Solar?

[jailbird141]

We are getting ready to build a new house in Havasu and in the process of doing our homework, we noticed not to many people have solar panels. Why is this? Seems like it would be the ideal place for solar panels but we don't see them much in Havasu and haven't heard much talk about them in new construction. Is it not cost effective? I know electricity is a lot cheaper in Havasu than it is in California but would it be a good idea to install a system with a new build? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[outboardrick]

I can only answer for myself, and I just had a new house built..... The new homes are so efficient that it would take way too long for solar to pay for itself. My largest electric bill during the summer, leaving the house at 82 while gone and 75 when there, along with a pool was $150. 9 months out of the year it is about $65.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

I think doing it on a newbuild would be ideal. There is no payback time, since the cost is rolled into the mortgage.

If you want to add solar, during construction is the time.

 

[BasilHayden]

At this point unless you knew that AZ utilities were going to follow Californias lead into ridiculous pricing of power I discourage my friends from solar on existing homes in Havasu just due to the long payback, closer to 10 years than the under 5 years we see here. But if you were building new I would absolutely consider it. First off you are in the position to place it strategically for both aestetics as well as optimum production, and second the cost per month in a mortgage would be far less than most consumer loans.

Lastly I agree that current construction results in much more efficient homes than in the past. However, as someone who looks at peoples power bills daily, generalities regarding the power usage of a certain house are flat wrong. You the homeowner are either frugal or not. I can assure you that there are plenty of you who choose to turn the thermostat to a comfortable place and leave the lights on. There are also those who tell their wife to suck it up and turn the damn lights off when you leave the room.

If you want to know whether you will have a significant power bill in your new home, look at your bill today, you live the way you live.

 

[boatpi]

I cannot speak to Lake Havasu but in Las Vegas we use NV energy. They return 89% of the reverse kilowatt hours sent an offer a six or 8% rebate on the overall cost. The huge thing is through the end of this year you get a 30% federal tax credit when you file your taxes for 2019.

I had solar installed on two houses one of my houses I figure I will get the return in about 5 1/2 years as the summer bills run about $500 a month.

 

[LHC Kirby]

I would go solar... you have the chance to build a house with proper alignment to get the optimum sunshine..

Consult a couple of companies before designing the house. AND have them come to the empty lot to get proper alignment, don’t let the architect screw it up. You want no poke through on the solar part of the roof.

Bonus + the panels prevent the direct exposure of the sun onto the roof, so basically they help keep the house cooler. My solar is on my RV garage roof ... end to end, side to side.. I have noticed a difference.

Hint : tell the Solar companies and electric company you are putting in a pool with electric heater, and any other high use thingy you can think of... this allows a bigger system.

 

[Deja_Vu]

It all depends on how big your house is, if you plan to live in it full time, how many people will be living in the home, if you plan to have pool equipment constantly running etc.

I decided to put in a 10.7KW system and had Esmay do the pre-install of the conduits during construction.
After the roofer laid down the tiles they came back and installed the 32 panels. I have great Southwest exposure so the system is kicking ass.
I went with a elec heat pump, water heater, and clothes dryer even though I have gas to my property.
I also prewired for 2 garage mini splits to take advantage of the solar power.

I financed through Enerbank at 2.9% and my monthly is $204 for 12 years.
I figured after that I will have virtually no cost for another 12 years so that averages it down to $104.
I don't have to worry about leaving on lights or running the A/C or heat full blast.

It's nice to receive a bill from the electric company with a negative number.

 

[Xring01]

I cannot speak to Lake Havasu but in Las Vegas we use NV energy. They return 89% of the reverse kilowatt hours sent an offer a six or 8% rebate on the overall cost. The huge thing is through the end of this year you get a 30% federal tax credit when you file your taxes for 2019.

I had solar installed on two houses one of my houses I figure I will get the return in about 5 1/2 years as the summer bills run about $500 a month.

5.5years ROI... thats damn good.
At those numbers I would consider it also...

The way I look at the numbers is quite simple... Below is ROUGH ESTIMATE.. I dont know all his details

Lets say a system cost me out of pocket $20,000 after all rebates etc... eliminates my bill.
I would never finance it.. though, cash money..

Scenario 1 - $20,000 k in the markets can get me 8% ROI/year, So in 5 years, that would be closer to $25-26000... after taxs.

Scenario 2 - $20,000k in a solar system, but I am saving (your case $500/month, average $350ish x 12 months) $4200/year, = $21000 in 5 years of Electricity savings... Buy year 6... Everything after is profit... On step futher on this.. year 7 and beyond is still saving you that $4200/year, on the $20K investment... still equates to rough 20% ROI... but there are no taxs on that, versus scenario 1...

Thats a great deal worth based on my rough estimate math..

Those of you looking at solar systems should run the math like I did above...
KNow what your ROI is before you make a decision..

Less than 6 years ROI, has my attention... I would do it for my house, but my monthly bills average $225... So my ROI just isnt there yet

 

[RCDave]

If you live in an area prone to fire, just make sure you insure the Solar. This way when PG&E burns your house down, at least you should recoup the cost of the solar installation. : )

 

[COCA COLA COWBOY]

I would run conduits for the future, but hold out until you have to or it becomes more advantageous. The technology keeps getting better and new panels keep producing more as the industry progresses.

I would only pay cash though. No way in hell would I recommend a rented or leased system.

 

[HALLETT BOY]

What is the REAL life-span of solar panels ?

 

[BasilHayden]

Ok just a few points,
a 10kw system is the least I would consider in Havasu unless you're building a tiny house. Between the AC, multi fridges, pool etc trust me, your not going to get that for 20k gross but after the 30% federal you could be close.

