Solar…is it worth it?

We are looking to perhaps shift into a different home that more reflects our needs. It is mind blowing to me how many of the homes we have seen have solar leases. My home I currently spend most time in has a twenty year lease…10 years in. The contract was 26 pages in length. I was steaming when I bought the home…and steaming still. By doing the math to include the solar lease my electric costs 171$ a month. This is a figure that arguably would have a chance of being less if I did noy have the lease payment. I wonder how many people read…and understand their contracts.

It is worth it for my brother.
It is worth it for a friend who is totally off the grid.

It would not be worth it for me.

Anyone who does not read contracts is a fool (and in some instances, deserves what chaos they get themselves into).

Since you were steaming about the house's solar contract, why did you buy the house anyway?

I was in the last days of a 1031 exchange. I had to buy something fast or pay a ton of money. So I bought a home I would not have otherwise purchased.

Muskrat, I have no idea what a "solar lease" is. And google isn't too sure either.
BTW, you stole my old 'username'.

@fuzzybuddy …it is my old CB name. A solar lease they put the panels on your roof and you pay a monthly payment for the lease. It is a contract…and you can not quit paying. Absolutely none of the nee contracts that I have so far read have any provision to own the panels after compleating the term of the lease. Mine at least says that after the TERM of the lease if I do not extend and they do not collect the panels I will own them after 90 days by default. Since I have yet to see any being removed I am counting upon someday owning them.

Muskrat said:

@fuzzybuddy …it is my old CB name. A solar lease they put the panels on your roof and you pay a monthly payment for the lease. It is a contract…and you can not quit paying. Absolutely none of the nee contracts that I have so far read have any provision to own the panels after compleating the term of the lease. Mine at least says that after the TERM of the lease if I do not extend and they do not collect the panels I will own them after 90 days by default. Since I have yet to see any being removed I am counting upon someday owning them.

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Thanks, I don't get out much.

Muskrat said:

By doing the math to include the solar lease my electric costs 171$ a month. This is a figure that arguably would have a chance of being less

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Does it power the air conditioning? Do you know what the average bill is for your area and size of house? Does it work when the power grid goes down? Would you still have full power if the grid starts doing brown-outs?

It doesn't sound to me like it costs too much depending on what it supplies.

Solar…is it worth it?

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My step-son who owns a solar systems installation company told me a few years ago that if our monthly electric bill regularly exceeded $150 that installing solar panels would be financially advantageous. I don't know what the current economics of solar is these days, but I generally view installing a solar system that would cost $30-40K up front or financed or leased, to be in essence "prepaying" for electricity for the next few decades. If I was under 40 rather than over 70 I wouldn't mind the long term investment, especially if it lowered monthly expenses.

In my opinion, If Solar completely eliminated the electric company, it might be worth it but, it Does Not. So, pay the electric company or get solar and now pay the electric company AND pay for the solar. Now you have 2 bills to pay for electricity. What you save on the electric bill by having solar, you now have to give that up to the solar company. Yeah, sounds like a win win to me - NOT!!! Just sharing my 2 cents and no, I do Not have solar. By the way, we've been here 40 years with the same electric company, solar panels only last half that long and they aren't cheap to replace. Just saying... Don...

I've always wanted solar panels and I know in the long run, it would be a saving but they are still to expensive to install.

if you have a battery to store the excess energy produced it might be a somewhat better idea for my area…but the batteries probably last a third of the panel life and cost a pretty penny. Without the battery you feed your excess into the grid for a price…and buy it back out for a higher price.

I've been approached quite a few times by companies that install solar panels. I've looked into it, but decided I have no interest.

Aside from the substantial initial investment, solar panels need to be cleaned at least twice a year and there may be other maintenance costs, such as occasional inverter replacement and the expense of tree pruners to periodically cut back vegetation if you have trees on your property

There is potential for damage from hail larger than 1" in diameter, in which case the panels may not function to capacity, or fail completely, and insurance claims may take some time. The panels are generally covered by homeowner's policies, but the insurance premium will likely increase, since coverage limits on the dwelling have to be raised - and even without panels, my homeowner's premium has tripled in just the past three years.

