[geezer]

I wish those of you who have had solar installed would give those of us who are considering it a bit more information. such data as size (KW), cost, ROI, rebates and such, and what part of the country you live in. Knowing whether you live in Arizona or Seattle, for example, would help us put things in perspective. I'd be grateful.

[Phil A]

I wish those of you who have had solar installed would give those of us who are considering it a bit more information. such data as size (KW), cost, ROI, rebates and such, and what part of the country you live in. Knowing whether you live in Arizona or Seattle, for example, would help us put things in perspective. I'd be grateful.

Central FL East Coast.  8.6KW.  The house came with solar water with electric back-up which is also part of the 30% residential energy credit - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf

The panel system (pic below - there are more panels on the back roof) is integrated into the roof tiles.  The cost before any credits was about $43k.  It will be less of course after credits.  I'd imagine that it will save about $2k/year in electric costs so it may be a 13-14 year period before the costs are recovered in full.

[saeyedoc]

Taking on a major remodel of a 50's modern house. Looking at PV panels for 3 carports and the roof of a guest casita. ROI is saying breakeven at 6 1/2 years for lower voltage model, about 10 for higher one. We're in S. Texas. We would save a little more because for the carports, the panels are actually part of the roof structure.

Freedom Solar Power: 12.19 kw, 814 sf, annual production estimate 17,712. $48k-$21k utility rebate-$14.6k federal tax credit=$13k.
15.04kw, annual 21,856. $75k-$25k utility rebate-$22,5 federal=$27,6k

Looks like the second one hits up against rebate limits, so breakeven is estimated to be 4 years later. At 20 years, you're only $7k ahead, so it seems to make more sense to go with the 12kw proposal. Does that make sense?

[ctviggen]

Here's what the power output from my 11.5kw solar system looks like in CT for April 2014.  It varies from about 3.6kwhr/day to 67kwhr/day. 838 kwhr this month so far, which should be more than we are using. Once we get to summer, the AC and pool pump will add way too much electricity usage and we won't be able to generate enough.

[ctviggen]

Here's what the output is for the month of April 2014 per solar panel.  The panels on the right are on a second roof, and the darker panels on the right are blocked by the main roof at certain times, which is why they don't produce as much.  For the left set of panels, the panels on the left are blocked by various items such as a chimney and trees (which will get worse, once the leaves come in).  The gaps are caused by pipes that penetrate the roof at that point. 

[ctviggen]

Taking on a major remodel of a 50's modern house. Looking at PV panels for 3 carports and the roof of a guest casita. ROI is saying breakeven at 6 1/2 years for lower voltage model, about 10 for higher one. We're in S. Texas. We would save a little more because for the carports, the panels are actually part of the roof structure.

Freedom Solar Power: 12.19 kw, 814 sf, annual production estimate 17,712. $48k-$21k utility rebate-$14.6k federal tax credit=$13k.
15.04kw, annual 21,856. $75k-$25k utility rebate-$22,5 federal=$27,6k

Looks like the second one hits up against rebate limits, so breakeven is estimated to be 4 years later. At 20 years, you're only $7k ahead, so it seems to make more sense to go with the 12kw proposal. Does that make sense?

My state had rebate limits at 10kw, but I believe federal has no limit.  So, I had to pay more for the last 1.5kw (I have 11.5kw) due to no state incentives for that portion.  I agree with you that the 12.19kw seems more reasonable.  Our house is 4,100 square feet (we have an in law apartment that's at least 800 sf, plus she has one of our rooms adjacent to the in law for probably 1,000 or so square feet; the main house is about 3,000 square feet).   I'm hoping with using LED bulbs and adding some insulation to come close to breaking even, although if we add heat pumps, I think we'll use more electricity than we generate (but less heating oil). 

[ctviggen]

Total cost:  40,400 (should be 41,400, but got $1,000 credit for being one of first 10 to install).  Fed credit is 9498.06, state is 8739.79, total cost is 22,162.15 but I just got a rebate check of 2,300 (the installer met so many installations, so it lowered everyone's cost).  Total cost is 19,862.15.  Estimated return is about 8 years, depending on how much electricity costs increase (they estimate 4%/year, though I'm not sure that's a valid number).  Guaranteed output ranges from 12,444 the first year to 11,313 the 20th year. They estimated an 8 percent ROI, though I don't know how they derived that number.

By the way, the fed credit is tricky.  They had a "zero" percent interest program, but if you didn't pay within 18 months, it was 17%!!  So, I just paid that off, which means I have to float 9,498.06 until April 2015, since we got installed in January 2014.  I'll get that as a tax credit, but it's hard to lock 10k into nothing for so long. 

The state credit goes directly to the installer.  I never saw that money.

[ctviggen]

Well, we may have purchased too large of a system.  We've had the pool pump running (but no AC) and generated more electricity that we used last month.  We have almost 900kWhrs in the "bank".  I'm sure that won't last, as we'll be in AC season soon, perhaps this week.  But we'll probably only have two months of AC.

We're having some ductless heat pumps added to put our in law apartment on heat and cooling and remove it from the oil heat.  We hope to generate all the electricity in the winter to heat the in law, and this will save us about $1,000 in oil costs.  We're going to transfer our two large AC units for the main house to heat pumps, also, to use more electricity.  However, we're going to wait until they go.  That may not be too long, as the attic air handler and the pool pump both went out this year. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Would you happen to have any photos of the installation?