So I received an estimate for solar on my roof, which has a good southern slant.
The panels, if financed, would cost about $200/month and offset my $150/month energy bill. The loan would be for 20 years.
However, I might refinance my home and pay in cash. Is now a good time to make this investment?
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That’s $48K in total, what kind of gold-plated solar panels are those? I installed 8 panels and a battery (to future-proof it, this isn’t bringing in money yet) earlier this year for €8700. Yield currently on a sunny day is 20-25 kWh and covers my bill completely.
That deal sounds like a scam, no normal system should cost more than 10k €/$/£
Never think in terms of monthly payments. Think in terms of how much money they’re actually asking you for. That’s how they get you to consider $50k solar panels lmao
I heard you like expensive investments. Might I interest you in a boat?
Thanks for all your comments guys! I have more info that I’ll grab maybe later tomorrow. I’m just wondering how the market is for solar.
I’m not planning on selling the house any time soon and I’m getting another quote on Thursday.
Another thing to factor into budget is if the credits from your solar production can cover the service fee from your power company.
For example I have a ~30usd/mo base/service fee that can’t be covered by solar credits.
Just something to keep in mind. Every utility company is different.
I think solar panels are a great investment, but I agree with the other commenters. How many quotes did you get? Does that include a battery wall? Capacity to sell back to the grid?
on the flip side, if you want to go extremely budget
- sourcing panels, inverters, batteries, etc. on your own
- used solar panels do not lose significant efficiency over time, we’re just obsessed with the “newest” *
- DIY, assembling everything on your own
- plan on not hooking up to grid, won’t get any energy kickbacks but less hassle on the wiring side of things
Not sure if you’ll have any advice on this, but I’m helping my neighbor change his front lawn into a native plant garden, and planning to include a little water feature with a pump running off a solar panel. I’ve barely begun researching any of this part (been lugging dirt and cinderblocks from our local Everything is Free page), but I always try for used stuff first. If you have any recommendations I’d love to hear them.
no real ideas, sorry
if the water feature is really tiny, then the pump and panel taken out of one of those decorative countertop fountains – but that isn’t going to be able to power much more than a soothing trickle …
next stage up would probably be something like pool cover pumps and pool drain pumps – but don’t know if those would be any cheaper than proper pond pumps that are designed to be run unmaintained for long periods of time
No worries! If I figure out a good solution I’ll post it here
For the pump, maybe you could look into (secondhand) aquarium pumps? They’re meant to be constantly running. Flow rate is fixed though, so you’ll have to decide the size if your pond first.
That’s a good idea!
- sourcing panels, inverters, batteries, etc. on your own
Might be worth getting a hybrid system that includes solar-thermal for hot water (maybe supplemented with a heat-pump). That will likely reduce your power-bill a lot and then you don’t need such a big solar PV system.
Of course running a huge AC for the entire house will require an unreasonably large and expensive solar system…
financed solar panels can make selling your house really complicated. you’ll have to find a buyer who will take on the contract and not everyone is excited about another house related monthly expense. i’ve heard enough bad things that i would only do solar panels if i paid for them upfront.