If you have city gas available do not use electric for cooking, heating, etc, the math just doesnt pencil. Your solor electric is still costing you close to 6 cents per kw, gas is half that.

Definitely tell the insurance company the value of the system and include it regardless of fire prone, stuff happens, insure it.

Cost of solar has stabilized, in fact risen in the last year. Im not saying we may not see a small reduction in cost over time, but the big moves have already happened. Is labor getting cheaper? So I wouldn't wait if it can pencil and Xring did a reasonable job of the math. If you are a power user, solar works, it just takes a few years longer in AZ, in CA its a no brainer.

How long do they last? In short much longer than most will live in their homes -
Quality panels lifespan is 25 years and still producing more than 80% of day 1. The LG panels I sell are now warranted to 90% of Day 1 in 25 years. Stay away from cheap chinese and from new upstarts. Buy quality and enjoy the investment.
Inverters are much different. Most of the stuff is 10 years, though you can have your installer buy the 20yr warranty, in effect you are pre-buying the second inverter in year 10-12. I will not sell these string inverters for residential. I hope you chose an inverter company that will survive, many of the "top" manufacturers already folded. My recommendation for residential is enphase microinverters. The technology is leaps beyond anything else. Warranty is 25 years and they stand behind it. Is there a chance they to dont survive, of course, but there are big investors such as siemens who have a stake in the company and their technology. They will survive even if they get swallowed up. I have sold more than 50,000 of them and more than 99% of them are still in the field, the rest were replaced with no pain to the homeowner. Again this is dependent on your installer. I now do almost all service for enphase in southern california and those who chose other installers do need to pay us to roll a truck,their installers have orphaned them and they end up calling us.

btw I havent paid a power bill in CA for 12 years now on my house, and 3 years on my shop. I had to put customers on hold for a week so I could finally install the panels on my shop.

 

[Deja_Vu]

I didn't have an extra $24k laying around to pay cash...especially after building a new custom home and all the associated cost overruns that comes with it.
But hey, if you can swing it more power to you. no pun intended lol.

I will use my Fed rebate to pay down my loan.. I'm getting almost $12k back on it this year.
So if you do the math you will see my cost was $36k in Havasu for a 10.7kw Sunpower system including install.

I still ran gas to the hot W/H and clothes dryer so if I start running short later on they can be converted without too much cost.
In Havasu most peeps don't have gas... but could bury a propane tank if you want I suppose.

 

[WhatExit?]

Here in the PHX area, the utility doesn't like competition so they play games with power costs that don't make it advantageous for homeowners to put solar on their roofs.

 

[Deja_Vu]

Where are all the peeps that pay $300-$400 a month for electricity in the summer in Havasu? I know they are out there.

Beuller?

 

[pronstar]

Here in the PHX area, the utility doesn't like competition so they play games with power costs that don't make it advantageous for homeowners to put solar on their roofs.

Yeah we don’t have two-way meters in Texas. Combined with cheap power, it would take over 12 years for the system to pay for itself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Uncle Dave]

We are getting ready to build a new house in Havasu and in the process of doing our homework, we noticed not to many people have solar panels. Why is this? Seems like it would be the ideal place for solar panels but we don't see them much in Havasu and haven't heard much talk about them in new construction. Is it not cost effective? I know electricity is a lot cheaper in Havasu than it is in California but would it be a good idea to install a system with a new build? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

If you are only there part time the payback extends and there are lots of part timers in Havasu.

For a full timer its a no brainer. That guy in our camp and his group had like 50 + panels on their houses. Was it Chuck ?

They even dumped passive solar for a heat pump (can heat and cool pool which would be bitching in havasu in summer especially if a good bit of its on the roof.

NOthing wrong with a modest system either.

 

[Justfishing]

What is the REAL life-span of solar panels ?

There are 30 year old panels that still work

 

[Angler]

The LG panels also look a lot nicer than the waffle type panels.

 

[boatpi]

I had solar installed on two Las Vegas houses over the past 4 months, one is a corporate rental so I pay all utilties. In the Summer that runs $500 a month for electric alone. And as noted above, I used high end LG panels too.

The math for my main Las Vegas house is like this;

Average monthly electric bill, $350, and it can go up anytime.

Cost of huge solar, $35,000
Rebate by NV Energy, $2,050
Net $31,950.
Federal Tax CREDIT, -$9,585. But I would need to earn at least 25% more to pay the federal taxes on the $9,585, so in reality it is $11,981(but really much more).
True net cost, $19,969
Break even point, 57 months. (57 months X $350)

Then you have to figure in the ability to leave the AC on longer and at a lower temp since the power is basically free, or at least for my systems size it is. Add to this my new Las Vegas house will have 11 HP in swimming pool pumps along running most of the day, $19G is cheap.

 

[nrbr]

I would go solar... you have the chance to build a house with proper alignment to get the optimum sunshine..

Consult a couple of companies before designing the house. AND have them come to the empty lot to get proper alignment, don’t let the architect screw it up. You want no poke through on the solar part of the roof.

Bonus + the panels prevent the direct exposure of the sun onto the roof, so basically they help keep the house cooler. My solar is on my RV garage roof ... end to end, side to side.. I have noticed a difference.

Hint : tell the Solar companies and electric company you are putting in a pool with electric heater, and any other high use thingy you can think of... this allows a bigger system.

thats a great point!

 

[BasilHayden]

Here in the PHX area, the utility doesn't like competition so they play games with power costs that don't make it advantageous for homeowners to put solar on their roofs.

You think they are playing games
SDGE/sce:and peg invented the games
It’s just az works with your utilities a little more, eventually the puc in California figures out the game and the. Utilities come up with a new game