Anyone have any recent (last 2 to 3 years) experience with having solar panels installed on your home? Good, bad, or a mix?
badbilly said:
We had them installed in 2021 with Texas Green Energy(BCS), I've been pleased with them. I had four bids and Texas Green Energy was the best and they make sure the job is done right. Feel free to PM me.
maddiedou said:badbilly said:
We had them installed in 2021 with Texas Green Energy(BCS), I've been pleased with them. I had four bids and Texas Green Energy was the best and they make sure the job is done right. Feel free to PM me.
Is the owner adam. I believe that was his name if so i talked with him about 12 years ago He was smart then about solar I cannot imagine how up to date now with his expertise
Yes
Is it worth it is a personal decision. My Rate of return is 6.5% tax free, I would have to earn over 9% interest at a 20% tax rate to do better. If power cost go up, my ROR is only better and with inflation like we have it now, power costs increasing is a good bet. If I had taken that same money and put it in the S&P at the same time last year, it would be worth 20% less now. That being said, I would never finance solar. Probably equally important to me is ERCOT can't take my power. I don't have natural gas so a whole house generator didn't make sense to me.AggiePhil said:
So is it worth it or not? Sounding like not. 10 years is a long time to commit to, depending on how much you'd be out of you left before then.
Yup. IIRC the argument for this was to stick it to the students since they typically do not pay property tax. However, it also affects every homeowner in the city.KidDoc said:
Agree with you 100%. We financed it but at 0% over 4 years. I would not pay interest on solar panels at all that is just burning $$$
If you live in an area with cheaper electricity it also decreases the value of solar. COCS is very expensive for Texas. An hour away you can get electricity for 0.07 from the same power plant that we pay 0.12 for. The extra $$$ just goes to the city general fund, it is a clever hidden tax.
Quote:
IIRC the argument for this was to stick it to the students since they typically do not pay property tax.
KidDoc said:
Agree with you 100%. We financed it but at 0% over 4 years. I would not pay interest on solar panels at all that is just burning $$$
If you live in an area with cheaper electricity it also decreases the value of solar. COCS is very expensive for Texas. An hour away you can get electricity for 0.07 from the same power plant that we pay 0.12 for. The extra $$$ just goes to the city general fund, it is a clever hidden tax.
Flatlander said:Quote:
IIRC the argument for this was to stick it to the students since they typically do not pay property tax.
Except they do pay property taxes indirectly through their rent. Or directly if they (or their parents) own the home they are living in, in which case they (or their parents) are paying property taxes.
It was presented as a matter of fairness, making the transitory student population pay their fair share while here.ElephantRider said:Flatlander said:Quote:
IIRC the argument for this was to stick it to the students since they typically do not pay property tax.
Except they do pay property taxes indirectly through their rent. Or directly if they (or their parents) own the home they are living in, in which case they (or their parents) are paying property taxes.
If property taxes are getting paid, why does the city care who is paying them?
Note: Not all areas can get these kinds of plans. If you're on a municipal utility, these plans often aren't available.GrimesCoAg95 said:
Adding solar does take a bit of a mind shift. You can get tiered power plans that give you cheap electricity at night and expensive electric during the day. Additionally many people are gone all day, so they try to shift the load of use to the evening/night.
If you have solar, it can be more advantageous to shift loads to midday because that is now the time your electricity is the cheapest. The biggest load we have in homes today are the 220V loads which include hvac, ovens, and clothes dryers. The easiest to load shift is hvac. You can use programmable thermostats to cool the house a few degrees extra from 10-3 so that you are selling less at 4 cents and buying less from 3-7pm. You can also use the delayed start on the dishwasher to run midday. This is not a significant load, but it can help a little.
Every little bit helps. Looks like things are going to get lots worse.GrimesCoAg95 said:
Adding solar does take a bit of a mind shift. You can get tiered power plans that give you cheap electricity at night and expensive electric during the day. Additionally many people are gone all day, so they try to shift the load of use to the evening/night.
If you have solar, it can be more advantageous to shift loads to midday because that is now the time your electricity is the cheapest. The biggest load we have in homes today are the 220V loads which include hvac, ovens, and clothes dryers. The easiest to load shift is hvac. You can use programmable thermostats to cool the house a few degrees extra from 10-3 so that you are selling less at 4 cents and buying less from 3-7pm. You can also use the delayed start on the dishwasher to run midday. This is not a significant load, but it can help a little.
No disagreement there, just noting that tiered plans aren't universally available.GrimesCoAg95 said:
Even if you can't get a tiered plan, you are still better off using the power you generate versus selling and buying it back. The OP is selling at 4 cents and buying at much higher. The tiered plan just makes it even better.