Solar upgrade at Ellwood - Any takers?

[eyephone]

Just hope California doesn't change the net metering policy like Nevada.
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/14012016/nevada-solar-rates-net-metering-public-utilities

#gamechangeR

Oh it's coming in CA.  Within a couple months.  If you get in before the cutoff you are locked in for 25 (?) years.

Nevada changed the rates and reduced the incentives across the board, with no grandfathering. Majority of the solar companies left or shall I say "pulled out" of the state cutting hundreds of jobs in Nevada.
While Arizona and Hawaii changed the rates for new customers. But look at the trend, not a good sign for solar companies and home owners with solar.

 

[capboba]

My bills are pretty high...$150-200 during low season, $250-400 during summer.  kwh usage was averaging 800-1K/month, or about 10k-12k/yearly.  ROI from my system is estimated at 6.5 years.  I'm generating 25kwh/day average during the winter months, and am expecting upwards of 40kwh/day during the summer.

I've converted all of our cans to LED housings, have 3 zones of AC, and an Ecovent system for individual room temperature control.  Our efficiency has been dialed in pretty tight, so I was able to get a pretty good profile for sizing a solar system.

how much is that ecovent system going to cost you btw? just curious how feasible is it really. won't electronically controlled dampers be way more efficient?

 

[capboba]

Oh it's coming in CA.  Within a couple months.  If you get in before the cutoff you are locked in for 25 (?) years.

also I thought SCE has already imposed minimum charge across the board. so even if you offset your electricity usage you'll pay a $10 minimum regardless.

 

[capboba]

anyways I'll chime in on our sunpower solar panel experience from our place in PP

with birch trail, a 6 panel sunpower system was standard. while i wanted as many panels upgraded as possible, they told us we can only do 9 panels on our roof (not a very big home). its a 2.2 kW system, unsure of the actual panels but I'm sure I have a brochure somewhere with the name/specs.

$4,594 - upgrade cost from 6 to 9 panels
$3,517 - fed tax credit (30% of entire system)
$1,078 - net cost

so at that price point, its a no brainer IMO.

this is a small 1,878 sq ft home with dual zone AC (upstairs/downstairs). we're a small family with very little usage.. unlike gasman I think our highest usage was september/october at about 280 kWh (we solar). we essentially didn't pay electricity bill for 2015:

previously, our bill when we lived in smaller condo was at about $50-$60/month. so this is inline with what I was expecting. initial math was that we'll easily break even within 2 years on the savings.

having said that, SCE has started imposing monthly minimum charges and my bill did went up during Oct/Nov. so now its more like 3 years to break even.

I think anyone considering a system should run the math on if its feasible and do some research on whatever legislative changes the utility companies will be pushing for. no such thing as a free lunch. also note that after you have your system installed, it takes about 2-3 month for them to onboard you into the net metering program... so there will be those 2-3 months where you might not be getting bang for your buck (if you have small usage - e.g. for the graph above, Jan/Feb should be a negative kWh usage for us too).

 

[capboba]

I saw my bills past year and I can definitely lower my energy costs by going part solar part SCE. They are offering 3kW system at ~13k before tax credits. It's much more expensive than $3.5/w As pointed on this board.

FYI, as a cost comparison of sort... the system RA/sunpower offered for birch trail over at PP was up to a 3.9 kW system (16 panels). retail cost were:

• $11,723 - 2.2 kW 9 panels
• $17,640 - 2.9 kW 12 panels
• $23,520 - 3.9 kW 16 panels

so yeah far from the $3.5 price mentioned. although a 6 panel system was included/standard already (and priced into the home?). so the upgrade cost was:

• $4,595 - 2.2 kW 9 panels
• $7,180 - 2.9 kW 12 panels
• $9,535 - 3.9 kW 16 panels

this is before the tax credit. with tax credit, i would have gone with the 3.9 kW upgrade if I could, but alas they can only fit 9 panels on our roof.

like akkord, for ellwood we also bought in phase 1, so no solar option for us (but the ductwork is in and I believe pretty standard now for all new homes). i doubt our parents will need solar though as I'd imagine their usage to be even lower than ours.

 

[eyephone]

Another main reason I don't get solar because I might sell or rent it out.

