@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...
@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.
@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.
@rpardee @PoliticalEd MWh?
@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
@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).