hi everyone ,if anyone else wants to discover how much does it cost to install a solar power plant try Magonsi Solar System Expert (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my work buddy got cool success with it.
*Super compact and easy to carry and travel with accessories for the electric **Generater.Systems** .I was worried this was going to be bulky or hard to use.Hooks up easy and charges quickly*
This panel can put out close to 100 watts ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.
I installed my own 30kw system, 96 - 315w panels, three 7.6kw inverters with optimizers. Install on my shop metal roof took three of us 2 days. I have a single kwh meter feeding two large homes, office and welding shop. In an average year I should generate all my energy plus about 20k miles per year in my Teslas. I have net metering with my utility so they are my "storage" for now. I may add a Tesla battery pack from a wrecked car someday and go off grid. I am seeing about 20%+ rate of return with the system because I paid for the entire system myself upfront. Much better rate of return than any bank CD and most stocks.
@@simongold2739 There is a 30% tax incentive, so "our" tax dollars pay for almost 1/3 of the cost. Far, far less of "our" tax dollars than big oil gets!
I really love your transitions man. Makes the video more visually interesting and gives it a polished professional feel. Love your channel. I appreciate you.
Undecided with Matt Ferrell yep great video mate .Was very interested for a quality system like yours how much energy your PV averages annually and did I get it right that you average 6000 kWh annual? Solar hours in Australia’s depending on your location and direction should get 4 times your array.Average size system in Australia is around 6.6kw so 6.6 times 4 = 26.4 kWh average through the year so total 9636 average although in saying that some states will get a lot more and a North array will be more
My 4.96kW system was just installed yesterday. Just waiting on electrical and net meter to be installed. Very few high quality videos like this highlighting the processes and making it more approachable for folks. Love it
Well done video. Very straight forward. Big thumbs up! There are three primary ways solar saves you money. 1.Sunlight is free - capture it to make it pay back; 2.There are really good federal and state incentives - the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) gives you a 30% tax credit which helps to pay for the system. Once the system is paid off you get years of free power. 3.Reducing your carbon footprint while laying the foundation for resiliency. While grid tied solar w/o batteries won't help you when the grid goes down, if you pair the solar with storage and install a microgrid, then you can have off-grid operation during grid outages. Let's grow solar!
As I already mentioned above....not if you fall under the income threshold of actually getting any tax credit.... These people have to pay full price with no benefits of the 30% hence that policy is biased...
Matt, excellent education on solar! Bought solar in 2011, and haven’t paid for electricity since, we have generated 50.1 MWH to date. You covered this topic very well, and I hope your subscribers get on board. We can all make a difference. Love your Tesla and hope to get one some day. Keep up the great videos. Scott.
One very big factor when considering buying a Solar system is How Old is Your Roof. If your roof is near the end of its life and you install a Solar array expect to pay high cost to remove and re-install the system.
Very good call out. Definitely a major factor when getting a system. Many installers, like Tesla, won’t even install a system on a roof if it’s near the end of life.
When you see cost projection of solar, they always conviently leave out this major consideration. What else are you not being told. Solar is bogus and will be for years to come.
@@winomaster if you read further in the comments you will find that there are many long term solar customers with very good experience with their systems. What is your problem with solar in general?
@@winomaster Do you have solar? I've had solar on my house for 5 years. I'm an accountant. Do you really want to try to explain to me how it is "bogus" and won't work? Please.
Not from all of the installers I’ve talked to. They all talk openly about the state of your roof, and make it part of the conversation of the system. Keep in mind that the installers still manage your system for you after the installation is complete. They keep tabs on production and if anything is off they’ll contact you. If they install a system on a house that needs a roof replaced after the fact, it’s going to come back and bite them.