#bumpandrunafter2years

 

[dream16]

I am a newbie to Solar, but does it make sense to get Solar for a house <3,000 sqft?  I think it makes sense if your electricity bill is >$100 per month.  Also, you are paying 1% per annum until you move for an upgrade from the builder.  I have a 2,400 sqft SFR right now and my electricity bill averages $50 a month.  Not worth it for me as new homes have an efficient system.

Sounds unbelievable as i thought it will be easily a $150/mo bill for a condo

 

[Cornflakes]

Ecovent sounds to be brilliant. Will look more into it. Ecovent is giving $2000 price point for typical 4 BR home ( about 8 vents?). I am sure their sales people will be armed with numbers as to  how much $ each month their system can save.

I visited costco and gave my details to sunrun. Expecting some pricing next week. I am pretty much decided to not go with builder options. That gives me unlimited opportunities to explore other systems, or not, if I see myself selling or renting it out in the expected 7ish year payback period.

The utility companies are playing hardball. Its about time Tesla and such companies rollout big plans to let homeowners go completely off-grid using their power storage solutions. If a battery pack can store 1 week worth of power, that's good enough for me to ride out once-in-a-while cloudy days in socal.

 

[eyephone]

Ecovent sounds to be brilliant. Will look more into it. Ecovent is giving $2000 price point for typical 4 BR home ( about 8 vents?). I am sure their sales people will be armed with numbers as to  how much $ each month their system can save.

I visited costco and gave my details to sunrun. Expecting some pricing next week. I am pretty much decided to not go with builder options. That gives me unlimited opportunities to explore other systems, or not, if I see myself selling or renting it out in the expected 7ish year payback period.

The utility companies are playing hardball. Its about time Tesla and such companies rollout big plans to let homeowners go completely off-grid using their power storage solutions. If a battery pack can store 1 week worth of power, that's good enough for me to ride out once-in-a-while cloudy days in socal.

Is it cheaper to buy it from the builder?

 

[Cornflakes]

I highly doubt. Someone mentioned about roof warranty. At least sunrun at costco told me they give 15 year roof warranty on the roofs they install panels. So thats non issue with going after COE.

Ppl who put silar on thei homes can post per kw price here then that can helpwith getting general idea how pricey is builder option.

 

[eyephone]

I highly doubt. Someone mentioned about roof warranty. At least sunrun at costco told me they give 15 year roof warranty on the roofs they install panels. So thats non issue with going after COE.

Ppl who put silar on thei homes can post per kw price here then that can helpwith getting general idea how pricey is builder option.

Look at the previous post, carboba got solar for $1k net of credits. Another person, got the system for $5k net. (See link below)

When it's that cheap it's a no brainier to get.
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,11554.210.html

 

[Cornflakes]

I highly doubt. Someone mentioned about roof warranty. At least sunrun at costco told me they give 15 year roof warranty on the roofs they install panels. So thats non issue with going after COE.

Ppl who put silar on thei homes can post per kw price here then that can helpwith getting general idea how pricey is builder option.

Look at the previous post, carboba got solar for $1k net of credits. Another person, got the system for $5k net. (See link below)

When it's that cheap it's a no brainier to get.
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,11554.210.html

That is flawed calculation. Builder gave x amount of panels standard. Which means, it's price was folded in the base price. Capboba chose upgrade and paid little more. Over all he got all but 1k credit. That does not mean his system cost him 1k. It means his chosen upgrade cost him 1k.

 

[eyephone]

I highly doubt. Someone mentioned about roof warranty. At least sunrun at costco told me they give 15 year roof warranty on the roofs they install panels. So thats non issue with going after COE.

Ppl who put silar on thei homes can post per kw price here then that can helpwith getting general idea how pricey is builder option.

Look at the previous post, carboba got solar for $1k net of credits. Another person, got the system for $5k net. (See link below)

When it's that cheap it's a no brainier to get.
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,11554.210.html

That is flawed calculation. Builder gave x amount of panels standard. Which means, it's price was folded in the base price. Capboba chose upgrade and paid little more. Over all he got all but 1k credit. That does not mean his system cost him 1k. It means his chosen upgrade cost him 1k.

The other guy paid around $5k (he paid 4500 and I rounded up)

 

[Cornflakes]

@gasmane:

To shortcut this, what company did you go with?