I have a solar lease as well here in California. I have the 20 yr lease with two 5 yr options after that. For me it has been worht it. I am about 12 yrs in now. So far every year my solar has produced more than I have all 12 years. Cut my bill almost in half. And after adding in the gas payment to PG&E I am still ahead every month by almost $100.

We have leased solar panels and have regretted it, the main reason: (with the particular lease--through Tesla, formerly Solar City--we have anyway) anybody that wants to buy our house will have to qualify with Tesla to take over the lease. Supposedly it's similar to what you go through when pre-qualifying for a mortgage. So, if whoever was ready to buy our house doesn't want to qualify with Tesla, there goes that sale. Also, if whoever wants to buy the house agrees to qualify with Tesla but doesn't meet Tesla's approval, there goes that sale. It can sometimes make it hard to sell a house.

We bought ours back when both state and fed rebates were available, so the cost was $13K for 14 panels back in 2015. Plus, the feds were giving a tax credit so our CPA was impressed that we got a 'one for one' credit off our taxable income.

The cost of electricity in CA has skyrocketed since. There have been 12 cost increases (so much for our PUC being the public watchdog, alas) in that decade, with more promised. Our panels provide approx 2/3 of our electrical needs; fortunately we seldom need our air conditioning.

Month-by-month bills fluctuate, but we are under the old (no longer available) Net Zero Metering contract. The new contracts are not as favorable; ours runs until 2035. We are credited with retail rates on electricity going to the grid, so even after all the price increases, our current monthly electricity is about $50-60/month.

Prior to putting the solar in, our electricity bill was over $100/mo. BEFORE all the price increases. The first three years our bill was $10-12/mo. Then the increases really started to bite consumers hard.

Essentially, our system paid for itself in less than 5 years.

Hail is extremely rare here - so is rain, even in our 'rainy season', LOL - but a couple of decent storms per year clean off the panels so we don't hassle with having them cleaned.

Note that solar panels lose efficiency over time, and by lifetime's end (25-30 yrs) will see about a 20-25% loss in power generation.

We did not put in a battery storage; it would be pointless since we don't generate 100+% of our power with any overage to fill the battery. We would be filling it with retail priced energy from the utility. Not only would it be costly, but we are in a major metropolitan area and specifically in a neighborhood judged "critical use", with both a fire station and two schools within a 1-mile radius.

When power goes out in our area, we are one of the first to go back on, even when others a block outside the radius remain in the dark. So the expense of a battery didn't seem worth it.

Solar is still considered a selling point here. Even a minor help with the cost of utilities is viewed as a plus.

I still have roof issues regarding putting anything on top of the roof. Anything.

My first home had central heating and AC added to it. To avoid taking up the limited storage space inside the house, the unit was put on the roof. Alas, leaks started and tracking them down was a major headache. If I were to get solar I would put it on land, If I had enough, or on top of a less important roof, such as a carport roof. I would never put it on top of the roof that covers my living area.

The warning about leasing the system is valid. It’s another headache when you sell the house.

If I lived in area area with very high electric rates, I might reconsider the above.

Note: for the first time in all the years I have lived in this area we are getting text messages asking us to turn up the thermostats on the AC in summer and turn the thermostat down in Winter to avoid electricity shortages. So, I am not feeling good about the entire power grid in my area.

Brookswood said:

I still have roof issues regarding putting anything on top of the roof.

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Like everything about home maintenance, proper installation is 98% of the project's success. You are right to be concerned about roof issues; careless installation creates problems that often don't occur until 'far down the road'.

CA changed its law a while back, at least a couple of decades I believe. For a long time the law was no more than 3 layers of roofing material allowed, but by the time we had our solar installed, the change was no more than 2 layers on a roof. It's why solar companies would say the best time to install solar is when you need a new roof anyway.

CA State Law:
California law generally allows for no more than two layers of asphalt shingles on a roof, according to several sources. This means if a roof currently has two layers of asphalt shingles (or any type of material), any new roofing materials will necessitate a full tear-off and replacement down to the roof deck, rather than adding another layer.