Nice video. I went the DIY route in December and bought panels on Ebay (sunpower 327w series E panels). I got 21 of them at 34cents per watt shipped. I bought ironridge mounting, solaredge 6kw inverter $850, 21 optimizers $1300. I hauled the panels up myself, put the mounts up and did 100% myself. I got the itch end of november and had everything shipped and installed by Dec 13th. Total cost was 80cents per watt with everything. No inspections yet which will add a bit to the price. I put the sense monitoring system and got 2 bills to see how much I am getting. Total in 10 weeks during worst part of year is 920kw. I am estimating 5 year payback. The meter goes to zero alot of time during the day even with raining. During a cold sunny day even my heatpump is offset. The solar edge adds 0.2 volts to the grid so all power goes to house first then out to grid. That cutoff box for the AC cost $60 on ebay. I did my own conduit bending. It took a week putting everything up working 4 hours a day. I am 66 years old and found the 3x5 panels that weight 50lbs take a bit of thought to raise them. I found taping 2x4's to the ladder made a nice slideable surface. Texas is a right to work state so I can do alot of stuff on my own house. Total for the 7kw system with monitoring was $5400. Yesterday it generated 28kw on Feb 12, 2019 in Austin Texas. The sunpower e327s are 19.9% efficient. They put out 60 volts and are commercial panels that were replaced on a job with newer panels. Probably they were depreciated. All work perfectly well. They are about 4 years old. The solaredge system allows me to view on my phone the output of each panel real time and cumulative. The optimizers read 1v output if not connected for testing and safety. If grid detected they put out 40 volts. I have 11 on one string and the system adjusts it so I have 397 volts off roof. I could use 12 ga wire coming off roof. You need solar wire from end of string to connection box. Everything exposed is in conduit to prevent UV breaking down insulation. I just got pricing from some vendors of 39 cents per watt on new panels. I got quotes from energy sage but after rebates it was going to cost $3 per watt or over 3x what I installed it for with no rebates or tax credits.
Great job...it blows my mind how much the installers charge in the USA, maybe it's a lack of incentive or competition at the moment? Here in Aus there were a lot more incentives to install Solar a few years ago which drove a lot more competition, our most recent system cost about $1.1 per watt fully installed by professionals ($6700 AUD for 6.3kw or about $5000 USD)
Amazing video! Easily the best residential solar video I have watched. Great production value and very interesting to hear about the installation costs in the US. This as I’m thinking about installing similar rooftop system here in Sweden. Thank you for your hard work on your channel and the exceptional content!
Glad you liked it! I read somewhere that Sweden stopped charging for solar panel building permits and taxes to help promote adding them to homes. Curious how production is year round with such a northern location. I’m guessing that much like where I am winter-time production takes a step dive, but works out well over the coarse of a year.
@@UndecidedMF They even went a step further, and removed the permit all-together for roof solar installations. What I have heard from installers is that it should be like in MA but with even larger dip in the winter, but the summer production should balance it out as the sun wont set until 10PM and be back up at 4am here in Gothenburg. Thanks again!
I am a solar expert in the state of NC. This is a great representation on what solar can do for residential homeowners. It is a little different in this state, but going solar makes sense in 98% of the houses I walk into!!
Wonderful video Matt! We are a registered EnergySage Contractor in Texas. Thank you for all of the opportunities you have created within EnergySage and the non-biased content you have put out. The price per watt has gone down to record lows in Texas despite all of the import tariff opposition. We are currently selling locally made standard 305 watt Mono/PERC modules and SolarEdge Inverter systems at $2.55 a watt for a cash price.
I recently installed Solar on my house here in Manitoba, Canada. Our local utility gave a trial incentive and loan assistance for grid tied systems. I turned it on last Nov and at first want crazy with the results since it was only supplying about half my household usage. But last month I produced enough that it not only covered my household use, but it fed enough into the grid that it paid for my grid electricity, gas bill and installation loan, and gave me a $23 credit. I haven't done the math yet, but my tooth estimate is that I'll have the system paid for entirely by the time the home is paid for, in about 11 years.
