill is less than that by a long ways.
I do have inverters and they run my mig and a fridge and will run a window unit at 120V.
Hooked to my vehicle.

My friends logic was electricity costs keep going up.
I wonder about warranty down the road when the company folds.

 

[ttown]

It’s always insurance, Your $500 you pay for is for 3 or 4 panels and the cost over time is stupid.

Your paying big bucks on insurance, they are in business to take your money youI pay thousands a year but only need it if my house is destroyed.

You have old panels? We’ll pro rate them like we do batteries at best

 

[trekrok]

What do the companies say about our hail? As in what size hail do they claim the panels can withstand without damage?

 

[turkeyrun]

Windows and insulation are less up front and quicker pay-off.

I redone our windows and paid for them in less than a year.

 

[ttown]

So how do you prove the size of hail. Photos that could have been on the ground for an hour or those artificial produced.

The global warning media? I’ve lived here all my life and a quarter inch is big to me, not saying there’s bigger but baseball really? I never seen golf ball yet…….

 

[-Pjackso]

Where to install:
There is risks with installing on your roof.
1) The solar mounts add lots of potential leak points. Now or in the future.
2) If a new roof is required, entire solar system must be removed, then reinstalled.
(I would not want that roofing bill.)
3) Some homeowners don't want/like solar. This may increase/decrease interest or value in your house.

Ground mount - basic and/or pretty:
If you have some land, a ground mount rack is a much better option. It is a stand-alone unit and doesn't affect the house. ...But you loose some 'footprint' of your land.
The Fed discount is for TOTAL INSTALL costs. I've heard some people install nice pergolas as their "ground mount" - which should be covered. (Verify first)


For the DIY people here:
When I was crunching the numbers, solar can have a decent ROI of 7 to 10 years...
***IF YOU SELF INSTALL***
The contractor profit and labor costs really hurts the business ROI aspect.

If interested - here is a place that sells clearance/used panels and components.
h t t ps://kinectsolar.com/

https://kinectsolar.com/

 

[Dangerousways]

solar power in theory sound good but the solar companies are just another scam that the government allows the contracts and cancellation fees etc are horrible, its like buying a timeshare then trying to get out of it. they get there payout when you try to cancel and remove them or when you sell the house. they can tell you anything they want to and when you sign that contract and get the install done they got you, no way out, what if you find out you got a 25k lien on your house, the real estate market is falling, installing something that has a loan and a payment and belongs to somebody else is not going to magically give your house 32k equity. talk to some real estate agents and see how the closings went with solar panels and how much people had to pay at closing, there goes your equity.

 

[trekrok]

Where to install:
There is risks with installing on your roof.
1) The solar mounts add lots of potential leak points. Now or in the future.
2) If a new roof is required, entire solar system must be removed, then reinstalled.
(I would not want that roofing bill.)
3) Some homeowners don't want/like solar. This may increase/decrease interest or value in your house.

Ground mount - basic and/or pretty:
If you have some land, a ground mount rack is a much better option. It is a stand-alone unit and doesn't affect the house. ...But you loose some 'footprint' of your land.
The Fed discount is for TOTAL INSTALL costs. I've heard some people install nice pergolas as their "ground mount" - which should be covered. (Verify first)


For the DIY people here:
When I was crunching the numbers, solar can have a decent ROI of 7 to 10 years...
***IF YOU SELF INSTALL***
The contractor profit and labor costs really hurts the business ROI aspect.

If interested - here is a place that sells clearance/used panels and components.

https://kinectsolar.com/

Installed on a pergola could be a pretty good idea, imo. Hadn't thought of that, but I'd investigate that option if I was thinking about doing solar.