New house + solar panel

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yaliu07

New member
I just bought a new house at beachwood and we have to either buy or lease solar panel.  Should I buy or rent solar panel? 

Thanks
 
PP in the house!

I elected not to lease it.  I felt that the cost didn't justify it.  Although your use might be different than mine.  So what they'll do is just take off 20% compared to my So Cal Edison bill and they will manage the panels themselves.  Solar is getting cheaper so I might just wait it out if you really wanted to make the investment on them. 
 
Yes you can opt out on it.  The option I chose was to leave it on there.  I won't own it so the company manages and monitors it.  It's half and half (so they say) with Edison.. so when you get your electric bill.. the solar should be 20% lower than the SCE bill. 
 
What are the costs to maintain it?  Warranty period?  Servicing?  It might be a good play if your family  uses over $150 a month.
 
They don't want us to mess with it at all (no maintenance).  Warranty either 20, 25 or 40 years, I forgot.  Read too much docs at once.


 
ROI is always better on purchasing the panels vs. leasing due to government rebates AND because it increases the property value. Now if you don't have the funds to purchase up front, then leasing is your only option.

Solar panels don't make much financial sense unless your electricity bill is over $90 a month.
 
Meggie said:
There is 30% rebate tax incentive with solar purchase.  I don't think it applies to lease unit but I am not sure.  On our 3 kW it came out like this:
Retail cost = $15,000
Builder cost = $10,000 (charged to homeowner)
30% tax rebate calculated from RETAIL to be reflected in 2014 IRS tax return= $5,000
Overall, the purchase cost is only $5,000 and for our family the payback is going to be 2-3 years.  I expect close to 0 electrical bill after averaging annually (including SCE credit when we produce more than we consume).
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It's a steal - get it.
 
I checked the solar manual.  It stated occasional rain is enough to keep the panels clean.  IF necessary the panels can be washed using garden hose.

Warranty is 10 years on workmanship and 25 years on performance output.
 
It's lennar. They don't claim the credit. Perhaps only if you don't buy it.
 
I believe you have to own the equipment and be the one who puts it into service to be able to take the credit. So unless lennar is in the business of leasing solar equipment they can't take the credit.
 
Meggie said:
We just found out from the builder that solar panel can be excluded from property tax.  Although the saving amount is not much, it is a nice surprise because we didn't know about it.  Attached is the bill if anyone care to read.
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What's the brand of the solar panels.
 
How much power does each panel produce?  I see some houses with a small grid of panels and others with tons.  Just wondering what a 2KW setup looks like.
 
Meggie said:
I checked the solar manual.  It stated occasional rain is enough to keep the panels clean.  IF necessary the panels can be washed using garden hose.

Warranty is 10 years on workmanship and 25 years on performance output.
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That's what several vendors told me too.  However I did have one vendor that told me that yearly cleaning is part of their maintenance if I choose to go with them.

So it comes down to how many birds love your roof.  My roof is at a steep pitch and no ledges that are bird-friendly.  So cleaning my solar panels isn't a big deal for me.  But everyone has different roofs.

Also don't use cold water on solar panels on a hot summer day.  That temp difference will crack the solar panels.  That's what another vendor told me.
 
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