Very informative, I recently installed solar after buying an EV and had sticker shock of plugging in during Peak energy hours. We got a 12 330 W LG panels totaling 3.9 kWh with a 10kWh LG Chem battery for a total offset electric bill.. I just received authorization from PG&E this weekend and took 6 months from start to PTO and its been quite a journey but I hope this works out.
I noticed you don't have consumption monitoring (only production). I believe with the IQ Envoy it's only a $40 add-on to monitor consumption to more easily compute profitability / etc. I'm planning on adding this to my system (just installed yesterday). Great video, love seeing these install experiences
Great video, thanks. You asked for some comments regarding experiences with solar systems: I'm in eastern Ontario and had a 30 panel, dual array 5.7 kW system (with Enphase micro inverters) installed on our 8/12 pitch steel roof back in May 2010. As of tonight, we have produced 68.2 MWh of energy in the past 108 months (about 630 kWh/month average). That is about 17% better than (what was known as) PVWatts estimates. One array (12 panels) faces 165T and the main portion (18 panels) faces 255T. Until I got my Tesla Model 3 last summer, we were net producers of energy (on a yearly basis) by about 2 MWh a year. I always use a snow broom (with a telescoping handle) to sweep the panels clear after any snowfalls. With the panels closing in on nine years old, I have yet to see any (measurable) degradation, by proxy of when the 165T facing panels' micro-inverters "clip" at 199 watts each on cold, clear (late January thru early April) days.
Thanks for sharing! That’s interesting that the clipping may have helped mask degradation. Any recommendations on a specific snow broom? I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing, but don’t want to damage the panels.
@@UndecidedMF I've used this Snow Pro unit (on my 2nd one now) since my first winter with the panels: www.telescoping-pole.com/store/p/Remove-Snow-From-Solar-Panels.aspx The 24 foot telescoping pole I've used (with the use of silicon lubricant spray to prevent moisture freezing up the extention mechanisms) is: www.telescoping-pole.com/Garelick-Telescoping-Poles.aspx I use an extension ladder with pads for rain gutter protection. It took the first winter to learn the best technique but now I can clear them all in about 40 minutes (heavy snow fall) or 20 minutes (light snow fall). About the clipping: yes, my nominal 215 watt rating for my nine year old NEC panels my be hiding their degradation behind a 199 watt limit on the micro inverters, but since I'm getting the same amount of clipping (starts around 1035 and end around 1330) year after year, I consider it statistically irrelevant at this point. You will find May to be your best month, panels are still cool and not all the leaves have budded on the trees yet.
Thanks. That looks much safer to use than some of the ones I had been looking at. And interesting note on May ... curious to see if that plays out for me the same way.
@@UndecidedMF Cheers. I look forward to your six month report. I've got nine years of data now and it's cool to be able to predict with confidence what the system will provide us on a monthly basis.
As a former roofer, I can tell you that every time you walk around on a roof, you are shortening it's life. And the effect is most damaging in the later years of a roofs life when it becomes very fragile. Any benefit from sweeping panels free of snow is pure illusion.
I wish I had such a good experience with energy sage... I had people from India calling me that I could barely understand. Kept getting the same quote from the same installer. I'm glad to hear it worked out for you
In Australia i purchased a 6.5 kw system . Full installed for 2350 us. Plus a Heat pump hot water system $1600 us plus changed all lights to LED 700 us. Total repay in less than 2 years.
@@UndecidedMF Sounds like there's a lot of gouging going on with permits, labor, mark up etc artificially bumped up precisely because of the rebate. Add to that the fact that the fossil fuel industry owns everything and are doing everything they can to impede the revolution. If Dems can win in 2020, things should improve drastically and quickly.
greg lomas dude they would have cut corners at that price and bet you they would not have been CEC certified retailers at that price.Everyone knows Aussie average at 1.00AUD a watt
Andy Lee Robinson yes you are correct.If the Aussies can do a decent setup for 0.70c U.S per watt anyone can do it.Also Aussie labor costs are over 2 times the cost than U.S labor costs then prices should be around like 0.60c per watt installed.Someone is ripping off someone
Just FYI, we are getting a 7.2 KW system installed next month & we looked at a Home Equity loan to pay for it but the rates were like around 5%. However, the bank offered to refinance our home for 3.25% interest so we refinanced & added the cost of the system to our mortgage & our payment stays the same ( now 15-year mortgage). When we get the 30% credit it will go toward extra principal payments on the loan, 3.25% these days ain't bad. After the 30% tax credit our system will net out at $13,200.00 for the system - (22) 320 Watt panels.
