Do you have solar whole-house electric?
 

I'm thinking of options regarding electricity. Solar electric (NOT pool heaters or such things) of the whole house can save lots of money once over the initial investment.

Do you have solar electric? Does it live up to its reputation for saving money on the electric bill? Who did the job for you? Would you hire them again?

TIA from the novice.

I hope you receive a response from an actual user. Too many times all responses are opinion-based.

Lots of threads on this. Do a search. Most of them conclude that it will not be a good investment. But, the contractors who sell the system will claim otherwise.

Well, since insurers seem to want everyone to replace their roof every 15 years in order to insure the house, be aware that the panels have to be removed first and then put back afterwards. Extra $$

Yes. About $4,000. The solar contractor will probably omit that information from their sales pitch.

Be real careful, recent article stated there was a bill going through the FL legislature to REDUCE the payments to solar electric installations. There was going to be a xx (10?) year grace period for current installations, but from what I recall, these system will NEVER pay for them selves under the new payment proposal. Please research this carefully.

I had TESLA solar install mine- it's a wonderful system with full application and 0 down time with power. I have in both of my homes this combined with Tesla vehicles in both homes to me it saves. (time and money) think of never needing an oil change or tune ups or dealership visits or to visit a gas station)

The shingles under the panels do not get exposed to UV (which breaks down the shingles) so no need to replace under. just feather into the existing.

When you get a solar system you form a contract with your electric supplier and you are locked into a buy back rate. (credits for unused or sold electric) just don't over build your system and use what you need. You won't make money selling the extra electric anyway.

Tesla has a 25 year bumper to bumper on the solar so it should outlive me.

Hope this helps!!

From previous threads think there is a lot more to this. When the roof needs replacement it will be entire roof and panels will need to come off and replaced.

I found the article:
Changes to Florida'''s solar power laws could '''devastate''' industry

Hope the link works.

Was going off of my experience as what the OP was requesting.

So let’s say 12 years or so after you install the panels you have to replace the roof. How are you going to find shingles that match? Will that partial replacement void the new shingle warranty and how will the insurance company feel about this method of reroofing?

Duke Energy solar expansion approved by Florida regulators
Some customers will voluntarily pay more upfront on their bills to help finance 10 plants and then receive future bill credits.
Duke Energy solar expansion approved by Florida regulators

I wonder why Florida Legislature would want to take away solar jobs and savings for us?? The electric company want us to turn our thermostats to 65 for the whole weekend. They need help with solar power.

I love the idea of solar and it might be worth it to install, but at my age I will never recoup the investment. You have to calculate your present monthly bill, nail down what you would save, if you sell your home are buyers willing to pay for the upgrade and what is your life expectancy. As dark as that might sound it has to come into the calculation.

I agree. And, I doubt that you will even find a roofer who will install a partial roof for less money, and they definitely won't guarantee that it won't leak. "Feathering" the new shingles into the existing ones sounds like a bogus claim from a solar salesperson.

For the environment a great idea. In most cases the payback on investment is never realized, the only person that benefits are the people selling the panels to you.

My electric bill never goes over 200$ with SECO. Most times below $120. It seems like it would take a really long time to recoup the cost. It is not popular if you have to resale your house.

solar power
 

Harbor Hills Area 11.5 kw solar system
 

My 2,000sq ft home used received 37kw from Seco and returned 32kw for a net usage of 5KW. I have a Bosch 20 seer HVAC 1-29-22 7am thru 1-30-22 7:30 am Done Right Electric Perry 303–8166

Great question. Google solar shingles! Although we don’t have them from reading the information they sound like a great investment for Florida considering both cost and longevity. Good luck.

At $100-140 +/- per month for utility bill, it didn't pencil out for us, and when buying we rejected houses with solar, concerned about roof issues.

The other issue with SECO is that SECO is a coop, and not governed by the same rules as Duke and others. A non-coop electric company must pay you the same rate for your electricity as they charge you. A coop is exempt, and SECO pays you about 85%-90% of what they charge you. None of these systems directly power your home - electricity must be sold back to your provider, and then they sell back to you. Even with Tesla, power goes to your provider, then Tesla has an option to store incoming power in a battery bank (called a Tesla Wall) to cover outages.

With SECO, you need to get enough banks to cover ~115% of the power you use - and even then you'll never get to zero. There is a $30/month member fee that never goes away.

I researched this heavily - going solar may make you feel good, but you'll never come close to paying it off.

