C
Chiefmcfuz
Guest
Looking into solar for the house. I have checked out a few companies. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice for me?
- Location
- 11756
tonyscoots
We used Long Island Power Solutions.. I would assume Westchester is not in their scope.
We just put in a battery backup for the house that lets us sleep easy knowing the tank, refrigerator and other various items automatically turn over to battery power. The solar we have is approximately 80-85% of our daily usage.
I know with this company, there was no payment down. They took the federal rebate and you finance with them. You can work out the payments so its very similar to what your monthly payments were prior to your electric company.
As for being an eye sore.. I don't think a regular roof looks too nice anyway.
We just put in a battery backup for the house that lets us sleep easy knowing the tank, refrigerator and other various items automatically turn over to battery power. The solar we have is approximately 80-85% of our daily usage.
I know with this company, there was no payment down. They took the federal rebate and you finance with them. You can work out the payments so its very similar to what your monthly payments were prior to your electric company.
As for being an eye sore.. I don't think a regular roof looks too nice anyway.
A few questions if I may...
How long does the battery back up last?
As I understand it when you do solar this way you are literally renting all of the equipment from the company (and they make their $ from them getting the rebates instead of the home owner getting them). What happens if you decide to sell your house?
How many years does it take to pay off the financing?
What happens if your roof needs replacing someday, who is responsible for moving the panels out of the way & placing them back?
Hope that's not too many questions
A few questions if I may...
How long does the battery back up last?
As I understand it when you do solar this way you are literally renting all of the equipment from the company (and they make their $ from them getting the rebates instead of the home owner getting them). What happens if you decide to sell your house?
How many years does it take to pay off the financing?
What happens if your roof needs replacing someday, who is responsible for moving the panels out of the way & placing them back?
Hope that's not too many questions
I am am limited in my knowledge since my father is the one that set it all up and is the one paying, seeing I am just living home still since I just finished up college.
The battery backup lasts varying on whats drawing from it. They say it is good for 3 days. However, for us it is estimated at 5 days because we limited what is connected to it. Further, that is the days it lasts without the solar recharging the batteries at all. As long as there is sun you will have power in the selected circuits so given a storm hits, usually the day after is sunny.
There is buying/financing and leasing solar. When you buy/finance solar you actually own it. If you lease it they own it, and you are effectively paying a lease payment for something you do not own. At least the financing, when the term is done you own it.
I can not determine the amount of time it will take to pay it off. That would depend on what you would be willing to pay a month. My father just chose to make it approximate to what he was paying prior for his electric bill so budgeting for bills was the same. I just brought that up as an option.
I am not sure exactly where the company makes all their money from. I would assume its more than the rebate though.
As far as selling your house. Our house was appraised again. According to the appraiser, there is no factual evidence of solar increasing the value of your home. However, it will most likely help in selling it.
I am not sure exactly on the roof situation. According to what I heard and actually see. The panels essentially protect the roof. If the roof would need to be replaced, there are brackets that each panel is connected to that the panel can be removed from. I am not sure how difficult that is to do though.
To piggyback on the roof question. I have heard of solar shingles for the roof. I believe they work off of thermal though and know nothing else about them.
Sorry I am limited on specifics, but we've had no complaints here and love the panels. I also apologize if there are any grammatical mistakes since my brain is fried from studying.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
I heard that if you have solar panels and god forbid your house catches fire the fireman will not go on your roof due to safety issues with the electric conduit. Not sure how true it is but heard it from a electrician
- Location
- Long island
I was very close to installing solar shingles on my roof. They were supposedly 10% less efficient than actual panels and not so much of an eye sore. They had the same warranty as the regular roof shingles for protecting your home but only 20 years on electric production. In the end the $$ didn't add up, the only one making out in the deal was the bank, the fees were pretty high on the loan. It was like 4000$ not even including the 5% interest rate. Not to mention the bank takes the tax credit, if you don't pay it to them that portion of the loan goes up to 18% interest.
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- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
That's one I never heard. I installed my solar about 7 years ago and it pays for about a third of my electricity or $110.00 a month. I did it myself as I am an electrician. It cost me about $27,000.00 but I got back $14,000 from the power company and $7,000.00 from the utility so it cost me about $5,000 which I got back in savings a long time ago.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
I got them from here http://www.npcpsolar.com/
The solar panels save me $1,500 a year but my new gas condensing boiler that I installed 5 years ago saves me close to $4,000.00 a year. I used to have an oil burner but I removed it myself and put in this condensing boiler which is so small it hangs on the wall. My bills went from $5,000.00 a year to last year at $960.00. I also installed that myself because I was a plumber before I was an electrician
The solar panels save me $1,500 a year but my new gas condensing boiler that I installed 5 years ago saves me close to $4,000.00 a year. I used to have an oil burner but I removed it myself and put in this condensing boiler which is so small it hangs on the wall. My bills went from $5,000.00 a year to last year at $960.00. I also installed that myself because I was a plumber before I was an electrician
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- Location
- Rockaway Park
Do you have to go up there and shovel the snow off of the panels or is there an automatic Swabbie kit for that?
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
You don't have to shovel the panels, but they don't work when they are covered in snow so if you have nothing to do, go and shovel them off. If your roof is slanty enough, the snow somewhat slides off. Mine is not.
The only melting would be from the dark coloring of the panels. They don't actively absorb thermal I believe. I think combo of dark color and smooth material helps.
The snow does slide off of ours after some time. Actually, it can be a hazard in some circumstances. Last season when we had large amounts of snow, it would thaw a bit and turn to ice at night and slide off of the roof in big chunks of Ice/Slush. We have a extended pole with a special shovel type tool for the end to get the snow off.
- Location
- Baiting Hollow Long Island NY
The radiant heat doesn't make it to the panels when they are covered in snow, Trust me. If it is snowing in the daytime, on a sunny day, some snow may melt because the panels are black, but if it is 15 degrees out, that ain't gonna happen and they will get snow covered.
Awesome!! Sleep easy knowing your covered??
Just the line fee?! :thrash:
It was cool to see in the beginning when we had the old meter and during midday in the summer it would spin backwards.
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