I have had solar since Oct. last year. With the coming of spring my electric bill for the last months has been 0. This month is also looking like a zero electric bill. Been very happy with Vivint system here in Florida.
Good video but let me also add a few of my own personal experiences with my solar. First off I live in South Texas where we have lots of sun, hot sun. Second I have a 8.6 peek power kWP and we had a the highest performing panels installed, it was a bit more expensive but has already paid off. Our panels were installed 3 years ago and are performing great, we had a long 9 months of a lot of cloudy days with rain so that didn't help much. Our electric bills for our 2500 sqft 2 story home runs between 9 to 60 dollars a month. Better than the 120 to 220 a month we were paying. We got a solar panel loan at 0% interest and paid it off within the 18 months. We used the Federal tax credit of about 8000 and the local municipality rebate of about 7000 to offset the cost and pay off the loan. The total out of pocket was about 14 grand. There are a few things to note that I don't think many people realize. Here in Texas since our panels face the hottest part of the suns tregectory it provides it's own R factor. I know it's not mentioned anywhere as the main point of solar panel sales is to install solar panels. But there is a real R factor since the panels face the sun, are elevated off the roof about 2 inches which provides an air flow between the solar panel and the roof tile. The other consideration is cash outlay. My wife and I are both retired so we are on a fixed income. Utilities are not fixed as mentioned in this video. Yes the value of your home increases so do not look at this as an expense look at it as an investment. And the insurance for these is pennies on the dollar. The benefits in my opinion are very real. I would recommend them to any one however due to the fact that the Tax credits are running out your window is slowly closing and with the proposed tariffs it will make solar once again not a viable solution. So for those of us who jumped on this band wagon we are all lucky indeed. I have also heard that solar research has jumped again and discovered a new resource better than the silicon used to mfg the panels which is cheaper and even more productive. Not sure when and how much those are. Also one last thing while I'm babbling on, is banking what you do not use. If you take advantage of the Federal tax credit you will not be able to set up a battery wall bank for 5 years. The battery back up is a great deal as it also is available for a federal tax credit. Not sure how long this will as as I have 2 more years, maybe if we vote correctly next time the person in the WH will realized the hugely mistakes of this one and re-examine solar as a better solution and extend the tax credits.
I agree with everything you said spend 28k got back from feds and state about 9k; saving about $1700 plus $1900 for solar credits every year, 5 .5 years to get money back not bad
I have stopped myself each time I think about installing a system because of the cost. I see that the rebates don't really go to you, but to the labor. I would like to see a video showing the wholesale price of your equipment and then the various forms of labor. I think the incentives are really for the installers and they price a system smartly so they can extract as much money from you. I think a video like that would be very interesting. $0.50 per watt panel cost plus the rest of the equipment is not much. Of course, installers must make money, but they may be getting a lot more than people think.
I see your point, solar is a profitable business. Full disclosure I sell solar and I hope this sheds some light on your concern of cost. As with any business the point is to make a profit and stay in business. There are factors that the homeowner is not aware of and I will speak to what I know in Texas. Firstly you will always save the most money by doing it yourself, as with most things in the construction industry we are not paid to do what people can't do, but rather paid to do what they don't know how or want to do. So... for sake of math we will use a 10kw system financed to the homeowner instead of cash at $3 a watt, so $30,000. Solar panels, racking, inverter and optimizers and various bits, $1.65/watt or 16.5k plus design permitting and Interconnection agreement 1.5k for 18k total. But when a deal is financed the lender takes a finance charge paid by the installer, usually around 15% to 20%. That means on 30k that's 4.5k or 6k that goes straight to the lender. Let's call it 5k. Added to the 18k that's 23k out of 30k or 7k profit. That's 70 cents per watt that has to pay for lead generation, insurance, property rent, and installation and salesforce. Again you will save the most by doing it yourself and I'll gladly tell you how but it is not as cut and dry as saying solar companies make too much money. I hope this helps and in no way was I trying to be a jerk, just trying to show the other side of the coin.
