Don T Buy Solar Panels

u/Lovesolarthings said: The bad apples (with lies, poor service, high prices, poor equipment, etc) that poison the good experiences that a good consultant with a good company can create.

don t buy solar panels

These misconceptions are a lot like high school gossip. They may begin with a shred of truth, but they tend to snowball into something juicier and less truthful as they spread. And even though there are thousands of successful solar installations in the US every day, the juicy disaster story is the one that spreads like wildfire.

However, for most homeowners, going solar is nowhere near as expensive as sticking with grid electricity for 25 years. In October 2022, the average price for electricity in the US was 16.6 cents per kilowatt hour, while the average price for solar.com customers is around 7 cents per kWh, after the 30% federal tax credit is applied.

The solar tax credit is currently worth 30%; you can use it to save nearly a third of the price of your solar system. This incentive can play a huge role in improving the payback period of a solar system purchase.

That said, many homeowners that have less-than-perfect conditions for solar are still able to save thousands of dollars by installing solar panels. Just make sure that solar panels are worth it for you before you make any decisions either way.

Depending on where you live, you might need permission to install solar panels onto your home. If you do not have the proper permits, you might have to redo the entire project to meet certain local requirements.

Your solar system should be customized to your home energy needs. The number of solar panels you need depends on the performance of each panel, the size of your roof, and how many peak hours of sunlight your panels can expect to receive.

So does that mean you should skip the panels altogether? Hardly. There are still many good reasons to go solar, including the possibility to save money on your electric bill. Meanwhile, the more people who adopt solar panels, the more the price drops, as panel manufacturers and installers get more efficient. This is already happening, as the cost of solar has plummeted 73 percent since 2006 and could soon be equal to or less than the cost of other electricity in many states. Industry insiders have a rule of thumb that every time production of panels doubles, solar prices drop 20 percent.

Typically, the smallest system we sell is a 2kW system with 8 panels. The roof space required for a 2kW system is 8m x 1.7m, or 4m x 3.4m (each panel is approximately 1.7m tall by 1m wide). A number of properties such as terrace houses in the inner west do not have a large enough roof space for even the smallest system, in which case solar power cannot be installed on your roof. More information: Solar Power for a terrace house.

Solar power only works during the daytime and needs to be used in the home as it is generated. Because solar power is fed into the home to directly reduce your power bill, to benefit from solar power you need to be able to use most of the solar power as it is generated during the day, most of the time.

As mentioned, the other main point to remember is that it is often quite easy these days to put appliances and pool pumps to run on timers. The 5 main examples are pool pumps, air conditioning/ heating, the washing machine, the dryer and the dishwasher. If you are able to run any or all of these on timer during the day when the sun is shining, it is not only possible to maximise the benefit of a smaller system, but you may be able to justify a much larger system, especially at the moment with low solar panel prices and significant government rebates.

With battery storage now available, it is also possible to store any excess solar power to be used in the evening. For more information about hybrid solar and solar storage please submit an enquiry and we can talk through your options.

The primary benefit of solar power is to reduce the daytime component of your power bill. If your power bills are under $250 a quarter and you use most of your power at night, solar power can at best save you around $100 per quarter. If you buy a 2kW system for around $3,500, the best case return on your money is around 8 to 9 years, and you would have to decide if this makes sense for your situation.

In most cases, we aim for a return on your money in 3 to 5 years, and generally, you would need to have a power bill of at least $250 a quarter with the ability to use around 8 kWh of solar power during the day. Check your bill to see how much power you use as a daily average. If it is less than 10 kWh a day it may be hard to justify the financial benefits of solar power.

This means that if your roof is completely shaded for most of the day, for example from a neighbouring building, then solar power may not be suitable for your house or business. Yes, premium panels such as the LG Solar NeON 2 module will work better than others in low light conditions, however, there are no panels on the market that work well in heavily shaded conditions, because panels work off light rather than heat, and it is only when they have direct sunlight that they start performing well.

We get a number of enquiries from households planning a roof restoration in the near future. Our install department has extensive experience managing this process, and we can ensure that the solar system is installed shortly after the roof restoration is completed. If your roof is due for an upgrade or restoration, it is important not to install the solar panels first, as it can cost up to around $1,000 for a team of qualified solar installers to take off the panels and reinstall them.

We also find some new developments have rules restricting the installation of panels on the street-facing roof. This might be a complete show stopper, or it may mean our install planners will need to design an array that uses a roof section along the side of your house, typically facing west. More information about this is available here: Do I need permission to install solar power?

Many houses in the inner west, inner-city and north shore have heritage restrictions that ban the installation of solar panels on the street-facing roof. It is important to check with your local council if you think this may apply to your area.

Conversely, many councils are now quite pro-active in the uptake of renewable energy, and on public buildings or buildings with high public exposure, it is possible to get an exemption to allow the installation of solar panels. If you live in a heritage area, it is best to speak with your local council as a first step, and we are always happy to help with advice when we can.

For commercial solar systems, this is often applicable to businesses that have a low cost per kWh that were considering solar power as a way of reducing short to mid-term energy costs. As a general rule, the less you pay for your power, the longer it will take for the solar system to pay itself off. Our solar team can get the numbers to work for your business in almost all cases, however, there are times when the cost of electricity is so low that solar power is not a recommended investment. Please contact our commercial solar team for more information.

As a Solaray customer, you will be assign a dedicated installation coordinator to help plan your installation. You will also have a direct line to our support team without the hassles of a call centre. Solaray are ranked as one of the top solar installers in Australia based on customer feedback.

As electricity prices continue to rise, Solaray customers are locking in cheaper power bills by using solar power rather than buying electricity from the grid. Installing solar power & battery storage is the most effective way of protecting yourself from rising power costs.

While it's a great opportunity to save money and generate cleaner energy, it can expose solar shoppers to less-than-honest sales tactics, like those uncovered by a Fox News team in Detroit last year. It found that Pink Solar, then called PowerHome Solar and now bankrupt, made promises its solar panels couldn't deliver. It sold expensive solar panels that generated far less energy than promised.

Though it isn't proof that unethical sales tactics are widespread (and customer satisfaction data isn't widely available), dishonesty happens. The good news is that a bit of education can go a long way to getting the best solar panels for your situation.

There's fierce competition in the booming residential solar industry. Companies employ a variety of sales strategies from in-house sales teams or third-party companies. Tesla's solar arm relies solely on online inquiries. While there are industry guidelines for consumer protection, tactics vary from company to company and, as the report from Detroit showed, can verge on dishonesty. Going in with a strong understanding of some key solar topics can help you spot when a salesperson is flouting those guidelines.

Salespeople are likely to tout the federal solar tax credit. When you install solar panels (and certain other related technology) you receive a portion of the cost back on your taxes. For the 2022 tax year, the portion you get back is 30% and will stay there through 2031 as laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act.

If a salesperson says your electricity bill will disappear after installing solar and that you can kick your utility to the curb, that could also be an exaggeration. Your bill will vary depending on your net metering agreement with your utility, your electricity usage and the base rate utility customers pay to keep up grid infrastructure. Solar panels installed and operating correctly will reduce the electricity you use and can save you a bunch of money, but the effect on your bill will vary.

Be sure you understand how your utility compensates you for the electricity you produce before going solar. These rates are not necessarily set in stone. In California, regulators are trying to change net metering in the state, though proposals so far have included provisions to keep established customers on their previously agreed to net metering rates. 041b061a72