Going solar?

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21

seems like a good idea as far as the numbers (assuming these estimates are correct) but not for a rental property IMO.

Just more things to go wrong, especially if you’re storing batteries.

Since you don’t pay the bills once you move out why even bother?

Take the $7k this will cost you and put it into the units so you can have higher rents. If the units are already top of the market for the area then pocket the money and do nothing.

This is a business right?

22

I had NRG Solar at my house twice and I did not like the way they operate.
Here are some things I did not like.

  1. The girl sounded like she took a one hour course on solar systems.
  2. They did not mention that they only lease panels NOT sell them. I asked the girl if it was like a $1 buyout at the end and she had no idea what I was talking about.
  3. The system does not include batteries and she didn’t seem to understand why that was important to me. “The energy is stored in the grid”. So I have to buy it back from them at a higher rate then I just sold it to them for?!?
  4. They definitely were working the numbers to make it just barely attractive enough to me. (So they could make more money.)
  5. She said a guy would be there to check the sunlight exposure. Well, he showed up and unbenounced to me he had to take almost a hundred pictures of the interior of my house including my wifi numbers and set up.
  6. He had never even heard of SIP construction.
  7. They wanted us to sign a contract just to “take it to the next step”.
  8. They had to run credit checks for what ended up being an $80/month payment!
  9. What it all boils down to is you leasing space to them so they can make money. ( I don’t have a problem with them making money, I just don’t like the way they do it.)
    Technically you are not leasing space but that is essentially what it is.
  10. The inverters are on the panels so if something fails you need to go on the roof to fix it.
  11. She had no explanation for their claim that the snow magically melts off the panels in 2 days.
  12. The guy who came to the house to measure the sun came as the sun was going down and he did not have the measuring tool anyway!

I could go on but you get the idea.

Edit: In the end you do own the panels but now you have 20 year old equipment (including inverters) on your roof. Also, you need to pay $1000 up front which I understand why but it throws off the whole ROI if you bother to do the math.

23

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/avd.gif

24

Hi Guys,

Thanks Mike for giving us at CIR a mention here. We facilitate all NYSERDA (New York State Research & Development Authority) paperwork that also gives an upfront per watt incentive in addition to federal and state tax credits. In an effort to keep this post just short of a novel, I’d be happy to answer any specific questions via email. For an initial analysis all we need is an address and an electric bill. We provide the data for you to make an educated consumer decision. Financing available to offset initial costs.
Solar is very site specific, we take into consideration orientation (South facing is ideal), pitch of the roof, and shading. It is an excellent investment opportunity if the site is conducive to solar production. If you want a site evaluation feel free to visit www.solarbycir.com and fill out an info sheet to have us contact you. If you are still in the investigation phase feel free to contact me at dharzewski@cirelectric.com or 716-362-5037 or my mobile 716-430-5440. Thanks, Darrin

25

I had a haircut like that in the eighties but it was blond. :slight_smile:

26

All great points, for them it is all about you fitting into their model. Every job we do is a custom design, using the equipment that offers the best solution for you scenario. Hands down purchasing is better over leasing if you have tax liability to take advantage of the incentives. The equipment degrades at such a small rate annually that the asset itself holds value for quite a long time. Snow coverage can happen but the bulk of your energy will be produced between April and September, but the goal is to have a large amount of energy credits built up to help compensate during the winter through net metering.

27

Info on this? I need all new windows. #pagingXander

28

I want to go fully off. Like battery bank and all. Ive been looking into the diy Amazon approach. Im going to send a email

29

Any particular reason why when you can just sell the excess solar back to the grid? Any cost savings are going to get eaten up by the high cost of buying and replacing batteries. Sure you’d be more power outage protected but how often do you really lose power? And wouldn’t a simply gas generator be a lot easier for those rare cases?

30

I actually drop power very often. I could do a sell back but I want to just sell. I have enough open land and even south roof coverage between my barn and house that I could.have a bank and still sell.extra back. I have a small diy wind turbine going to power my chicken coop currently so I have the idea (ish) . The gas generator is a good idea but for the 5-6k investment and still having a $200-230 bull each month isn’t in the books. I would be willing to drop 8 no problem on a full panel setup . We have a ton of people in east otto with large field setups getting put in . I have to get copies of my bill and im going to send a e-mail

Edit… Didnt NY just pass a law that you can only have 25% sqft panels for your total lot size and you can only sell 125% back too ???

31

It’s that home performance with energy star stuff. I just used it to insulate my whole house and the payments were simply added to my electric bill. It was a bit of a pain in the ass to go through. I’m waiting to finish my review on the whole thing for my insulation thread.

32

Ok, so I don’t see how this would make sense, unless you had an off the grid cabin or something that you could not get power to.

To save money nope. Here in Texas is is hot and sunny most of the year and it still does not make sense.

I don’t know what you guys pay per KWH for electric, but we have deregulated energy down here. With reliant, I am paying 9 cents per KWH including all fees.

I just signed a 9 month contract with Gexa for 5.5 cents per KWH including all fees.

Average usage is 500 kwh when the AC is not running, and 1000-1300kwh when it is running.

Never paid more than $125 for a month of electricity in my house, usually it is like 50 bucks.

When you do a cost per KWH of solar, it may be a little lower than 5.5 cents, but you lock that price in due to a fixed price of equipment.

What happens when you need to repair the roof? Probably costs a few bucks to have the contractor come out and take off then reinstall equipment.

Does Buffalo get enough sunlight to generate the optimal amount of power?

If you want to save money, insulate your house, install good doors and windows, and buy energy smart appliances.

33

My parents just did this in Williamsville I will see if they still have the price break down.

34

@somedude

35

JustinH, If people are honest it is not just about the bottom line. People don’t buy Tesla cars to save gas money. People have different motivations like, tree huggers, preppers, “stick it to the man”, technology fans, speculators of future costs, tax breaks, etc.

If it were just about money you should invest in the Dow Jones Industrial… bad example right now. :wink:

36

this is bs if true

37

According to NRG Solar, NYSEG will only work with you if you still buy a certain amount from them. But I wouldn’t trust anything NRG Solar says.

NRG Solar quoted a system that would only cover 60% of my usage and I have PLENTY of roof space. Maybe their panels just suck.

38

Just last month National Grid charges over 2$ per Kwh

      • Updated - - -

DarCIR - sent you an email to your email address

39

Those are daily estimtes for cost and KWH. Divide the cost by the KWH and you will have your rate. Looks like you are paying around $.14/KWH

40

Thank you for that info - I wish that would actually say that on the bill.

Here is the breakdown of charges: