Solar house

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  #31  
Old 07-26-2021, 06:32 AM
Neils Neils is offline
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Originally Posted by zendog3 View Post
Thank you for buying your electricity from me.

On sunny days like today, my solar house makes more electricity than I need to cool it. So the electricity company buys my excess electricity and resells it to you.

I have no great-grandchildren yet, but if I did, they would thank you too because they will have to live on the planet we leave to them. If you have children and grandchildren, you might think of converting to solar. It costs almost nothing as the bill on the solar loan is about the same as the bill to the electric company would be. And every month, the solar company sends a report showing how many tons of carbon my house has offset.

If humanity is to thrive, we will have to defeat global temperature rise, and we Floridians have a unique opportunity to make a significant impact with minimum sacrifice.

If someone from The Villages LLC reads this, I hope they will consider making solar an option for all new construction – residential and commercial.
Add in the energy needed to mine the raw materials + energy to build and transport them + toxic chemical landfill waste + no financial return less than 7 years or when the panels are worn out unless gov subsidized.
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  #32  
Old 07-26-2021, 06:38 AM
retiredguy123 retiredguy123 is online now
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Originally Posted by J1ceasar View Post
Glad you had the extra money to put on solar but we did the numbers and even in sunny Florida it really doesn't pay until you're 20 years out and there's a big inflation. Plus of course there's the problem of when you have to replace your roof and take it off and put it back. Don't forget it cost a lot of pollution to mine the minerals as well as create the factory to make the solar roofs. And of course you're giving you money to the Chinese today because very few solar roofs are made in the USA. But as long as you're happy that's great. I have to say if it was truly efficient and cost-effective you'd be seeing a lot more people with solar roofs
Correct. And, at 20 years out, it will be time to buy a new solar system and a new roof.
  #33  
Old 07-26-2021, 06:42 AM
coconutmama coconutmama is offline
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Originally Posted by richs631 View Post
The return on investment is just too long. Approximately 8 years and that’s assuming everything goes according to plan which it rarely does
Don’t forget that your roof needs to be replaced in Florida more often than in northern climates. Expensive to remove panels & put back up.

We would never consider buying a home with solar panels, especially in The Villages since we are in a co-op (at least in Sumter county) & electricity cost is reasonable.
  #34  
Old 07-26-2021, 06:51 AM
DBChris DBChris is offline
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I just sent a text to Greta Thunberg. She told me not to waste my money. She also mentioned the aesthetics of solar panels are horrible too.
  #35  
Old 07-26-2021, 06:56 AM
rlcooper70 rlcooper70 is offline
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Do I have to put on a new roof before installing the panels? My roof is 12 years old.
  #36  
Old 07-26-2021, 07:05 AM
retiredguy123 retiredguy123 is online now
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Originally Posted by rlcooper70 View Post
Do I have to put on a new roof before installing the panels? My roof is 12 years old.
To me, it wouldn't make sense to install solar panels on any roof, but especially on a 12 year old roof that will need to be replaced in a few years.
  #37  
Old 07-26-2021, 07:10 AM
E151l76 E151l76 is offline
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I'll stick with the normal way of generating electricity nuclear and natural gas it's been around a long time and it works I have my doubts on climate change
  #38  
Old 07-26-2021, 07:14 AM
bmarasco bmarasco is online now
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At over 10 years ROI, you may not be able to have financial gain from your investment .. you may die ..and the panels and structure damage after 10 years, may not be of benefit to a prospective buyer. More cash incentive is necessary .. ROI around 3-4 years and it’s worth considering …
  #39  
Old 07-26-2021, 07:32 AM
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JMintzer JMintzer is offline
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Originally Posted by nick demis View Post
Are you comparing a residential or small commercial array of a few panels to a giant system of thousands of panels? I had 160 panels on my property in Massachusetts and I doubt it had any impact on the climate but did save us a lot of $.
Multiply your house by millions...

