Built in ‘79…the electrical panel was “ original” and out-dated.. we knew full well it would someday need to be replaced..took the opportunity to do it now because of federal deductibility of the “total cost” involved in the solar expense…… might as well deduct a goodly portion of the new panel..
What electrical work did you have to do and how old is your home that you put them on if you don't mind me asking.
Possible a net metering charge? I think it's a one time fee depending if you have a single phase or a three phase service. My specific town is a charge of up to 25kw of single phase for $825 or over 25kw three phase for $1,100
Here, that is not a “city” charge though…it’s a charge made by the provider (Mid-America in my case) for a “two-way” meter to be installed..
When we signed the contract it had an allowance with Shay Electric here in IC to do the electrical work. As a side project I had them come out to inspect the fuse box, they didn't say replace it..., but it's 50+ years old. so to me it was time to do it while other stuff was going on, versus pay more money a few years down the line. And, less disruption and fewer times I needed to be here at the house and off work. They ended up doing a bunch of the prep work for the solar install when they replaced the fuse box about a month before the panels went on. They also made two fixes to some work a contractor screwed up when we had a kitchen remodel done 10 years ago. Our electrical allowance was lower when we paid for he panels, but we had wound up just paying Shay anyway.
If you have zero south facing roof facets.
It is a city charge since the city's electrical department that handles that portion of it. It is listed in our city's list of city fees.
Essentially what I posted in the first OP and if it’s worth it? I’ll probably be paying it off way earlier then the 25 year loan fwiw but the $0 down then paying basically what I’m paying now to the utility company to them after they finance us for “X” amount seems like a no brainer in theory. I still haven’t seen the full breakdown of the numbers and the actual type of panels but on the face of it, it seems dumb not to do it.
They have been at our house a lot this year also basically telling me the house sets up perfectly for it with the direction of my house and size of the roof on the back of our house. Problem is like you, I have no idea what I'm doing and what I've found online to read isn't very helpful. It's annoying.
What are the financing terms and who is the bank? The dirty secret in solar is upfront finance fees the banks charge. They can get up into the 40% range depending on your credit and loan terms. Also, what PPW are they selling it to you at?
He just gave a high level rundown of everything but nothing concrete. I have a meeting Thursday to go over the numbers but said something about our utility company charging 1 to 1 energy and that will be going up soon. He mentioned a 6.99% loan for 25 yrs and not sure of the bank yet. I work with financial contracts and deal with a lot of financing in my job so I’ll have all the dirty little secrets when I look them over.
Utility rates on average increase at least 4% every year. Usually more. The 1 to 1 refers to net metering which means the utility has to buy the power you export at the same rate they sell it to you. Republicans are constantly trying to take this away. Almost did here in Florida, but for some unknown reason DeSantis vetoed it(Thank God). Last thing I will tell you, do not accept the price they present you. The most disgusting part of this industry is the sales commissions. I'm not joking when I say I've seen over $20k commission on a $60k total sale contract. If you would like me to review the proposal they give you before you make a decision I would be more than happy to do so.
So it came out to $36,500 for 22 seg 410w premium black in black panels. With the 30% tax credit it is $25,600ish on a 25 year loan (I will pay it off way sooner) at 6.99% through Dividend Financing and payments $185. Currently Midamerican charges .13 kWh and raising it to .21-.23 kWh next year. My annual usage is aroun 13,000 kWh.
8-10 yrs is not a bad ROI on a 25-30 yr asset.
Why it seem like only yesterday...
I was gonna say a nearly 100% increase on utility rate is unheard of. You can count on average 4-6% increase year over year. Additionally, there are two ways to look at solar. People tend to look at ROI, however the true benefit of solar is lowering your energy bill immediately and also knowing what you should expect to spend each month assuming the system is sized correctly. Lastly, salespeople are liars and I would shop around for other companies and see what they present to you.
That’s just over $4/watt. If you shop around you can likely get closer to $3/watt or maybe slightly under before tax credits. That would drop the $36,500 price closer to $27,000. At that point securing your own financing would likely make sense over taking theirs even if you can’t get the same rate.
