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Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

mattbruenig.com

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Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#21

Post by bryanlarsen »

csense wrote: post #4

Interesting to see a post about this from someone else who I'm assuming is in a northern climate (they say New England). One of my biggest questions about solar is, what happens when it snows? Do you have to get up on the roof and clean them off by hand? Or do they have built-in defrosters?

How north do you mean? Solar panels are at a high angle, slippery and black. Snow generally does not stick for long. They'll self clear.

My brother's panels in Saskatchewan don't self-clear. But that's for an average temperature of -20C.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#22

Post by ShakataGaNai »

My system generated 14.36 MWh in 2022, which comes out to roughly $4,308 USD. The ROI is about 5-6 years for the system itself. But a new roof was also in order.... so more like 10-12 years. Still a great deal if you can afford to invest for the long term. Especially with a 30 year warranty on most of the equipment.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#23

Post by dashundchen »

treis wrote: post #15
cogman10 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of my biggest questions about solar is, what happens when it snows? Do you have to get up on the roof and clean them off by hand? Or do they have built-in defrosters? Nothing. In northern climates rooftops usually have more of a pitch to them so snow doesn't accumulate (because you don't want the roof to collapse). The panels, because they are black, will generally collect enough heat to melt the snow in a day…

>The panels, because they are black Doesn't seem like that would matter once covered by a few inches of snow. But otherwise your points seem solid.

All it takes is a little snow to melt or blow off and the exposed panel will heat and cause the rest of the snow to melt and slide off. The panels are relatively slippery so a little melt at a pitch will clear them in no time.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#24

Post by ars »

"per-kWh price of electricity was around 25 cents"

This sounds like the total price of electricity, including distribution. However my understanding of net-metering means that you have to pay distribution fees to put your power on the grid, so you don't get back the full 25 cents, only around half that (the generation portion).

If the author of this post is on here, could you please clarify?

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#25

Post by perfectstorm »

bushbaba wrote: post #13

I paid ~15k to install solar in 2019. After tax rebates it was ~11k. I’m generating ~12MWh per year. My break even period is less than 5 years. I’m based out of California, and generate excess energy. My electric bill is now just ~$100/year.

if you generate excess energy, can you store it for a later time when you need more energy (presumably summer time)?

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#26

Post by jjeaff »

jackmott42 wrote: post #17

My parents had panels installed on their house, it is a large single story house in Austin, Texas, which is pretty ideal (more surface area for panels, less volume inside vs two story). No trees in the way either. They haven't had to pay anything for electricity yet. And that is with an EV charging in the garage. We have panels on our roof, a two story house, also in Austin Texas, not so lucky as my parents. With the…

It sounds like they have a good net energy metering plan that is crediting them for their solar being put back to the grid. (So they don't have to pay for charging the electric car in the evening when solar stops working) I wonder if Texas is working to walk that back like California is right now.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#27

Post by frankfrankfrank »

swagasaurus-rex wrote: post #3

> The unsubsidized all-in price for buying and installing the panels was $25,525.43... after counting this $6,636.61 tax credit, the subsidized price was $18,888.82 Looks like a 7 year return on investment after subsidies, 10 years without.

That is technically true, but why is no one asking how and why his electricity bill is $223 at minimum, plied higher since the bill was only reduced by that amount.

Also, “subsidies” are really just a quaint term for “made the working and lower middle class that can’t pay for such exorbitant luxuries pay for it through taxes and inflation”.

I’m always a bit confused if seemingly otherwise smart people simply don’t understand something so basic, or if they simply just ignore and don’t want to acknowledge it as if that changes the fact.

Guess who else gets subsidies; someone who buys goods out of the truck of a car … wow, such a great deal.

Would anyone like to subsidize my next restaurant visit by paying for my entree? No? But making someone unknown working class person pay for my $25,000 solar install through inflation is ok?

How about we all just pay for the things we want I stead of making others pay for it? It’s immoral and evil, whether you call it subsidies or something else.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#28

Post by ernestipark »

I have a large 20kw system for an old leaky farmhouse and it provides me about $6k in energy and credits a year.

I like thinking about it as a near guaranteed, medium return long term investment that's good for the environment. Each year is roughly 13% returns and I should get that for at least 20 years or so.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#29

Post by ghaff »

aidenn0 wrote: post #7
prettychill wrote: post #5

I am surprised at these power bills, at least in my area the implied "savings" are 2-3 times what my bill is on any given month. Huge house maybe?

Air conditioning dominates summer electricity uses anywhere that is hot and/or humid.

New England is generally not that hot and humid especially outside cities--except for fairly brief spells. That said, some people do regularly run the AC to keep houses cooler in the summer. His savings are probably more than I pay in electricity in a given year (with oil heat and a small window unit AC in my office if I bother to put it in.)

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#30

Post by bombcar »

treis wrote: post #15
cogman10 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of my biggest questions about solar is, what happens when it snows? Do you have to get up on the roof and clean them off by hand? Or do they have built-in defrosters? Nothing. In northern climates rooftops usually have more of a pitch to them so snow doesn't accumulate (because you don't want the roof to collapse). The panels, because they are black, will generally collect enough heat to melt the snow in a day…

>The panels, because they are black Doesn't seem like that would matter once covered by a few inches of snow. But otherwise your points seem solid.

It somehow does - dark asphalt melts snow faster than grass even when not shoveled.

But once it’s deep enough it stops.

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