I thought that was obvious...

One home wont make a difference, just like one car won't make a difference...
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Last edited by JMintzer; 07-26-2021 at 03:57 PM.
  #40  
Old 07-26-2021, 07:48 AM
LTarter LTarter is offline
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I added solar to our home and later found out that Leesburg electric pays me .03 cent Per KWH. When I'm using their electric, I'm paying .09 per KWH. They sell my excess electricity for .09 cents and pay me .03 cents. They thanked me for doing the solar and said they need more dumb people like me to install solar.
  #41  
Old 07-26-2021, 07:58 AM
Blueblaze Blueblaze is offline
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Forget the political global warming BS for a minute, I have a few technical questions.

If we were to have a hurricane, would solar panels on my roof mean I don't need a generator? Where do I put all those batteries?

Related question... an emergency generator legally requires an automatic transfer switch to attach a generator to a house, to prevent it from back-feeding into the grid, and possibly electrocuting some poor power company lineman working to restore power. So howcome solar panels are allowed to back-feed the grid all the time? Does power derived from the sun somehow not electrocute power company linemen the same way fossil fuel power does?

Are solar panels impervious to hail storms? They look like they're made of glass. Will my insurance pay to replace glass gadgets installed on my roof?

Related question... How long do they last? Do they last longer than the 15 year payback period?

If they only last 15 years, will my solar power company help me scam my insurance company into replacing them, like all those Florida roofers who have made it impossible to insure a 10 year old roof in Florida? Or do they just scam the government again for part of it, and I get stuck with another 15 year payback?

Do they have to be "upgraded" every three years, like all my other electronic gadgets? Is that included in the 15 year payback?

What if my roof needs to be replaced before the solar panels? How much does it cost to remove and reinstall the solar panels when I replace my roof?

Do I need to find both a solar panel scammer and a roof scammer every 15 years, or in the future will it be possible to do it all with just one scammer?

Every time I think about solar, it just sounds like more trouble than it's worth! What am I missing?
  #42  
Old 07-26-2021, 08:16 AM
Bigtony54 Bigtony54 is offline
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It just cost my neighbor $5600 to remove and replace his panels so they could replace roof
  #43  
Old 07-26-2021, 08:22 AM
Vermilion Villager Vermilion Villager is offline
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Originally Posted by Dana1963 View Post
Now here comes the solar deniers. I had a neighbor unfortunately dead now that said solar panels only work in outer space as he set up his solar sidewalk lamps because the battery inside was so good lasted forever.
Boy did you ever nail that one!!!
From reading all the people bashing your post I can confirm.....YOU REALLY CAN'T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS!!!!
  #44  
Old 07-26-2021, 08:26 AM
jimkerr jimkerr is offline
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The ROI for solar panels in Florida isn’t there. All you’re doing is trading one bill for another. Instead of paying your power company for electricity, you’re paying for your solar panels.

Solar panels effectiveness degrade a small percentage every year. By the time you pay off your panels they’ll end up being 70% effective. Then you’ll need a new roof and just wait till you see what it coats to remove all the panels and reinstall them.

It doesn’t make sense to go solar, even is sunny Florida.
  #45  
Old 07-26-2021, 09:13 AM
Zenmama18 Zenmama18 is offline
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Originally Posted by retiredguy123 View Post
In my opinion, you are misguided on both counts. Solar panels will not save you money because the payback period for the initial system cost is way too long, usually about 15 years or longer. Those who sell solar systems will give you an unrealistic payback calculation that almost never includes the lost investment income value of the initial system cost. They will also give you a 25 to 30 year parts and labor warranty, which no contractor could ever expect to honor. Also, when you sell your house, you will probably get less money for it because most people do not want to buy a house with a solar system because of potential maintenance and roof issues.
We were wondering as well what the extra cost would be to replace the roof a few years from now when ours will need replacement if we had solar panels installed. Could the panels be re-installed on the new roof?
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