Just met w/a solar installer--really liked him. I think we're gonna do this.
My main concerns are:
- our roof is 8 years old, and
- if the power goes out, the panels get shut down, so no resilience benefit.
@sjvn yeah, unfortunately those would really up the cost of the job.
One thing I will do tho is look into the possibility of converting our EV into bi-directional charging. That way we could make use of it as a kind of portable battery.
But even without that--we are using a ton of juice since converting from gas heat to electric & so I expect it to pay itself off in < 10 years 🤞
@rpardee The roof should last 25-30 years, so you'll have a good amount of time with the panels before anything needs doing. If the power goes out, you can either install a battery backup ($$$), or just get a generator like everyone else, they are much cheaper. We've not had an issue with either of these, and we just don't get electricity bills anymore. Way cool.
and it sounds like battery backups will be coming down in price in the future, even if they are priced out of reach now.
plus, I don’t know how it is in your area, you might become a ☀️ ⚡ producer.
@peeppeepcircus @rpardee We are a producer overall. We're in the PNW, where we get 17 hours of sunlight in the summer, so over the course of the year, we far outpace our usage.
@PoliticalEd @peeppeepcircus yup, we're in the Puget Sound area. I'm going to be really interested to see what our production & use looks like.
I gather the net-metering situation here is... in flux. That will also affect the economics of course...
@rpardee @peeppeepcircus We are PUD, and they give us, IIRC, a 6 month average, so if we sell excess in, say, August, we get it credited to us in January. We've only had the charge for the meter connection since installing the panels about 18 months ago. Nothing for electricity.
@PoliticalEd woah, that is awesome. We are $-constrained & so only doing 14 panels for now. Preliminary estimate is that we'd generate 4.3kwh per year with that. I'm not actually sure what our usage is/will be.
@rpardee We have 20 panels, and a perfect south-facing 2nd story roof, so we were a perfect candidate to do it. I'm thinking about getting an EV, it'd basically be "free gas" for how much we drive (not much).
@PoliticalEd we love our EV, tho it was pricey...
@rpardee @PoliticalEd I bought a used all electric Nissan Leaf for like $16k, got a brand new battery for free a year ago, Gets 150 mi/charge. It's been awesome, really. I have solar, so like you said, free gas...
@Boyceaz @PoliticalEd that is awesome
Not for nothing, but reading this kind of lit a fire under me...
@rpardee @peeppeepcircus Yup, and as the State keeps tearing down dams, we'll get less cheap hydroelectric power. Our rate are likely to go WAY up in the next 5-10 years.
@PoliticalEd @peeppeepcircus yeah, I was worrying that my chosen installer would be booked out to the next decade. Not so much though, I don't think. Or--the consultant sure got back to me right away.
@Boyceaz @PoliticalEd ach, yes--I meant 4.3k KWh... so maybe that is 4.3 megawatt hours?
@rpardee @Boyceaz @PoliticalEd
I was told that an EV could add 7000 Kwh annually.
@peeppeepcircus @rpardee @PoliticalEd That sounds about right if you drive ~50 mi/day
@peeppeepcircus Yup - the more the technology gets adopted, the cheaper it will become. Our area very rarely loses power, we have underground power lines, so we opted to wait a while to see what would happen.
I’m sure you’ll research the solar company, their products and reviews. Solar contractors are all over my area… sadly a lot are scams.
@QueenOfEverything I did. We have ppl coming door-to-door lately & those companies I wonder about. But these guys (https://powertripenergy.com/) have great reviews.
I was sure you already knew this- I’m over sensitive about this. I live in this rebuilt Craftsman home (1926) and this entire neighborhood(s) get at least 4-5 “friendly” sales guys per week. Now as soon as I get the “wow you have a great yard” I say the magic words: “I AM A RENTER.”
SHAZAAAAM! They disappear. You’ll love your solar panels- they made a big difference in my bills in Texas. Unfortunately, the politicians couldn’t be zapped- so I disappeared. 😎
@QueenOfEverything hah! A very rational decision I think...
thanks!
@rpardee Add a PowerWall or similar house and you're good to go. They also come with a 30% Federal Tax Clean Energy Credit, so your final cost won't be that bad.