Solar, revisited

[jibsey]

I'm personally not a fan of solar leasing. The magnitude of the savings will generally be smaller over time, and in a way that is "out of your control."

I think anyone considering solar should ask three questions. If "yes" to all three, then by all means go for it.

1. Do you have a roof geometry with the preferred characteristics? Preferably south or near-south facing, with minimal covering from tree shade?

2. Do you intend to stay in the house long enough to make back your money?

3. Can you afford to finance, or even better, pay upfront with cash? (Not relevant to the OP who said he was financing, but relevant in other cases)

I would agree with you except:
my roofs are east west but because the slopes are not very steep (house design) they get great solar, production no issue. The dealer explained that slope is important in calculating it and he was right. If my roof was steep it would have been a no go.

 

[uconnfan68]

I scheduled a consultation for next week. What are some good questions that you guys would recommend I be sure to ask?

How did Geno lose?

 

[UCDaveD]

How did Geno lose?

I don’t have all day to spend talking with these people.

 

[Travelman6]

How did Geno lose?

Am I missing something here? What in the world??

 

[Hoophound]

My biggest concern with the investment right now is that more government incentives may be on the way through Biden’s infrastructure/clean energy proposals. I’ll be annoyed if I do it and a year later I can save $12,000 on it.

 

[UCDaveD]

Did anyone explore paying for their Solar panels through a home equity loan?

I’m running into an annoying issue with SUNation. My original quote was for a loan through NYSERDA (NY thing) at 3.49% for 15 years. Would’ve resulted in ~$100/mo or $18,000 total payments (after reinvesting tax incentives)

Approval for the loan comes back at 6.99% and I’m like uhhh what? Would’ve resulted in a total loan cost of ~$22,600. Well apparently this financing program is designed for lower/lower-middle class applicants and if you make over a certain percentage of your area’s median income, you actually get a higher rate. Annoying that this wasn’t brought up to me ahead of time by my salesperson, but whatever, I’m not accepting that loan.

The guy is apologetic and says he’s going to look at other financing options. Comes back to me with a 20 year loan at 1.99%. I do the math and the total payments are a little over $23,000, so basically a worse option than the ridiculous 6.99% loan.

I’ve gone back to the guy and was like dude, what are you doing here? He says he’ll talk to his managers tomorrow and see what we can do. I basically told him unless the financing program gets me around the original $18,000 total loan amount, the deal is likely dead.

But then I thought about using home equity to pay for the system and wondered if anyone went that route and the pros/cons.

 

[Hoophound]

Why not take the 1.99% loan and pay it off on a 15 year amortization schedule rather than the required 20? Best of both worlds. I’m drunk, so I apologize if I’m way off here.

 

[CL82]

Why not take the 1.99% loan and pay it off on a 15 year amortization schedule rather than the required 20? Best of both worlds. I’m drunk, so I apologize if I’m way off here.

Or keep it and invest the cash which he would’ve used to pay it off. If you can’t out earn 1.99%, you aren’t really trying.

 

[UCDaveD]

The system cost jumps up over $6k in price with the 1.99% loan. I questioned why and was told it’s because different financing programs require different origination fees. I said a 26% system cost increase due to origination fees sounds exorbitant.

Here’s the original proposal followed by the one I was sent a few days ago.

 

[Hankster]

I was told the Tesla batteries would be around $13k+. I have a generator and can't justify the expense for the two or three time a year I lose power. My gas generator is a pain, but it works.

Id be curious how Florida air conditioning costs compare to MA heating costs. My guess is heat costs more than cooling.

I love my whole house generator. Sandy caused damage even though I live in Central PA. We spent 3 days without electricity. After retiring 21 years from the Army I vowed never to rough it again. Welcome Generac. I experienced a couple of outages in 5 years. Watching our pups play along with the Giants, any loss of power during a game is brutal. I am not up on Solar. Sounds expensive. I won't live long enough to find out if it is worth it costs whys.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The system cost jumps up over $6k in price with the 1.99% loan. I questioned why and was told it’s because different financing programs require different origination fees. I said a 26% system cost increase due to origination fees sounds exorbitant.

Here’s the original proposal followed by the one I was sent a few days ago.
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That doesn't pass the smell test. It may be that as with new cars, much of the profit is in the financing.

Locally, we were given the option to have all of our electric come from a solar farm they built in town. I contacted them, but all the slots were full. It seems that is also part of some federal program.