Talk of The Villages Florida - Do you have solar whole-house electric?

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Yes I have whole house solar and batteries! The house runs on solar during the day and batteries during the night! In the last couple of months had a $30 bill only!

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2054944)

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.

Several searches here turned up only two entries.

Quote:

Originally Posted by villagetinker (Post 2054989)

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

Hope the link works.

Thanks for the link. I wouldn't expect to make much selling power back to the grid, but how much would it reduce my electric bill?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henryk (Post 2055258)

Thanks for the link. I wouldn't expect to make much selling power back to the grid, but how much would it reduce my electric bill?

A LOT less than what is currently offered ,I believe there was a new level of compensation mentioned in the article, but without rereading it I do not recall the number, but i think it was below 50% of the current level. So IMHO, solar will never pay off in Florida if this passes.

Tesla

That’s the only company I would use
And free charging for the Tessy

And without the power wall it’s crazy you have to have a battery storage

Thank you, everyone for your replies. I appreciate them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlcooper70 (Post 2055087)

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.

How about the new roof warranty being voided?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roron123 (Post 2055245)

Yes I have whole house solar and batteries! The house runs on solar during the day and batteries during the night! In the last couple of months had a $30 bill only!

My electric bill was only $90 average the last two months and I don’t have solar panels:boom:

Quote:

Originally Posted by thevillages2013 (Post 2055330)

My electric bill was only $90 average the last two months and I don’t have solar panels:boom:

I think I got you beat..How about $60 for the last three months. And NO solar panels here.

We just bought our house in August 2021 and completed solar December 2021…. So completely new customer with almost 10 kw system (which can produce about 7+kw to alternating current hourly in ideal conditions. My quick thoughts: I would note we also get enough solar on cloudy or even rainy days to cover most of our use during the day which surprised me a bit.

1. Financially, this was a toss up for us cost, up front & recoup over time. The tax credit and some gains we had on a house sale last year probably put us over the top in deciding to do this. Note- the tax credit is not paying less tax, only paying it to the solar company as part of the project vs. the IRS. I misunderstood this initially. We plan to be here for awhile and the roof is only a year old - so we figured if there was any time to do this - it was now.

2. We used PPM (Power Production Management) and I was very impressed with them from beginning to end. Professional, timely, responsive, knowledgeable- I would definitely recommend. 25-year warranty on panels & inverters… I think a 10 or 15 year roof warranty on the install work.

3. Only time will tell the offsets - but our first bill from SECO was a credit overall - I am not certain how this will fare overall need more time in the summer etc.,

4. Many others have cited the House & Senate bills pending — agreed, this could very much change the dynamic depending on the recoup agreements for credit. It appears to put existing owners a 10-year period at old agreement - but this would likely be very bad for all customers (especially newer ones), potential customers and the solar industry as a whole.

Respectfully, DB

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruce213 (Post 2055199)

I went solar Dec 2019. My 20 and 21 ele bill was reduced by 75%. My ROI should be between 13-16 years depending on energy cost increases. So to make it work you need to be strong green or live in your house 20+ years. If you have any questions PM me.

When I calculate break even points of 15 years or more, I question whether I will live that long.

I have an 1800 sq ft home with 11 solar panels. Seco gives me on average $25 per month back. I've had them for 4 yrs now & I'm not happy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by metoo21 (Post 2054950)

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 $$

Looks like this could be a moot point in the near future. GAF has introduced Timberline Solar Shingles. The cost may still make this an iffy investment, but from what I am reading, it could become the way to do solar. There is another company in Tampa (Alsolar) that is advertising this type of shingle. I would do some research on this if interested in Solar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoolBrews (Post 2055086)

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.

I believe you are incorrect about what you generate goes into the grid and then what you use comes from the grid. What you generate goes to you directly if you are using electricity at that moment. So, it is best to use your appliances when the Sun is shinning and you are generating. Sales person will tell you payback period is 8 to 10 years but it is more like 11 to 13 years.