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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

#91

Post by mnw21cam »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #32
micromacrofoot wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't produce much in the winter anyway, you can brush it off the panels with an extendable broom but it will naturally melt and slide off. Unless you have snow cover all winter you'd likely spend more on the extendable broom than you'd produce from the panels.

My brother-in-law's panels produce just as much electricity at noon in the winter time as they do in the summer time. Winter sun in the Canadian prairies is quite intense, and the panels are more efficient at -20C than they are at +20C.

But they'll produce for less time each day in the winter.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#92

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

atonalfreerider wrote: post #56
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.

I'm not affiliated, but Solar Wholesale is a DIY that can be 1/4 the cost of hiring a contractor: https://www.solarwholesale.com Even the wiring is DIY. Most people think this requires a lot of skill, but you are just adding an input to your panel board on your house.

Is this for 100% detachment from the grid? Otherwise you need to add cutoffs so you don't kill a lineman, right? Is that a DIY thing?

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#93

Post by acomjean »

dashundchen wrote: post #23
treis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

my partner has panels on her house around boston. They work well. The snow slides off, usually with a great "wump" as it drops 2 stories into the yard. Its acually a little startling at first.

They work better in the summer, but provide most of the house power. Doesn't help much with the EV she got since except in the summer. She got a electric water heater as well.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#94

Post by isanengineer »

aimor wrote: post #73

This is interesting to me, I like reading people's experiences with solar panels since I'm waiting for the price to make sense for my own home. But as someone spending about $1,000/year, it's just not there yet. My options seem to be: diy, 20-30 year roi, find more ways to use electricity, or wait.

> find more ways to use electricity

I’m not sure if you were serious with this comment, but for the sake of other readers I wanted to point out this is a legitimate strategy. Many people tend to pair solar with installing mini splits, EV chargers, or some other home upgrade that will offer value at the expense or a higher electric bill. This can make the solar investment make sense where it previously didn’t.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#95

Post by mnw21cam »

bombcar wrote: post #30
treis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

The dark asphalt has stored heat, and is in good thermal contact with the bottom of the snow. Grass insulates the snow from the ground.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#96

Post by bgentry »

jjeaff wrote: post #26
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.

I'm in the Austin suburbs on Pedernales Electric Coop (not Austin Energy as in the city proper). In 2022 they switched away from net metering to a scheme that pays just over 50% of the cost for power returned to the grid. So I now pay $0.090337/kWh for power consumed from the grid, and am credited only $0.05377/kWh for power returned to the grid.

https://www.pec.coop/your-service/distributed-generation/int...

This has changed the payback equation quite a bit. I'm now incentivized to do everything I can to use the power I generate rather than returning it to the grid, whether running more A/C during daylight, running laundry during the day, or storing it on my Powerwalls for using off hours.

Although the payback equation doesn't really make sense anymore, we're still happy with our decision to install solar + powerwalls because we can run the A/C as much as we want without feeling guilty, and also get a solid backup in case of major storm events like the 2021 winter storms. We both work from home and have an infant so keeping the house comfortable is important.

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#98

Post by chongli »

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.

7-10 years to break even. If the panels last 15 years you'll see a net return of $21,416 on investment of $18,888. If they last 25 years, that net return grows to $48,186. In either case it works out to an annual rate of return of 5%, assuming electricity prices stay the same (BIG ASSUMPTION) and also assuming the weather doesn't change to get cloudier or more violent (also a big assumption).

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#99

Post by timerol »

ShakataGaNai wrote: post #22

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.

Another way to say that is that you installed solar panels and they paid for your new roof

Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022

#100

Post by lawn »

cogman10 wrote: post #6
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?

> 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…

Northern climates is relative. I live in the north of Sweden and the solar panels here will be completely covered from December to February or similar.

It's true though that the snow will melt or fall off quickly when it's not that cold anymore.

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