New house + solar panel

Depends on your usage, but for me, I calculated 5.5 years.

If you know your yearly bill, just take $10k divided by yearly bill.
 
You with SCE?  We get a bill every month for about 97 cents. Once a year they cash out the net generation credit.

As for solar, better start planning your time of use calcs.  SCE will be changing the billing next year.

rideBMC said:
Irvine Dream said:
Funny Story, May be new home owners with Solar  can tell me if this is true.

Was at a dinner party and heard this.  The wife was telling others how they bought a house with solar and her husband was boasting that they were not paying any electricity bills since the monthly payment was less than $10 but after 12-months they were hit with a huge bill.  Apparently for houses with the solar the actual bill comes only once a year?
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this is correct
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I don't understand that "huge bill" at the end of the year if you have solar.

I thought the whole point was solar almost eliminates electricity costs, so why would there even be a bill at the end of the year unless you did not get enough panels or use way more electricity than you generate.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I don't understand that "huge bill" at the end of the year if you have solar.

I thought the whole point was solar almost eliminates electricity costs, so why would there even be a bill at the end of the year unless you did not get enough panels or use way more electricity than you generate.
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There are different plans for houses with solar.

I pay $1 to $4 every month to SCE to be connected to the network. However every month I see my bill accumulate $20 to $25 dollars worth of electricity that I don't need to pay yet. I'm assuming I will at the end of the year.

I purchased my solar knowing I will most likely not generate enough for all my uses. But I also know I am now no longer in Tier 2 or higher in costs.

That's what the huge bill at the end of the year represents. All the usage that went above what my panels can generate.
 
Interesting article, looks like Panels are so cheap, its best to get the higher-end ones since the bulk of the cost is installation anyway:https://arstechnica.com/science/201...hat-its-better-to-use-expensive-solar-panels/

"All of which raises an intriguing question: if there's a large fixed cost involved in getting panels on your roof, does it make sense to install more efficient panels, despite their higher costs? A collaboration between MIT researchers and people at solar power companies have answered this question with a very qualified "yes." Critically, one of the qualifications is that they assume availability of a technology we haven't developed yet."
 
eyephone said:
qwerty said:
Hell no.
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How about for the tax break?

Would you rather write a big fat check to the government or find ways to reduce your tax liability?
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Have I taught you nothing grasshopper? Why would I spend $1 on a solar panel (a shitty product at that) to save 40 cents on taxes. I?m worse off by 60 cents. Tax breaks are nice if they come with something you want/need like a house, it?s a cherry on top.

You never just buy something for the tax break. I?ve been cutting fat checks to the government for years and will probably do so until I retire
 
Bump on this thread.

Looking at the homes by Lennar at Cadence Park that has solar installed. What are the options available and what is the best use for consumers at the end of the day? I read elsewhere about buying solar @ $14K and getting a 30% tax credit but does that even pay for the life of the use vs getting the 20% discount if you lease instead?
 
newbieinirvine said:
Bump on this thread.

Looking at the homes by Lennar at Cadence Park that has solar installed. What are the options available and what is the best use for consumers at the end of the day? I read elsewhere about buying solar @ $14K and getting a 30% tax credit but does that even pay for the life of the use vs getting the 20% discount if you lease instead?
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Remember that when you sell a home, your buyer will need to get approved to take over the lease....just another thing that the builder will need to do.  Most of my new home buyers opted to purchase the solar.
 
newbieinirvine said:
Bump on this thread.

Looking at the homes by Lennar at Cadence Park that has solar installed. What are the options available and what is the best use for consumers at the end of the day? I read elsewhere about buying solar @ $14K and getting a 30% tax credit but does that even pay for the life of the use vs getting the 20% discount if you lease instead?
Click to expand...

The economics of solar always has a break-even point compared to leasing. Depends on your usage so clearly the closer you utilize to 100% of the solar generation then the faster you will payback your investment. My 10 kw system breaks even around 6 years.
 
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