Quote:
Originally Posted by Dotneko
(Post 2231618)
We installed 175 solar panels on the 200 ft long barn roof on our farm in Massachusetts in 2014 or so. With SRECs included, our entire energy needs were met with money coming in to us. 8 year payback. We were able to convert our oil furnace to electric. Our typical February electric bill (before converting the house) was $2500.00. Granted, we had a large horse farm with 70X200ft indoor riding arena, apartment and heated barn. But solar was a huge saving for us!
If we had 3phase on the street, we would have done more and sold back to the grid.
This was with the panels covered by snow about 3 months a year. I dont understand why there wasnt a trickle charge melting the snow to allow continuous daily production.
There were only a certain number of net metering setups allowed yearly.
Hail didnt happen often in MA, but I still dont know why we dont have more panels here in FL.
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Your example offers some insight into the true state of the solar industry and why Florida (& most states) don't use more Solar ... it's not financially feasible.
Only 7 states offer SREC's. SREC's are what makes the world go around, in the solar industry. Without them, the numbers just don't work in most situations.
For those who don't understand SREC credits, here are the basics.
Most Power generators are required to generate a % of their electricity from renewable sources. One economical way to do this, is to simply bypass the regulation and purchase SREC credits.
Alternative producers (including home owners) generate SREC's when they produce solar power. The producer can sell those SREC credits on the open market or they can do what most everyone does: sign up with an aggregator, who will then syndicate & auction large packages of SREC's. The power companies who aren't using renewable sources are allowed to the SREC's and thereby meet the regulations.
SREC's are always a crap shoot, because states usually have "sunset provisions", although most seem to always get renewed.
The second benefit to Solar, is ACRS (& MACRS) ... accelerated cost recovery. You can depreciate your solar installation (construction costs), faster ... which offers tax benefits to many.
The 3rd benefit of installing Solar, is the Federal (& in many cases, state) tax credits. The current Federal Tax Credit is 30%. That's real money. 30% of what you spend, comes directly off your tax liability for the year (assuming you're running a profitable business). Again, "sunsetting" is always threatened with these credits, but they keep on getting renewed.
4th and final benefit, you save on your electric bill.
The long and the short of it is, Solar is not financially feasible, without the associated tax benefits and subsidies. If it were, the taxpayers wouldn't have lost 1/2 Billion dollars when Obama loaned Solyndra all that money.
(FYI. I'm currently doing a $1.5M solar installation on the roof of a new automotive facility, outside of Boston. The Solar Consultant has estimated my "pay back" at 8 years. I'm figuring 10-11 years in reality. I won't have "Net Metering", as many locally owned electric companies are exempt from the requirement to provide Net Metering. I'm likely to meet about 70% of our electrical needs, given weather fluctuations and building constraints. Those savings are built into the "pay back" calculations.)