LA Solar.  I vetted out Infinity, Suncrest, Sullivan, and a couple others I won't mention as they were far inferior.

Also vetted out using Solaredge optimizers (in lue of micro inverters) but didn't want the huge inverter box in my garage for various reasons beyond the aesthetic.

I would have gone Sunpower panels with Solaredge as an alternative to the LG/Enphase.  Sunpower panels generate well (and are pricier), and pair well with Solaredge...I wouldn't pair Sunpower with Enphase.

Fun stuff.

gasman,

Did you achiever the coveted $3.25-3.5 per watt price?

@woodburyowner, Where did those numbers come from anyways?

 

[Cornflakes]

From the article:

"The biggest defenders of the change include the state's utility regulators and the affected utility NV Energy. They say it addresses the burden being placed on customers not using the net metering benefit, which gives solar customers that deliver electricity back to the grid large rebates on their utility bills. Those customers, they argue, aren't paying their share of utility costs, including grid upkeep, and those costs are falling unfairly onto non-solar users."

This is such BS. Solar users who put up thousands of $ upfront, (which btw helps create jobs, grows economy, and makes overall life better for the very customers who are not able to use the net metering) are now told that its not enough. I smell desperate efforts by big utility to prevent the unavoidable, loss of control, and their reduced importance.

Distributed everything is the new wave and only businesses who learn the game will thrive. Look at uber, p2p lending, distributed computing and so on. Why not distributed power generation?

 

[eyephone]

From the article:

"The biggest defenders of the change include the state's utility regulators and the affected utility NV Energy. They say it addresses the burden being placed on customers not using the net metering benefit, which gives solar customers that deliver electricity back to the grid large rebates on their utility bills. Those customers, they argue, aren't paying their share of utility costs, including grid upkeep, and those costs are falling unfairly onto non-solar users."

This is such BS. Solar users who put up thousands of $ upfront, (which btw helps create jobs, grows economy, and makes overall life better for the very customers who are not able to use the net metering) are now told that its not enough. I smell desperate efforts by big utility to prevent the unavoidable, loss of control, and their reduced importance.

Distributed everything is the new wave and only businesses who learn the game will thrive. Look at uber, p2p lending, distributed computing and so on. Why not distributed power generation?

Warren Buffet owns NV Energy. 
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money...s-berkshire-buying-nv-energy-for-56b/2370761/

 

[gasman]

how much is that ecovent system going to cost you btw? just curious how feasible is it really. won't electronically controlled dampers be way more efficient?

Mine was about $900 total, and covers all of the bedrooms upstairs...7 vents, 4 sensors, and everything will tie into Nests.  We have two zones downstairs with separate thermostats so it wasn't necessary.  They should be arriving any day, and I'll share thoughts on the system if there is interest (but only if you sign up on my site and send me a PM...JK).

 

[gasman]

also I thought SCE has already imposed minimum charge across the board. so even if you offset your electricity usage you'll pay a $10 minimum regardless.

Yes, there is a minimum charge.  But honestly, I don't care, as long as I'm benefiting from net metering credits.

 

[gasman]

Ecovent sounds to be brilliant. Will look more into it. Ecovent is giving $2000 price point for typical 4 BR home ( about 8 vents?). I am sure their sales people will be armed with numbers as to  how much $ each month their system can save.

I visited costco and gave my details to sunrun. Expecting some pricing next week. I am pretty much decided to not go with builder options. That gives me unlimited opportunities to explore other systems, or not, if I see myself selling or renting it out in the expected 7ish year payback period.

The utility companies are playing hardball. Its about time Tesla and such companies rollout big plans to let homeowners go completely off-grid using their power storage solutions. If a battery pack can store 1 week worth of power, that's good enough for me to ride out once-in-a-while cloudy days in socal.

Glad to hear you are getting quotes for solar!  I would suggest giving the other companies I listed above a call.  If you want contacts, I can provide them for you.  I did vet out sunrun as well, but wasn't sold on their proposal.

 

[gasman]

gasman,

Did you achiever the coveted $3.25-3.5 per watt price?

Before fed tax credit, my total came out to $3.17/watt.

After fed tax credit, it is $2.22/watt.