I'm so excited about renewable energy because that's the future of our kids, grandkid,and great grandkids!! They deserve to have a good environment to live in the same as we!!!
We had (Qty.22) 320 Watt solar panels installed on our roof on 10/9/19 & love watching the electric bill shrink as the days get longer. We had a storm which damaged the shingles on our old roof so the insurance company paid for a new roof so figured now that new roof is up perfect time to install solar panels. I am looking forward to filing my taxes & getting the 30% tax credit. The final cost after tax credit will be about $13,200.00 out of pocket for the whole project.
One thing buyers (particularly in Hawaii) should be aware of is the schemes the power co uses to rob solar generators of their power. For example, in Hawaii, you can only gain credits to offset usage, and those credits are non-transferable between electric meters, and the banked energy expires. I currently pay a $30 meter fee to put energy in the grid, then pay $150 to use that energy at my next house.. when I contacted HELCO, they told me my only option was to "go off the grid".. which is a totally different story altogether. Also, they'll only give you hot water heating tax credit if you had an electric hot water heater installed; if it was propane, you won't qualify.
It is amazing! I installed solar about 7 years ago. During the heat of the summer (in Southern California) my monthly electric bill due to air conditioning could, and often did, hit over $650 in one month (some of my neighbors hit closer to $800 per month cranking up that AC), while regular months would still run me around $200-$250 a month, so around $4200 per year.. Now my annual electricity is only around $750 for the entire year. My system has already paid for itself and going forward it's just saving me money. My system is a little smaller than yours, a 8.7Kw system. Trying to rationalize adding a bit more and a battery backup, but I think I need to get an EV first.
$30k seems a very high price for a pretty small array with no battery system. I'm saving up to building my dream house in about 10 years (without going in debt) and I'm considering going totally off-grid and using solar/battery power, with geothermal heating/cooling, but this is still relatively rare right now. Plenty of people build off-grid homes, but they tend to be basic homes without many amenities. I want a modern home with no compromises, which is difficult to achieve off-grid. In any case, I hope I can get my system (which will need to be at least 20kw) cheaper than this, else I'll wind up spending $100k just for the electrical system in the house!
That sounds awesome. I’d love to have geothermal for my home at some point. I wouldn’t be surprised if you can do it cheaper as part of a new build, especially in about 10 years ... should be much cheaper by then.
Right , paying someone to install solar is expensive ,and if you tie to the grid you have to pay someone . And to run a house with no comprises for 24. Hours a day ? People dont mention all the cut backs and do withouts , batterys are very costly and limiting . You need enough panels to run your electric needs day time and more to charge. Batterys for night use , a very large up front expense . Then the batterys get worn out and need replacing . I did the math , no thanks . I would like to have enough panels to help run a mini split during the day . That's about it
@@boracay12 I'm not totally new to this. I understand all of the challenges, but I plan to overcome them. Again, I won't be building for 10+ years, so solar and battery technology and pricing will be a very different picture by then. Also, I'm willing to pay for what I want, which is why I'm waiting and saving. A 20-30 kw solar array with a large enough battery bank, and a supplemental propane generator to run the house and charge the batteries when needed, can power ANY home. The only question is whether you're willing to pay for that system. I am...in theory, but I'll have to wait and see what product innovations and price reductions occur in the next 10 years to know for sure. But there's no question that it can be done.
