[Bwanajim]

I don't want any holes in my roof. More places to leak & if get a minor hurricane they go flying like a kite

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

I don't want any holes in my roof. More places to leak & if get a minor hurricane they go flying like a kite

I suspect just the opposite is true. If solar panels went flying like a kite then it would make the news and would hurt solar panel sales. I don't remember hearing anything about that in the news. Are there homes in the Villages with solar panels? How did they make out?

My guess is the panels are designed and installed to handle a stronger hurricane than we will ever see here. If anything, they help protect the roof.

(A "guess" only because all the information I can find seems to be from the solar industry so I'm not too quick to trust it)

[FloridaGuy66]

I don't think I've heard of anything sold door to door that makes financial sense.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

I don't think I've heard of anything sold door to door that makes financial sense.

What about the Encyclopedia Britannica books?

[SoCalGal]

Originally Posted by CigarMaster

School Math: the real money is selling the panels and James is laughing all the way to the bank.

It's true that solar sales are totally unregulated. It's like the Wild, Wild West.

[UpNorth]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

I don't want any holes in my roof. More places to leak & if get a minor hurricane they go flying like a kite

Did they glue the shingles to your roof?

[Battlebasset]

There is simply no reason in the Villages to put solar panels on your house. My opinion:

1. You are old. You won't live long enough to recoup the cost
2. You are old. Why would you want this hassle?
3. Your roof will someday be old. And you will have to mess with this on top of it to replace it.
4. Your old insurance company. Why would they want to insure your roof with this on your roof? Sure, they are OK now, but their policies change like the wind that will rip the panels off.
5. Panels and their electronics get old. And they will need to be fixed/replaced.
6. Regulations/incentives get old. And they might get changed by new government folks to reduce the value of solar energy returns.

Bottom line: Electric prices are reasonable in the Villages. Cut back on your cable package and put up an antenna is you want to save money. Buy a used Toyota vs a new Lexus. Eat in more, eat out less. Solar is a PITA way to try and possibly save money.

[Pinball wizard]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

If solar panels are such a money saver why does the government have to pay out taxpayer money to entice people to purchase them?

Or...

If solar panels are such a good deal, why doesn't the electric company just lease our roofs?

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Pinball wizard

Or...

If solar panels are such a good deal, why doesn't the electric company just lease our roofs?

They are busy managing all the solar farms they have already built - because they are such a good idea.

[FloridaGuy66]

Installing solar on your roof for the sole purpose of selling back to the utility is a bad idea. The whole idea for this came from some smaller solar companies realizing that they can trick homeowners into this where the local utility will pay them for the electricity and then the solar company in turn pays the homeowner pennies on the dollar.

There's a podcast about this that explains the topic in detail:

Why prices for rooftop solar might be higher than they should be : Planet Money : NPR

[DrMack]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

Be aware there are people, currently in Pinellas going door to door asking to review your electric bill and show you that solar panels are financially a good idea. I have done my own analysis and in the state of Florida (net metering), these do not make financial sense.
Please be very cautious about the people.

Thanks for the heads up

[J1ceasar]

Unfortunately most of the companies that install go out of business after 2 or 3 years and those that don't may take 6 months or 12 months to act to get around to fixing your problems

Originally Posted by villageuser

Which is why one should replace roof and install solar panels at the same time.

A friend who sells solar panels was telling me there are now subscription solar panels. We didn’t have time to talk long, so I don’t know much about it, but basically she said you pay less per month on it than you pay on your electrical, it’s completely warranted — you pay for no repairs — and if you are selling the house and the new owners do not want the solar panels, the company will come and take it away.

Which doesn’t take away from the fact that we need to beware of people going door to door selling things, but there may be good options out there for people who are interested in saving on electrical costs which, personally, I don’t find to be that cheap in Florida.

[Berwin]

Where we moved from in Virginia, many of my neighbors were getting solar panels on their roofs. These were the ones that fed excess power back to the electric company and wound your meter backwards (my description). I spoke with one of my neighbors who had this done. He reported that there was a $5.00 monthly charge for this service and many months that was the only charge on his electric bill. Your roof had to be relatively new for the panels to be installed. We needed our roof replaced and a friend of a friend did it for us. He said most of his business now was replacing roofs prior to solar install but he worked us in because he knew us.

[Topspinmo]

Plenty of news report out of Orlando of panel companies leaky damaged roofs.. also was some sub contracting involved some didn’t even finish job and when the did didn’t work. I would make sure do good research before hiring any company out or town especially out of state. Neighbor close has them I guess they are working? At his age he will probably be gone before he breaks even? My son has them in Illinois they work for him, mainly the both work from day light to almost dark so no power being used during day. Time will tell if they still working and he recoups his investment? So, far pays very little electricity bill in Illinois and that’s saying something in that heavily taxed state.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

Be aware there are people, currently in Pinellas going door to door asking to review your electric bill and show you that solar panels are financially a good idea. I have done my own analysis and in the state of Florida (net metering), these do not make financial sense.
Please be very cautious about the people.

Tinker.....Solar panels do not make financial sense anywhere in the country, not just here in Florida. Not to mention the panels look unsightly and deface the home. I would not want holes in my roof for the installation of the panels. The panels are a lose lose situation from my POV.