One more important thing to take into account if you do purchase - all solar panels lose about 10% efficiency in their first year of use. They remain stable after that, but I guarantee the salesman won't mention that you'll only have 90% of what you paid for after year one.

Feathering the shingles is very simple and it does work. And no one sees beneath the solar panels so getting an "exact" color is not an issue.

Perhaps we should be talking about just plain "do the right thing" for society rather than "outliving" the system.

"Do the right thing" for society? Have you ever researched the amount of toxic waste the environment gets from old solar panels and batteries? Far worse than anything the power plant puts out, yet the powers that be call it "green".

Solar Panels Produce Tons of Toxic Waste—Literally - Foundation for Economic Education

Simple one word answer to your question: Lobbyists.

Don’t forget the 24% Federal Solar Tax Credit.

Here in Florida because of rainfall and humidity the shingles under the panels will suffer from mold and mildew. They may not even last as long as the exposed shingles

“Savings for us”? Net net there are no savings when tax credits are involved, one parties savings are others tax burden.

I have had it since 2019 and love it. I wish I had done it years earlier. I have never had a zero bill because SECO is a co-op and customers pay $1 a day to be a member but I have had bills less than $10. Solar companies will tell you payback period is 8 to 10 years but it is really 12 to 13 years. Another problem is that the Florida legislature has a bill that is back by electric companies to not pay solar customers as much for what they produce, don't use and goes back into the grid. Currently SECO charges customers about $.11 a kwh and pays solar customers a little less than $.08 a kwh. Florida politics is backing big utilities. SAD!

Ohiobuckeye
 

Maybe I don’t understand SOLAR PANELS. What happens when you need a new roof? Do you have pay to have Solar Panels taken off & replaced or does the Solar company pay for that? Also I’m sure there’s some maintenance to Solar Panels, explain because I don’t know!

That’s what I believe also and what I’ve read but the biggest concern right now is that it’s very difficult to sell your home if you have solar because it’s basically a 20 year commitment on lease payments. Maybe if your heating bill or was $1000 a month or more then it might justify it but anything to 300 a month forget it not worth it in my opinion

I don't get it. If solar energy is a good idea, why don't the power companies use it? In my opinion, installing solar panels on individual asphalt shingle roofs, and then selling the energy back to the power company doesn't make sense.

There is more to consider than just the shingles.
All the mountings for solar (whether for electric or pool heating) drill into the under shingle sheeting and plywood.

We recently had our roof replaced. Had to remove solar system (pool heating).....50% of all plywood sheeting where the panels were mounted had weather rot.....hence significant plywood replacement.

After that education plus the sun baked piping that needed to be replaced (system was 12 years old) we decided to not have the pool heating solar system replaced. (We have gas heater as primary pool heater).

Long story short....it is not about just the shingles!!!!

Yes, when you replace your roof, you need to hire a solar company to remove and re-install the panels. That can cost about $4,000.

The solar contractor will provide a 25-30 year parts and labor warranty when they install the system. But, I don't believe that any small contractor can expect to service that type of warranty and stay in business.

Was in the industry. Honestly. Rarely achieves promises. Multiple reasons. Includes: a. Weather... causing damage and debris... b. Roof... needing repairs or replacement requiring solar panel remove/replace....c. design not at ideal sun angles... d. Inaccurate computations... etc

A friend of mine had his solar panels ripped off his roof during one of our famous storms... cracked the beams underneath.

While House Solar
 

I used Solar Trek, Todd 408-9447, for my home and am awaiting them to install solar panels on my rental villa. I’ve had them on my home about 3 years and am saving more than they estimated. With energy costs going up I believe they underestimated my savings, which is about $90 a month.

Do you have any proof that anyone has had their insurance cancelled?
Think about what you just said… Over 1/3 of the villages has a home that is older than 15 years. According to you....About 12,000 homes that will need to have their roofs immediately replaced due to their age.
Yet here you are ignoring the news story of the century trying to throw shade to someone who is looking to make his life better. Another example that fake news came of age when old people learned how to use the Internet.
So....is your roof older than 15 years old? and if yes did you replace it?

Hahahaha....can all but guarantee that won't happen!:1rotfl:

Power companies actually do!!! Every solar panel on every roof or backyard is an extension of the power company. Think about it..... Power companies get consumers to foot the upfront cost of solar panel installation and then the power companies pay less than they would pay for other forms of energy from these customers. Intern customers save money on their power bills.