WW_RANGER_X
Well-known member
Who's got solar on their house? Worth it? What's the run down? Who knows all the details? Justifying if it's worth it for my house or not.
SOLAR
- Thread starter WW_RANGER_X
- Start date
84Prerunner
Well-known member
Would have been much better off last year. Net metering 3.0 killed the solar industry in California. No reason to have solar without batteries now, adds $10k+ to the cost of installing a system.
What’s your monthly average electric bill?
What’s your monthly average electric bill?
desert_steve
Well-known member
I agree with Tommy, its only worth it if your monthly bill is fairly high. Hit up @JosB, he went down that rabbit hole and has a lot of knowledge on the subject.
I have a family friend that went full anti-SCE and spent a good $25k to buy a bunch of stuff to make his own lithium batteries and solar panels etc etc and hes generating a lot of electricity... but its not permitted and if the house burns down hes screwed. But hes able to run the entire house, all appliances (including AC) etc off of JUST the batteries.
I have another friend that lives outside of Napa (so PG&E territory) that has just solar panels and hes able to generate enough that he lives off of the "credits" that PG&E gives them (due to what generation they "buy back" from him). But now that all of the utility companies are charging a "flat fee" just to be connected to the grid, even those folks with badass solar systems are going to be paying ($24-$25 I think?) every month regardless of how much they do or dont generate.
[ Put your tin foil hats on, its time to do your own solar/battery systems and disconnect from the electric company altogether! ]
I have a family friend that went full anti-SCE and spent a good $25k to buy a bunch of stuff to make his own lithium batteries and solar panels etc etc and hes generating a lot of electricity... but its not permitted and if the house burns down hes screwed. But hes able to run the entire house, all appliances (including AC) etc off of JUST the batteries.
I have another friend that lives outside of Napa (so PG&E territory) that has just solar panels and hes able to generate enough that he lives off of the "credits" that PG&E gives them (due to what generation they "buy back" from him). But now that all of the utility companies are charging a "flat fee" just to be connected to the grid, even those folks with badass solar systems are going to be paying ($24-$25 I think?) every month regardless of how much they do or dont generate.
[ Put your tin foil hats on, its time to do your own solar/battery systems and disconnect from the electric company altogether! ]
Last edited:
WW_RANGER_X
Well-known member
Our current bill for SCE is around $350-$400 a month. We use a lot of power. My garage is pulling power almost 24-7. We have 2 full size refrigerators, deep freeze, air compressor, fans, swamp cooler, washer/dryer, way too many lights. We’ve done the little things like converting everything over to LED, installed a whole house fan in hopes we wouldn’t run the AC as much. (Whole house fan is a fucking game changer as far as actually cooling the house FYI) but we aren’t seeing much changes in our bill. My brother in law has the Tesla Power Wall but that’s another rabbit hole I haven’t went down yet. Every month we get a status report from SCE stating we are in the “fair” margin so I don’t really know what we are doing wrong.
desert_steve
Well-known member
Thats definitely on the higher end IMO.
You guys arent doing anything "wrong" per se, its just that the SCE average rate is .35c / kwh. The US average is less than half of that. If I were you guys I'd be looking into some kind of DIY solar system if you can swing the upfront costs. Something like this ( https://sungoldpower.com/collection...attery-32-x-440-watts-solar-panels-sgr-20k30e ) should be more than enough for you guys, and theres probably some kind of federal rebates too unless theyve ended that program like they did the electric car shit. Figure youll be $20k+/- "all in", which with your current bill in mind (which is only going to go up) would take you guys somewhere around 4.5 yrs for the system to pay for itself.
^ Thats exactly what Im hoping to do w/in the next couple of yrs...
You guys arent doing anything "wrong" per se, its just that the SCE average rate is .35c / kwh. The US average is less than half of that. If I were you guys I'd be looking into some kind of DIY solar system if you can swing the upfront costs. Something like this ( https://sungoldpower.com/collection...attery-32-x-440-watts-solar-panels-sgr-20k30e ) should be more than enough for you guys, and theres probably some kind of federal rebates too unless theyve ended that program like they did the electric car shit. Figure youll be $20k+/- "all in", which with your current bill in mind (which is only going to go up) would take you guys somewhere around 4.5 yrs for the system to pay for itself.
^ Thats exactly what Im hoping to do w/in the next couple of yrs...
Tree trunk
Well-known member
Our house came with solar and a LG battery,
It’s about $125-150 a month for the lease.
Not sure what happens in 20 years or what ever when the lease is up.
I’m pretty happy with it though. We are heavy electric users. The house and shop are both a/c and heat pump so they A/C is running all year pretty much. Along with heating a jacuzzi. then cooling down the whole neighborhood by keeping doors and windows open while the AC is running. Also keeping the lights on when rooms are unoccupied…. (I actually decommissioned the outside drink fridge because it routinely got left open….Dad rant over)
The battery is cool.
our youngest was born in early January this year when we had those gnarly wind storms. When we brought him home our power was off for 3 days. The battery ran the kitchen, house heater, master bed and bath no problem.
On average I think our yearly settle up bill is about 500 bucks. Sometimes we owe sometimes we don’t.
Hope this was helpful
It’s about $125-150 a month for the lease.
Not sure what happens in 20 years or what ever when the lease is up.
