New house + solar panel

[irvinehomeowner]

I thought everyone else setting it for 80 was still too warm... we set ours for 78 (what SCE recommends). But 76... that's like freezing.

We also run 2 fridges... but our secondary bedrooms have no cans or fans.

Maybe I should check our bill again.

Oh... and we live in the "cooler" part of Irvine... maybe that's the difference.

 

[bones]

Ttfv

 

[qwerty]

i would be dying at 80. after walking the dogs/kid a couple of miles i want to come home to a cool house.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

i would be dying at 80. after walking the dogs/kid a couple of miles i want to come home to a cool house.

I guess I'm used to walking into a warm home, flipping on the AC and then waiting the 5-10 minutes for the house to cool down.

That's also why I don't really want a WiFi thermostat to pre-cool the house, but just so that I can control it from my phone or if I'm out of the house and forgot to turn off the AC when we left.

As a 99%er, we are also more ghetto than most as we have a few plug-in fans throughout the house (those vertical stand up ones you see at Costco, not the old school gigantic round fans or the new school 1%er Dyson fans). So I can always sit/stand in front of one of those while the AC kicks in.

 

[qwerty]

i have a fan in the bedroom.  my wife likes to keep the upstairs at 78 at night for our daughter. whenever our daughter wakes up at night, which is not very often, i use that moment to tell her that she woke up because its too hot.

 

[Meggie]

.

 

[ZeroLot]

I'll call up IP customer service tomorrow and get an electrician out too.  My house at idle is 0.09 kW in the afternoon but once it hits 1am it goes up to 0.64 kW for no reason.  It's like I'm powering the whole street.

Just a guess - maybe they have part of HOA electricity running through your address

Got off the phone from IP rep and he thinks that's the case too.  Sounds like this isn't the first time this might have happened.  The builder electrician is coming out this week to investigate and to clear things up.  But it sounds like that is the case. 

You think the HOA will reimburse me??

 

[ZeroLot]

300 kW Solar Panel generated electricity credited to your account.  That's our average generation per month.  You may need more panels to offset your high usage.

Interesting ... how many panels do you have?

I face the optimum direction and Solar City hopes to put 21 panels on my roof to generate 800 kW a month.

I think I have 12 panels, total output 3.2 kW.  Last month it generates 337 kW.

Oh I would love to have those 12 panels.  The panels I'm looking at will generate 5.0 kW to 5.2 kW. 

Anyone know of any restrictions that Irvine Pacific HOA have in regards to solar panels? Like is there a limit to the number of panels you can put on the roof, which sides of the house, etc? Has anyone gotten quotes on purchasing or leasing on houses around 2,000 square foot? I'm moving into a 1974 square foot Jasmine Plan 3 in September and curious as to how many panels and how many kw I can expect to generate.

I'm currently living in a 2 bedroom apt in Irvine and last couple months the bills were around $200 and using around 800 kw. I can only expect the bills to go up when I move into a bigger place.

. 

Solar Law in California states that no HOA is allowed to restrict on solar panels.  This was passed in 2004.  But it doesn't mean that Edison or HOA won't drag their feet on accepting the plans and permits.

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=CA45R&re=1&ee=1

The Solar Rights Act (CA Civil Code 714), enacted in 1978, bars restrictions by homeowners associations (HOAs) on the installation of solar-energy systems, but originally did not specifically apply to cities, counties, municipalities or other public entities. The Act was amended in September 2003 to prohibit a public entity from receiving state grant funding or loans for solar-energy programs if the entity prohibits or places unreasonable restrictions on the installation of solar-energy systems. A public entity is required to certify that it is not placing unreasonable restrictions on the procurement of solar-energy systems when applying for state-sponsored grants and loans.

The Act was amended again in September 2004 by extending its prohibition on restrictions to all public entities. Additional key changes minimize aesthetic solar restrictions to those that cost less than $2,000 and limits building official?s review of solar installations only to those items that relate to specific health and safety requirements of local, state and federal law. Assembly Bill 1892 of 2008 further amended the civil code to nullify any restrictions relating to solar energy systems contained in the governing documents of a common interest development. A common interest development includes community apartment projects, condominium projects, planned developments and stock cooperatives.

As for direction, solar panels must face south or some-south ... with a particular angle.  If it exceeds 44 degrees that won't work.

 

[ZeroLot]

i have a fan in the bedroom.  my wife likes to keep the upstairs at 78 at night for our daughter. whenever our daughter wakes up at night, which is not very often, i use that moment to tell her that she woke up because its too hot.

78 degrees at night would be nice and chilly at the ZL house.  I'm happy at 80 degrees for the night time.  It cools down to 78 by 6am in the morning tho.  Does that count?

 

[qwerty]

i have a fan in the bedroom.  my wife likes to keep the upstairs at 78 at night for our daughter. whenever our daughter wakes up at night, which is not very often, i use that moment to tell her that she woke up because its too hot.

78 degrees at night would be nice and chilly at the ZL house.  I'm happy at 80 degrees for the night time.  It cools down to 78 by 6am in the morning tho.  Does that count?

What all of this is telling is that I need to lose weight to be comfortable at 78-80

 

[SubSolar]

300 kW Solar Panel generated electricity credited to your account.  That's our average generation per month.  You may need more panels to offset your high usage.

Interesting ... how many panels do you have?

I face the optimum direction and Solar City hopes to put 21 panels on my roof to generate 800 kW a month.

