New house + solar panel

We bought our solar but lease the equipment for 20 years so they have to maintain and fix equipment and restore roof after 20 years.  First year, our electric went from $5000 per year to less than $1000.  Don't know if the buy/lease was right but we are thrilled.  The new PP homes don't have enough panels so you will have to upgrade.  When we went touring, we thought they would all be better to pass and do 3 estimates and see for themselves.
 
Trav25 said:
We bought our solar but lease the equipment for 20 years so they have to maintain and fix equipment and restore roof after 20 years.  First year, our electric went from $5000 per year to less than $1000.  Don't know if the buy/lease was right but we are thrilled.  The new PP homes don't have enough panels so you will have to upgrade.  When we went touring, we thought they would all be better to pass and do 3 estimates and see for themselves.
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more panels?  sheesh... I hope they can improve the technology a bit more with a smaller footprint.
 
Trav25 said:
We bought our solar but lease the equipment for 20 years so they have to maintain and fix equipment and restore roof after 20 years.  First year, our electric went from $5000 per year to less than $1000.  Don't know if the buy/lease was right but we are thrilled.  The new PP homes don't have enough panels so you will have to upgrade.  When we went touring, we thought they would all be better to pass and do 3 estimates and see for themselves.
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So what did you buy and what did you lease?
 
jmoney74 said:
Trav25 said:
We bought our solar but lease the equipment for 20 years so they have to maintain and fix equipment and restore roof after 20 years.  First year, our electric went from $5000 per year to less than $1000.  Don't know if the buy/lease was right but we are thrilled.  The new PP homes don't have enough panels so you will have to upgrade.  When we went touring, we thought they would all be better to pass and do 3 estimates and see for themselves.
Click to expand...

more panels?  sheesh... I hope they can improve the technology a bit more with a smaller footprint.
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Your electric bill was over $400/month?  wozers!
 
Paid for it all since lease was more but the company owns and maintains equipment.  Yeah....we have lots of fun electrical equip.
 
Trav25 said:
Paid for it all since lease was more but the company owns and maintains equipment.  Yeah....we have lots of fun electrical equip.
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re-enact the Saw movies?
 
Park said:
Out of curiosity. Who are the builders using to install these solar panels??
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Marigold at Cypress Village uses SunPower.  They are the manufacturer and installer.

However my roof's pitch disqualified me from the builder installing solar panels.  I will have to go through an association approval before I can install mine after market.

Legally the HOA has to approve it because it's illegal in California to NOT permit a home to install solar panels, but I'm not in a position to make a big stink about it yet.

I have vetted a few after-market vendors and so far my favorite has been:

RCC Solar - (909) 981-7736

There's several in the OC area popping up and I expect more will come.  I'll most likely have to re-vet again once we see how summer effects us in the new house.



 
Lennar said they put solar on all the houses. You either do the 20/20 or buy the unit. 20/20 is 20yr lease. 20% off your bill vs SCE. I guess they check rates, and make sure you save 20%. Or, purchase for $18k??  :eek: Was the salesman informed right?

Can anyone post what their SP bill is and what their SCE bill is? I assume you get 2 bills.

Thanks
 
Tahoe7081 said:
Lennar said they put solar on all the houses. You either do the 20/20 or buy the unit. 20/20 is 20yr lease. 20% off your bill vs SCE. I guess they check rates, and make sure you save 20%. Or, purchase for $18k??  :eek: Was the salesman informed right?

Can anyone post what their SP bill is and what their SCE bill is? I assume you get 2 bills.

Thanks
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How can he guarantee you save 20% off your bill? What if you work, have no kids, and never home on weekends. So your electricity bill will not be high.
 
eyephone said:
Tahoe7081 said:
Lennar said they put solar on all the houses. You either do the 20/20 or buy the unit. 20/20 is 20yr lease. 20% off your bill vs SCE. I guess they check rates, and make sure you save 20%. Or, purchase for $18k??  :eek: Was the salesman informed right?

Can anyone post what their SP bill is and what their SCE bill is? I assume you get 2 bills.

Thanks
Click to expand...
How can he guarantee you save 20% off your bill? What if you work, have no kids, and never home on weekends. So your electricity bill will not be high.
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Then instead of getting bill for $20, you get a bill for $16 and THEY sell all the excess kilowatts to SCE at producer rates

 
Tahoe7081 said:
Lennar said they put solar on all the houses. You either do the 20/20 or buy the unit. 20/20 is 20yr lease. 20% off your bill vs SCE. I guess they check rates, and make sure you save 20%. Or, purchase for $18k??  :eek: Was the salesman informed right?

Can anyone post what their SP bill is and what their SCE bill is? I assume you get 2 bills.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I noticed the quote you got is almost double what Meg paid, to own. Why is that?
 
Lennar (Sunstreet Energy) has 10 panels and purchase price is 14K.

The default option is to lease and Sunstreet will maintain for 20 years.  There will be two bills.  One from SCE and one from Sunstreet.  If a family does lease option, then they will pay for all generated energy from Sunstreet.  For example, if solar panels generate 2000w electricity, but your family only used 1500w, your family will still get billed for 2000w.

I think I am the only family purchase the solar panel.  Most of lennar used 20/20 lease option.
 
yaliu07 said:
Lennar (Sunstreet Energy) has 10 panels and purchase price is 14K.

The default option is to lease and Sunstreet will maintain for 20 years.  There will be two bills.  One from SCE and one from Sunstreet.  If a family does lease option, then they will pay for all generated energy from Sunstreet.  For example, if solar panels generate 2000w electricity, but your family only used 1500w, your family will still get billed for 2000w.

I think I am the only family purchase the solar panel.  Most of lennar used 20/20 lease option.
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I think $14k is still a good price. So you got a good price because it was through the builder. I wonder how much they sell if a person didn't go through the builder.
 
3Kw system for $14,000 is a good price. 
Sunpower panels are around $1/watt. 
I think many homeowners would opt to outright buy a 2Kw sunpower system if it could be had for under $8K. 
Any Solar Provider want to accept the challenge?
 
Solar bills are tricky.  If you don't use more than $150 a month it is not worth your while to get solar.  It will take like 20 years to pay for the initial upfront cost.

Assuming you pay $300 a month, solar is well worth it.  However you must calculate how many panels you want.

The energy company makes it seem like you get a lot back for selling them electricity.  That's a lie.  They sell it to the consumer for ~$1/kwatt, depending on your tier.

If you ever sell a kwatt to the energy company, you get ~5 cents per kwatt, plus or minus a nickel or so.  It's a win-win for the energy company.

Best case scenario is to aim for breaking even, when you end up with $0 every month.
 
My original idea of going solar was for blackout protection.  It turns out if there's a rolling blackout, having solar does not save me.  The electric company shuts down the grid so NO ONE is generating electricity.

It is impossible to go off grid in Irvine.  The power it will require to go off grid can't be generated with our roof tops.  Not to mention the massive power generator storage a person will need in their backyard.  Not with our 10 foot setbacks.  haha  Not to mention the HOA not approving it in the landscaping design.  :p
 
Has anyone been able to get the solar exclusion from the assessor's office?  They said I need to submit a letter from Lennar (with their letterhead) stating how much the solar system cost.
 
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