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Solar panel savings

Hey all--

Just curious if anyone else has solar panels on their home and, if so, how much they've saved you.  We had them installed last July...so a little over a year ago...and they have produced 69% of our power since then.

We went the "leasing" route instead of the purchasing route.  So there was no money down and it is $35/month to the company that technically owns them (they also cover the maintenance and insurance).

I live in the deep South and this is the first full summer I've had them and I just can't say enough about them.  Our energy bills went from being $250/month in the summer to $120.  They are also a nice chunk lower in winter, but the summer is the true savings.

Re: Solar panel savings

  • I would have to get rid of some trees before I could do this.  We also live in a cloudy area so our usage would be lower.  If we move to a place that would make this more affordable with a better pay back then I would consider this.
  • we looked into it. the company that we talked to actually refused to install them if they were going to be less than 85% efficient on our home. our estimation came in at around 80%...if we could convince our neighbor to chop down some trees on the back edge of their property they would have been 95% efficient for us...even there they estimated that it would be 10 years before we earned back what we spent on the project in savings. 
    Me: 28 H: 30
    Married 07/14/2012
    TTC #1 January 2015
    BFP! 3/27/15 Baby Girl!! EDD:12/7/2015
  • I think there are federal regulations in place...or at least regulations to get the big tax credits...about the efficiency.  I know before we got them installed, the company I'm using also had to measure basically how much sun the panels would receive.  But I don't have any trees shading my house, except for one small corner, so that wasn't an issue.

    Like you, Gdaisy, I'm not sure I would have gotten them if I'd had to buy them outright.  But in my city, there are a lot of companies that only charge a monthly fee to essentially "lease" the panels.  Anywhere from $30-$60/month with no money down, depending on the company.  I did have to sign away those tax credits to the company I'm using, that is why they do it fairly cheaply.  But my monthly rate never changes and there is also a buyout rate table in my contract.  They eventually end up being mine if I keep them for 20 years, lol.  And I'm obligated to keep them for at least 6 years.

    For people that have the money, it does come out cheaper to keep the tax credits for themselves and just buy the panels outright.  But I MUCH prefer just having the monthly savings right away. 

  • you may be right, I thik the 85% efficiency was to receive the federal tax credits for installing them (in our state you can get half the price of the pannels back if they're installed before 2016). either way this company quoted us $18K for the pannels and install (so $9K out of pocket). it would take until 2024 to earn-back the $9K. 

    we want to be green, but $9K is a lot of money
    Me: 28 H: 30
    Married 07/14/2012
    TTC #1 January 2015
    BFP! 3/27/15 Baby Girl!! EDD:12/7/2015
  • Gdaisy09 said:

    we looked into it. the company that we talked to actually refused to install them if they were going to be less than 85% efficient on our home. our estimation came in at around 80%...if we could convince our neighbor to chop down some trees on the back edge of their property they would have been 95% efficient for us...even there they estimated that it would be 10 years before we earned back what we spent on the project in savings. 

    This was our situation as well--too much shade from neighbors trees. However, we invested in the company instead and have doubled our investment in a year. So that part was good. If I can't have solar panels on my own roof, why not own a little piece of other people's home solar?
  • I live far north and the number of sunny days is very low -  they are not popular here.
    The State DOT has solar panels for a rest area not far from us (the only one on a 150 mile stretch of highway) - that only can be used in the summer - too much snow coverage in the winter.

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