Getting solar at the house

[Gman]

A home appreciates. My car has a warranty and it will wear depending on how much I use it. A solar installation begins to degrade as soon as it's put in the sunlight. When the product is finally "yours", it'll be producing about 80% of its rated power (if you're lucky) as the warranties are expiring.

What I was doing was illustrating the flaw in what some believe is a valid business model. If paying for the hardware over time was worthwhile, why wouldn't they load you up with new higher efficiency panels at the end of the term and you go for another contract? Because there isn't government money, our money, on the second go 'round.

[tmleadr03]

A home appreciates. My car has a warranty and it will wear depending on how much I use it. A solar installation begins to degrade as soon as it's put in the sunlight. When the product is finally "yours", it'll be producing about 80% of its rated power (if you're lucky) as the warranties are expiring.

What I was doing was illustrating the flaw in what some believe is a valid business model. If paying for the hardware over time was worthwhile, why wouldn't they load you up with new higher efficiency panels at the end of the term and you go for another contract? Because there isn't government money, our money, on the second go 'round.

How would anyone know what will happen at the end of the contract? They may indeed offer new panels and a new contract. Just like with a car. At the end of the loan the dealer may offer you a good deal for a new one.

[gnihcraes]

Depends on the contract, solar city contract is below:, which would answer a lot of the questions asked. End of contract, buy it outright, have them remove it, or new contract and new stuff.

PDF document.
http://www.solarcity.com/downloads/S...act_sample.pdf

They promise a certain output, so if it fails to deliver over the 20 year period, they will fix/replace as needed to keep it running as designed 20 years previous.

[tmleadr03]

Depends on the contract, solar city contract is below:, which would answer a lot of the questions asked. End of contract, buy it outright, have them remove it, or new contract and new stuff.

PDF document.
http://www.solarcity.com/downloads/S...act_sample.pdf

They promise a certain output, so if it fails to deliver over the 20 year period, they will fix/replace as needed to keep it running as designed 20 years previous.

REC has the same deal.

[Brian]

REC has the same deal.

Have never heard of them. Are they new? Solar City seems to be everywhere. They gave us a good quote, but due to the angles of our roof, the panels will look a little odd - facing forward and I'm not sure it'll be good for resale value if we ever move... so we're still on the fence.

[n8tive97]

Neighbor just had it done. My electric bill is $200 a month on average, I may look into this. Now if I can do something about this freaking outrageous water bill here in Westminster! I have a corner lot in a cul de sac with a large back yard, Tired of paying this to keep the grass somewhat green!

[TRnCO]

$200. a month electric, Holy crapola. I've never had a electric bill over $100. In the summer it runs between $50. and $60. If I had a $200. electric bill, I might look into solar, or find some way to get my bill done some how..

[tmleadr03]

Neighbor just had it done. My electric bill is $200 a month on average, I may look into this. Now if I can do something about this freaking outrageous water bill here in Westminster! I have a corner lot in a cul de sac with a large back yard, Tired of paying this to keep the grass somewhat green!

Try Aurora. When I moved into the house I tried watering for a month. My water bill that month was over 200 bucks and the grass was still yellow. I stopped watering and haven't done it since. My backyard is dead and the front still looks exactly the same. My water bill is just under 100 a month. Extra 130 a month just to have yellow grass? Screw that.

[meatman]

We had our Solar City system installed back in April. Our meters didn't get put in until two weeks ago. Since then, we've been averaging over 30kWh/day and our meter as of yesterday was somewhere in the -36 kWh range and keeps on going down as the sun shines! We went with the most money down program and we should break even on that in 10 years, possibly less time at the rate we're producing.

[offgrid]

[QUOTE=Gman;1189059]A home appreciates. My car has a warranty and it will wear depending on how much I use it. A solar installation begins to degrade as soon as it's put in the sunlight. When the product is finally "yours", it'll be producing about 80% of its rated power (if you're lucky) as the warranties are expiring /QUOTE]

My 8yr+ solar panels are putting out 100% of their rated power.