Solar panels? | Imamother

baltomom

Thu, Feb 09 2017, 3:22 pm

Has anyone put in solar panels on your house? What company did you use, and can you please share your experience (positive or negative)? Anyone use a company called Sunrun?

TIA!

amother

Sapphire

Sun, Apr 15 2018, 2:01 pm

Be very careful. Read the fine print, and read the government websites.

My husband was very excited to do this until I showed him the snow job the company was giving us. These companies are not doing this for you.

It is much better to do it directly.

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Aug 01 2019, 10:03 am

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

This is something we're looking into now.

What do you mean by doing it directly? Can you give me more information on what you mean by the "snow job the company was giving us"?
If you'd rather pm me I'll post my SN.

madys

Thu, Aug 01 2019, 10:07 am

I think the issue is who "owns" the panels. I think with most companies you lease the panels and it can get difficult if you wnat to sell your house and the new buyer doesn't want those panels.

Also, in most cases, you aren't "charging" your own home, the charge goes to the group, so you're not really saving anything.

As others said above, make sure you do your due diligence before doing anything

amother

Taupe

Thu, Aug 01 2019, 10:34 am

from what im hearing, this is what ive gathered.

you dont pay anything upfront it cost about 30k. you pay with two parts:

1)tax refund which is about 15k
2) pay over time as monthly bills (the rest of the 30k) comes out to the same as regular electric bills would be.

eventually after a few years of paying up, your electric bills become a joke (like 13$ a month)

does this sound right?

amother

Pearl

Thu, Aug 01 2019, 11:26 am

A tax refund is not guaranteed. It depends if there is a program in your state for solar panels. Whether or not your electric bill goes down depends on how much electricity is produced by the panels, which in turn depends on the orientation of your home and number/size of trees. Many people who lease panels rather than purchase them outright are not happy with the long-term contract or monthly cost, but others are satisfied. Personally, I chose not to go solar after looking into all our options.

amother

Taupe

Thu, Aug 01 2019, 12:32 pm

amother [ Pearl ] wrote:

im in new york. my roof is in excellent shape. is there a way to know how much it will cost monthly? also how does leasing vs buying work?

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Aug 01 2019, 4:07 pm

amother [ Taupe ] wrote:

I was told that the cost is a loan which you pay back monthly. I was also told that in my state there's a program that pays your bill for the 1st 10 years. And after that you're still paying much less than your electric bill.

What does it mean that your power goes to a group and therefore you're not saving that much?

Where can I research unbiased information to decide if this is for me? It sounds too good to be true.

all is good

Sun, Jul 26 2020, 9:57 pm

Following, as we're also trying to figure this out now. I live in CT. Anyone heard of the company Trinity? We were offered 1500 for switching to solar panels but the whole thing sounds too good to be true that it's almost suspicious. Would also love to get a hold of unbiased info...

amother

Chartreuse

Sun, Jul 26 2020, 11:12 pm

Be very careful - if you are leasing the panels (typically it’s a 20 year lease), you may have a hard time selling your house as your new Buyer May not want to take over the lease. You can’t cancel the lease midstream.

amother

Black

Sun, Jul 26 2020, 11:32 pm

I have solar panels for a few years already! I live in N.J
We're leasing!
They checked our bill to see how much we are using on average and installed the number of panels that produce that amount. Anything above they get to keep, that's why installation was free.
I pay a monthly fee (in my case $85)and most months I do not have any electricity bill!
I don't see why it should be a problem to sell the house(not that I tried!) I was paying way more in electric bill on any given month, even in the winter with no A/C running!
If they're are cons to it, I'm not aware yet!

amother

Saddlebrown

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 10:25 am

Anyone know anything more? The solar company said they would put a new roof with the panels. I am in NY, they say there are state programs that fund it. Obviously sounds too good to be true.

amother

Gold

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 10:30 am

I did not put them in because I was afraid of roof damage. Also, from what I was told, the panels only have a 20 year life until they stop producing solar. After 20 years they are useless and you are back to paying bills or you can replace them.
You may want to look into that.

amother

Taupe

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 10:32 am

amother [ Saddlebrown ] wrote:

Anyone know anything more? The solar company said they would put a new roof with the panels. I am in NY, they say there are state programs that fund it. Obviously sounds too good to be true.

We are doing it now. They are rolling the coat of a new roof in to the e monthly payments. We will own the panels. It’s a monthly payment for about 15-20 years.. forgot which we went with. Our monthly payments with the new roof rolled in, will still be lower than our current electric bills. Eventually our bills will be even lower and down to nothing basically. Our roof is extremely sunny and an optimal place.

busy mommy

Mon, Dec 07 2020, 11:52 am

I just put in solar panels and I used www.jerseysolarenergy.com. They are very knowledgeable and explained all the options to me. Buying the panels, leasing the panels, financing the panels, or buying the energy it produces from the solar power company.