I think I have 12 panels, total output 3.2 kW.  Last month it generates 337 kW.

Oh I would love to have those 12 panels.  The panels I'm looking at will generate 5.0 kW to 5.2 kW. 

Anyone know of any restrictions that Irvine Pacific HOA have in regards to solar panels? Like is there a limit to the number of panels you can put on the roof, which sides of the house, etc? Has anyone gotten quotes on purchasing or leasing on houses around 2,000 square foot? I'm moving into a 1974 square foot Jasmine Plan 3 in September and curious as to how many panels and how many kw I can expect to generate.

I'm currently living in a 2 bedroom apt in Irvine and last couple months the bills were around $200 and using around 800 kw. I can only expect the bills to go up when I move into a bigger place.

. 

Solar Law in California states that no HOA is allowed to restrict on solar panels.  This was passed in 2004.  But it doesn't mean that Edison or HOA won't drag their feet on accepting the plans and permits.

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=CA45R&re=1&ee=1

The Solar Rights Act (CA Civil Code 714), enacted in 1978, bars restrictions by homeowners associations (HOAs) on the installation of solar-energy systems, but originally did not specifically apply to cities, counties, municipalities or other public entities. The Act was amended in September 2003 to prohibit a public entity from receiving state grant funding or loans for solar-energy programs if the entity prohibits or places unreasonable restrictions on the installation of solar-energy systems. A public entity is required to certify that it is not placing unreasonable restrictions on the procurement of solar-energy systems when applying for state-sponsored grants and loans.

The Act was amended again in September 2004 by extending its prohibition on restrictions to all public entities. Additional key changes minimize aesthetic solar restrictions to those that cost less than $2,000 and limits building official?s review of solar installations only to those items that relate to specific health and safety requirements of local, state and federal law. Assembly Bill 1892 of 2008 further amended the civil code to nullify any restrictions relating to solar energy systems contained in the governing documents of a common interest development. A common interest development includes community apartment projects, condominium projects, planned developments and stock cooperatives.

As for direction, solar panels must face south or some-south ... with a particular angle.  If it exceeds 44 degrees that won't work.

That's good news. I knew they couldn't ban you completely from putting solar panels up, but I've heard they can restrict the number of panels you can put up, etc.

 

[ZeroLot]

Yes I think they can counter the architectural design and how many can be put up on a roof.  But they have to be reasonable ... They can't limit it to one solar panel.

 

[SubSolar]

Yes I think they can counter the architectural design and how many can be put up on a roof.  But they have to be reasonable ... They can't limit it to one solar panel.

Yeah, that's what I was asking, if anyone in Irvine has had experience with solar panels and HOA's so they could tell me how many panels, etc I can expect to be allowed to put up.

 

[Tarmacpro]

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.

So basically the solar panel company becomes your electric bill?  Or do you also have an SCE bill?

 

[ZeroLot]

Yes I think they can counter the architectural design and how many can be put up on a roof.  But they have to be reasonable ... They can't limit it to one solar panel.

Yeah, that's what I was asking, if anyone in Irvine has had experience with solar panels and HOA's so they could tell me how many panels, etc I can expect to be allowed to put up.

My architectural plan will be with the max ... 21 panels.  I get 2 freebie reviews after submissions.  So most likely the association will counter with how many you're allowed to put up on your roof.  That's how you can find out. 

Every panel size is different no one can really tell you how many panels because some panels are bigger while others are smaller. Just put the max you want in your architectural plan and go from there.

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.

So basically the solar panel company becomes your electric bill?  Or do you also have an SCE bill?

Yes.  The solar panel company becomes your electric bill if you go with the lease option BUT Edison will always be your secondary electric company because they own the "GRID" ... *angels singing* ...

Edison gives you a credit for each kW you don't use (aka: it rolls over ... month by month, year by year).  Then when you go over a kW, they charge you based on their current Tier 1 pricing.  If your kids throw a BIG party and blasts the AC for a week ... you might end up in Tier 2 pricing with Edison even tho you have solar panels.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

@Zero:

If the HOA fixes your electrical issues do you really need solar? I don't think it will cost out properly.

 

[qwerty]

Zerolot - not sure if you saw my post on one of the other threads a while back, but ill post it for you here.

DONT BUY A SOLAR SYSTEM, NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME. YOU WILL NOT RECOVER YOUR COST.

 

[ZeroLot]

@Zero:

If the HOA fixes your electrical issues do you really need solar? I don't think it will cost out properly.

Unfortunately I ran the numbers and the HOA is sucking up about 300 kW a month ... that's as of March.  With the rest of Marigold built out, I might be taking a bigger hit.  But assuming I use 500 kW on my own, it's still a pretty big chunk, especially with Edison increasing their rates by 12% and with more increases on the way with San Onifre shut down permanently. 

Zerolot - not sure if you saw my post on one of the other threads a while back, but ill post it for you here.

DONT BUY A SOLAR SYSTEM, NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME. YOU WILL NOT RECOVER YOUR COST.

Thanks Qwerty.  I did consider that factor if I purchased the system out-right.  But I'm planning on the lease option, not the buy-out option.

However all these solar projects takes time.  It takes about 2 to 5 months to complete.  I'll have time to see a couple more bills before all the HOA and City permits are done.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I thought a lease wasn't desirable because you don't get the rebates and selling the home becomes an issue in the future.

 

[qwerty]

yeah if i was buying a home i would not consider a home with a leased system, a purchased perhaps, but even then, i dont think i would buy one.