I’m pretty happy with it though. We are heavy electric users. The house and shop are both a/c and heat pump so they A/C is running all year pretty much. Along with heating a jacuzzi. then cooling down the whole neighborhood by keeping doors and windows open while the AC is running. Also keeping the lights on when rooms are unoccupied…. (I actually decommissioned the outside drink fridge because it routinely got left open….Dad rant over)
The battery is cool.
our youngest was born in early January this year when we had those gnarly wind storms. When we brought him home our power was off for 3 days. The battery ran the kitchen, house heater, master bed and bath no problem.
On average I think our yearly settle up bill is about 500 bucks. Sometimes we owe sometimes we don’t.
Hope this was helpful
84Prerunner
Well-known member
Literally the first person on a lease I’ve heard that’s happy.Our house came with solar and a LG battery,
It’s about $125-150 a month for the lease.
Not sure what happens in 20 years or what ever when the lease is up.
I’m pretty happy with it though. We are heavy electric users. The house and shop are both a/c and heat pump so they A/C is running all year pretty much. Along with heating a jacuzzi. then cooling down the whole neighborhood by keeping doors and windows open while the AC is running. Also keeping the lights on when rooms are unoccupied…. (I actually decommissioned the outside drink fridge because it routinely got left open….Dad rant over)
The battery is cool.
our youngest was born in early January this year when we had those gnarly wind storms. When we brought him home our power was off for 3 days. The battery ran the kitchen, house heater, master bed and bath no problem.
On average I think our yearly settle up bill is about 500 bucks. Sometimes we owe sometimes we don’t.
Hope this was helpful
Tree trunk
Well-known member
Ehh I like to party at party’s…. What can I say
Every time the solar folks come around trying to sell me solar I tell them I’ll buy what ever they are selling if they can buy me out of the lease
It’s a short conversation and they usually don’t come back.
Every time the solar folks come around trying to sell me solar I tell them I’ll buy what ever they are selling if they can buy me out of the lease
It’s a short conversation and they usually don’t come back.
Doubleggregg
Active member
i have solar did it 3 or 4 years ago. I have a ~$500 credit with SCE and have had that since year 2 started. I have 17 panels i think. No batteries or back up so power still goes off when power is out. i want to add batteries but will probably wait a little longer until my system is paid off or i have a chunk of change to throw at it and not have to finance it.
I run the AC @ 78 during day and 72 at night during the summer. I was having $400 bills in the hotter months when i first got my house but only like $50 bills during winter time. now i pay straight $150 a month i think for solar loan which really averaged out the winter and summer month bills so im not making an overall killing or overall savings, just not having those summer months where the bill is huge and has to be paid that month.
If you get solar, make sure you get as big a system as you can. I would make sure your SCE annual reup dates is not in the summer too. i have a few months of generation that builds a credit before summer starts so i have a buffer for summer time kWh usage. I vreate average 38 kWh a day i think it is during summer.
Im curious to see how things change this year since the new rules went into effect october 1 though.
Gregg
I run the AC @ 78 during day and 72 at night during the summer. I was having $400 bills in the hotter months when i first got my house but only like $50 bills during winter time. now i pay straight $150 a month i think for solar loan which really averaged out the winter and summer month bills so im not making an overall killing or overall savings, just not having those summer months where the bill is huge and has to be paid that month.
If you get solar, make sure you get as big a system as you can. I would make sure your SCE annual reup dates is not in the summer too. i have a few months of generation that builds a credit before summer starts so i have a buffer for summer time kWh usage. I vreate average 38 kWh a day i think it is during summer.
Im curious to see how things change this year since the new rules went into effect october 1 though.
Gregg
84Prerunner
Well-known member
You should be grand fathered in on your current net metering plan. If you added batteries with permit you’d be brought up to net metering 3.0 or whatever it is at that time.
4xFoorOffroad
Active member
Somewhat related - all the public schools and district buildings got solar in their parking lots within the past year or so around here. Wonder how long it will take to pay off.
Doubleggregg
Active member
I’ve wondered what the tax relief is and who is benefiting from those arrays being put up. Every school here has them too!
84Prerunner
Well-known member
I’m also certain the schools are all done through tax incentives and power purchase agreements meaning the school/district doesn’t actually own any of it. They’re getting a tax break and the installer is making a continuous profit off the power being generated
4xFoorOffroad
Active member
Could be a straight trade for shady parking spots 
I have no idea what Net Energy Plan I'm on with my Solar but it got turned on beginning of 2022. I believe I have a 6.4KW system and my solar makes more than I use all year so the last 2 years at the reup date I got a check for like $200 back. I would love to get inverter's and battery and go "off Grid" but that's more money than I care to spend since my energy bill every month is a credit.
Last edited:
84Prerunner
Well-known member
6.4kw is a tiny system to have that much surplus. Do you even use electricity?
Heer_O
Well-known member
Yeah, solar is a scam. I have 42 panels and still won't offset even my pool pump. So in the summer when you have the AC on, the solar isn't even offsetting the basic usage. Not to mention the company I originally used has been sold like 3 times now. We purchased vs leasing. Edison sent me a bill for $3500.
84Prerunner
Well-known member
That sounds odd. Have any more specs on your system? Do you know if it’s operating correctly? Most purchased system actually work decently well.
Heer_O
Well-known member
Yeah it's producing around what was claimed. Now, in full disclosure, I did have an OG single speed 240 V pool pump. And now I have no idea what company holds the 20 year warranty on the system
