Questions and Answers
A potential customer from Freehold, NJ sent me an e-mail with questions, having been referred by an installer (not the people who installed my system).
After replying, it seems that my replies might be useful to all of you as well.
Good Evening, I have recently had a consultation with an XXXXX XXXXX representative, and your email was given to me by him.
I was hoping, if you had a moment, to hear from you on how you feel regarding your solar panel purchase.
Were the savings they estimated realistic? Has the system cut your energy bill? All year long? – and a large portion of recouping the original cost appears to be the sale of solar energy credits – have they sold as easily as promised?
The kamagra pills for buy viagra pills our storefront sale that is available online are high quality. All men with ED fail to satisfy the usually in stock order levitra online sensual urges of their female partners. Just like viagra 100 mg other erectile dysfunction drugs it also displayed side effects that usually occur after taking this medication. The dosage of penegra medicine may be maximized to 100 mg if not showing the cialis online prescription effect (15 to 20 minutes and then men can start the sexual activity) silagra 100 mg has three adapted versions, viz. We have produced at least a little electricity every day except for January. We had a few zero-production days in January – when the panels were snow-covered or when the skies were VERY cloudy and/or rainy. One factor for that in our installation is the fact that our roof with panels faces east (100 degrees), and therefore the angle of the sun to the panels is narrower in the winter as the sun moves farther south.
Our 6.875 kW system went “live” in June of last year. Our record production day was 42 kWh, and obviously the minimum was 0. I calculated an average based on June to mid-December data and got about 17 kWh/day. We don’t have a full year’s data yet. Our installer (not XXXXX) predicted that the system would generate about 2/3 of our electric usage and the numbers seem to bear that out. We haven’t done a rigorous analysis yet – that would require the full year and we’d have to figure out usage based on inbound power from the utility, outbound power to the utility, and solar production.
PSE&G doesn’t have automated billing for residential solar customers – they have to send an erroneous bill automatically and then send a manually-generated correction each month. This makes it a little tough to compare usage to last year (pre-solar). That’s supposed to be fixed in the 2nd quarter of this year. They do read the meter via a phone line that they install (at their cost), and the meter provides both an inbound and outbound counter. Supposedly, the meter will also “phone home” if there is a power outage.
So far, I have gotten few nibbles on the offer to buy SREC’s but the market is new. The state’s brokerage website has only been online since last fall. We have listed our SREC’s at $200 each (an SREC is essentially 1 MWh of solar production) as have members of the state BPU who have solar. I’ve gotten a solicited offer of $115 before the state system existed, and I recently got an unsolicited offer of $135. My wife and I haven’t decided whether to sell them at all or not (selling them allows the utility to continue to pollute more than if they couldn’t buy them and had to produce clean energy themselves), but I’m the more likely to sell them and I won’t do so under $150 each. I expect things to get interesting in April, when the utilities have to complete their purchase for the year. Also, the state just changed the rules to require that state minimum solar production requirements for the utilities must be met with SREC’s from NJ – rather than other states that might be cheaper.
Our investment was about $16,000 – the state paid the rest. Based on our current energy savings, we expect the payback to be 16-18 years. As electricity rates increase, that timeframe will shrink. This calculation does not include SREC sales.
Has the value of your home appreciated due to the solar panel installization?
I don’t know. We haven’t gotten appraisals or put the house on the market since installation. We only got one negative comment from a neighbor – he was looking to sell his home and was worried about the effect that our property would have on his sale. He got at least his asking price, and the new owners think our system is “cool”, so it doesn’t seem to have mattered. We’ve gotten many positive comments. One funny story is posted on my solar blog about a police officer who stopped by to ask about them – he lives nearby. Our installer provided information that states home values increase $20 for every $1 in energy cost savings. He felt that we wouldn’t see a property value increase of the full $52,000 project cost, but that it would be at least the $16,000 net cost to us after state rebates – probably more like 20-23K.
Bottom line, are you glad that you made the investment?
Yes. I’m a computer-type and my wife is an engineer – so the “cool” factor was involved. Additionally, we skew a bit liberal in values, so the greenness was a factor as well. Last, it has reduced our electric bills. We’re happy.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Additional thoughts:
1. There is NO maintenance required. The panels get washed by the rain, and the electrical equipment requires no attention at all. All we do is write down the daily readings – more out of engineer curiosity than anything else.
2. The inverters have fans built in that are a bit louder than normal small appliance fans. It’s a little quieter than our microwave when it’s running. You may want to consider that when placing them. They usually go near the breaker box anyway. Also, they do cause minor interference on AM radio – we listen to the local news every morning and have just gotten used to it (“computer” beeping sounds in the background).
3. We’ve had no physical trouble at all. No roof leaks, no wind damage (and we’ve had winds short of a hurricane last fall), not even anything flapping in the wind. I also believe that it keeps the attic cooler in the summer than our bare asphalt shingle roof did.
4. You’re welcome to see the installation if you wish. If your Akeena rep is who I think it is, he has his own home solar to show you, but you’re welcome to see ours. Keep in mind that we are using Sharp equipment installed by someone else (though they’re all similar).
Comments
2 Comments on Questions and Answers
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steve lawlor on
Sun, 26th Dec 2010 3:33 pm
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Mark on
Sun, 26th Dec 2010 4:46 pm
How can we contact you to have someone come and estimate the cost of installation for solar panels for our home.
Thank you
We are not installers – we are a residential customer. I would suggest contacting one of the number of installers in NJ.
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