Solar

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by SCR, Jun 15, 2019.

  1. SCR

    SCR Active Member

    I'm looking into solar but have a few questions for anyone who has had solar panels installed.

    1. Who was your solar installer of choice?

    2. Did you pay cash for your solar system, take a loan to pay for it, or do you lease it?

    3. If you lease, what are your monthly bills?

    4. If you are NOT leasing what are your monthly electric bills?

    5. Did you get Arizona and Federal tax credits?

    6. What direction do your panels face?

    7. Do you do or have any maintenance to your panels?

    8. Are you happy with your system?
     
  2. pegmih

    pegmih Well-Known Member

    No, No, No to solar.
    Three neighbors (sun city phase 2) signed up for solar with a guy who was soliciting
    from SunFun/SunRun ( or something like that).
    After a week, when it was time to finalize the deal,
    they got a lot more information and canceled.
    BUYER BEWARE!!!!
     
  3. SCR

    SCR Active Member

    Well I don't think there is anything wrong with solar.

    However, door to door solicitors are a gigantic red flag to avoid their services.

    I already knew Sunrin is not reputable as they have bad ratings on BBB.

    Look around Sun City. More an more houses are installing solar.
     
  4. GCotten

    GCotten Member

    I had solar installed 18 months ago in a 2000 sq. ft. home in phase I.
    1) SunRun
    2) Lease 20 yrs
    3) $95.00 Amount will be determined by past usaeage which will be determine the number of panels to be installed which figures into the company formula . Each company may be different. You may be able to have additional panels installed to cover additional useage for a future pool, water heater conversion etc. You will still have an APS bill for misc charges such as tax etc which mine average $18.00 monthly.
    4) NA
    5) No (sort of) On a lease the company usually gets the tax credit. There may be other options regarding this issue depending on how your lease is written in reference to "options to purchase" etc. Check with your tax preparer on this issue.
    6) South
    7) Under my lease the company covers all maintenance, repairs etc for the life of the lease. If you purchase instead of lease most times you are responsible for all costs and repairs.
    8) So far I am happy with the system. Not a penny out of pocket for installation and also received a new 200 amp service as part of the package. There are accessories available to have electricity when everyone else has lost power so you can live off the grid kind of thing. Depending on the time of year of your installation will have an effect on your savings that first year. Your system needs to "buildup" the reserve. You really start seeing the difference after about 6 months.

    The question comes up as to how does solar affect the value of your home? Appraisers are working on this. It appears that a leased system does not add value at this time other than affecting "time on the market". In the past it was a detriment because consumers were afraid of this new thing called 'solar". As times goes by the consumer is finding "solar" a good thing and may become a selling feature and a real positive. If you purchase the system the appraisers are still trying to determine the additional value to give the home. Comparable sales of homes with solar is and will always be the determining factor. As we go forward there will be more exact information available.

    Gary Cotten
     
  5. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    We've had leased solar panels on both homes now. I detailed the first one in the Selling the Compound thread. It was a 2800 square foot house and our average APS bill was around $230 per month. Our lease payment was $179 and the APS bill was around $13 (but there were a couple of months when they were nothing due to energy carryover.). After 4 years, they were the same even though APS had been averaging 5% increases per month. That would have put our monthly payment at around $275. We simply did it as a hedge against inflation.

    This house, whole different story. Same number of panels (36), roughly the same lease payment $179 and the same $13 payment to APS minus the two or three month carryover. The reality was it increased our utility costs with the lease payment. We did it knowing we were adding 800 square to the house and adding the pool that has a heater. We wanted to be grandfathered, which is why we did it before we should have. No idea how it will all work out, we need to get a season in to tell us if it made sense. We think it will in the long run, especially with the pool.

    The first company we used was Solar Tops. The second was house was Cool Blue. In both cases we used Sun Power panels, they have the highest production ratings in the business. Cool Blue was better to work with. The first house had a string inverter, the second has micro inverters. In all likelihood we will buy out the system after roughly seven years. The company gets the rebates and incentives on a lease and hence the buyout prices are pretty cheap.

    If i had to do it all again, i would. It's not a huge savings, but it is exactly what we expected, a hedge against inflation.
     
  6. SCR

    SCR Active Member

    GCotten - what were your average monthly and yearly electrical bill before solar?

    In my research, I have found that there really is no maintenance on solar panels. As for repairs due to storm damage, I believe there is insurance for that, so maintenance for repairs doesn't trouble me. It's like buying a new vehicle. Your warranty covers the first 3 years and after that or even before, you can purchase extended coverage.

    You are correct in that right now it is a detriment to have a lease and try to sell your house with a leased solar system, but in my situation, I do not plan on selling and whoever inherits it will have to deal with that. An inheritance in my opinion is a gift so whoever gets it still benefits.

    Right now I m on the Lite Choice plan with APS, but that is because I am very energy conscious. MY APS bills in the winter are around 35.00 in summer, I think the highest bill is around 145.00.
    You may ask "why would you want to go solar". Well, I'm tired of paying APS their exorbitant rates and they will be asking for a rate increase again next year. As all other utilities, rate increases are a fact of life. They will continue to go up for the rest of your life. Solar is a hedge against that.

    BPearson - In doing my research, SunPower does have good panels, but Panasonic also offers very good to exceptional panels if you can find an installer who does install them.
    Each installer has their own preferences. Did either of your installers use sub contractors?

    Bill, if I'm not mistaken, you have a flat roof. I have a normal 4/12 pitch roof that faces directly south which I see as a huge benefit.

    One of the things I'm not crazy about is that almost every (maybe every) company bases your number of panels on your current electric bills. In a lot of cases where people did little to nothing to conserve energy, that is probably the way to go. In my case however, I have been able to decrease my energy usage year after year over at least the last 5 years, but it is now becoming harder to do that year after year. Solar seems to be the way to go and I see an ever increasing number of households in Sun City (the so called poor on a fixed income Sun City) adding solar to their roofs.
     
  7. GCotten

    GCotten Member

     
  8. GCotten

    GCotten Member

    SCR.......Prior to solar my average was $210 with a low of $50 and a high of $450. After solar I also updated the home to include additional energy conservation improvements. The house was built in 1967 so a lot was needed. There should be additional payments back from APS at the end of the year for less consumption and over production from my system. You have to keep in mind the square footage of the home and the individual habits and needs of the occupants are always factors on the end savings. I don't know of any insurance available other than possibly your home owners insurance that might get involved with the repairs if any. Only time will tell regarding maintenance issues but I'm sure a good resource for that topic would be RCSC history on their systems, if available. The real estate market is already seeing a change to the positive on the acceptance of solar. GCotten
     
  9. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    Speaking of Solar costs, is the payoff of the RCSC lease still on the books for 2019? The most recent Long Range Plan that was issued in June 2016 lists exercising the lease payoff in the amount of $5,545,216. I believe the amount has grown upwards but has the date also been pushed forwards? We also haven't heard in a long time of any cost savings from our many solar installations.
     
  10. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    The payoff is done and the savings can be seen in the reduction in the monthly utility bills. Looks to me to be in the neighborhood of 700K a year (but that's just a rough down and dirty look). I don't remember the yearly lease payment. I looked back at the payments before payoff and after and it appears to be around 60k per month less. The 5.5 million was a lot of money. In the end, if they are generating the energy savings they should be, over the long haul it will be a savings.

    There's still lots of questions regarding the solar and no one is addressing them. The last we heard was the employee overseeing them was let go (around the first of the year). I wonder if it was because he wasn't doing his job or because information regarding how they were functioning was being shared around the community?
     

Share This Page