Home solar install experiences?
10mon 18d ago by lemmy.world/u/AA5B in solarenergy
Is this a good place to ask about home solar installation experiences? I don’t see a community description.
For people who have done it, what are the little things that surprised you either way?
In the US we’re phasing out the tax incentive for installing home solar installation experiences, so I’m considering getting it done asap while it’s still available. But I have questions like
- are there things I need to ask for or about?
- what happens when my roof needs repair or replacement? Is it expensive? What if the installer is no longer in business at that point?
- installers offer warrantees but what if they’re no longer in business 25 years from now? Would they be honored by manufacturers?
- my first quote claims 7 year payback. Is that believable or should I assume marketing BS? (When I first looked years ago I decided 7 was a good number if believable, but 12 years would be too long)
- my first quote offers an ‘Enphase’ microinverter. Home Assistant (home automation hub) has an integration, assuming there is an “Enphase Envoy” communications gateway and “grid consumption meter” but the quote doesn’t have that level of detail. Are those expected? Do I need to ask for them?
- my first quote talks about remote monitoring - are they going to charge me a subscription? Will everything work without a subscription? Will it continue working if the installer goes out of business?
Edit to add
- they quoted half my expected usage based on actual from the last year. Is this normal or likely because I have limited unshaded roof?
- my current electric bill is about half “generation” and half “delivery”. Obviously solar will reduce my “generation” charge. However without batteries, am I likely to still owe “delivery” on my own electricity?
- my area has net usage metering, which is great, but do they true up monthly or annually? If I generate more than I use in a month, am I wasting money, or will that help the next month? (I currently have gas heat so very electric low usage in winter)
I'm having similar doubts, I see no one replied to your post for months so just asking, did you manage to find an answer to those questions elsewhere and have any points to direct me to?
Most of them not really. I tried to get something done before the federal incentives disappeared, but I was so frustrated at how scammy solar installers are and really don’t want to give my money to any of them
SunRun of all installers, the scammiest, was also the only one that answered any questions
- I only had enough unshaded roof for panels to cover half my typical usage. I have this fantastic old Maple partly shading my house and SunRun had the nerve to propose taking it down as the only way to get more solar
- they kept pushing PPAs (“it’s not a lease, I promise”) even after I said the only arrangement I would accept is outright ownership. PPAs are I believe they own the panels and you promise to pay a fixed amount per month for power. As opposed to a lease where they own it and you pay a fixed amount but I think get all the power
- outright purchase is the only acceptable arrangement. Everything else is a long term commitment where you don’t actually own it, you depend on someone else, and you may not be able to sell your house if buyers don’t want that long term commitment
- all my quotes were similar. No one is scammier than everyone else. They just sound that way with how they sell and how they attempt to obfuscate everything rather than answer questions
- from other sources, Massachusetts lets the meter run backward, which is a pretty good deal! Since I don’t have enough unshaded roof, any questions about true-up are moot
I have to say I’m still about as interested as I was, even without the incentives. I’m not looking but one of these days may check to see if prices came down with the drop in business