Glad to see you are happy with solar. In California it's a completely different story if you are a PG&E customer. We consume close to 10kWhrs per year. I received quotes from 11 different Energysage solar installers who told me I needed around a 7.9 to 9.1 kW system (That's 24 to 30 panels.) Glad I did not go with any of Energysage installers and here's why. Turns out Energysage and their installers do not have software which can accurately size solar systems for PG&E customers. We installed 4.55 kWh system or 14 panels. That's half the size of what all of the Energysage installers told me we needed. Even with a 4.55 kWh system even in the short days of late fall and early winter we are receiving too many energy credits. In reality I think we really only need 2.6 kWh system or 8 panels. What the folks at Energysage and their installers are NOT telling PG&E customers is that PG&E credit's solar customers for excess electricity at market rate. Energysage and their installers design systems on trading kWs, not the value of the kW. PG&E has 11 different rate plans for solar customers. (Something Energysage does not understand.) For the rate plan I am on our rates changed up to 5 times a day. During prime solar hours PG&E will buy my excess electricity for $0.52 kWhr. Later in the day PG&E drops the rate to $0.12 kWhr. For every kWhr I sell to them during the day at $0.52 I can buy back 4.3. Energysage and their installers don't seem to understand that if you sell 1 kWhr to PG&E during the day when prices are high you can get over 4 back when the prices are lower. For the rate plan we are on we estimate in 3.6 years our solar system will have paid for itself. PG&E added a new solar rate plan which penalizes people for installing solar. Their new rate plan pays solar customers only $0.14 kWhr. Then in the evening they raised rates to $0.48 kWhr. This means new solar customers will have to sell over 3 kWhrs during the day to get 1 back during the evening. The folks at Energysage and their installers no nothing about this. Or if they do, they aren't saying anything about it. Matt, if you would ever like to make a video comparing PG&E rates in California with your energy company's rates please contact me. I think it would make for a very interesting video. I'm hearing from a lot of PG&E customers they feel cheated in going solar.
Thank you! I have been watching your solar videos (well, all videos) for about a year now and decided to go solar. I checked with other companies but decided with Tesla in the end. The system is half installed (due to poor weather) and will be completed in two days. I forgot to use your referral code but my project manager said they will apply it. I'm located not to far from you either. I wish I could afford the powerwall, we lose power often.
I don't have solar myself but i work as an electrician installing them and you're pretty accurate in the way you explain what the components do, but there's one major difference between how it was done for you and how it's done here in the netherlands, we tend to install the inverters inside so people can't fuck with them, they're always installed in a cooled room with enough space for the inverter to cool down (30cm's in every direction)
Great video, thank you. But paying 30k for just 10kw system... Even for LG panels. For this price we install 50kw (Tier-1 solar panels with SMA inverters).
@@UndecidedMF Kiev, Ukraine. Here solar energy market is growing twice each year. I believe installation cost in US is higher, but not 5 times higher. And you should also know that March-2019 price for Tier-1 A-grade poly panels from the factory is 0.235-0.245 USD/Wp. So regular 330Wp modules cost 77-80USD.
@@UndecidedMF we also can our solar panel is world number three yingli panels, inverters for on grid is SMA inverter, off grid suvpr inverters. contact me 13691858019
High U.S prices puzzles me too. Even with Australia very high Labour costs which would be more than double U.S and terrible AUD dollar I got quoted for 10.5kw system $11700 AUD after rebates for a full install including meter box upgrade to grid connect and installed by a federal government recommended installers/ retailer and fully inspected for Q cells and fornius set up so approx $8000 U.S.And if you want LG panels add $300 U.S per kw so extra $3000 U.S plus maybe extra for 2 storey so say extra $1000 installed. Same system in Australia would be approx $12000 U.S installed.And believe me labor is expensive for qualified tradesmen as they make more $ than university grads in Australia, like plumbers charge over $100 U.S per/hr I forgot to calculate micro inverter so maybe 2k there.So absolutely max 13_14k U.S installed
In 2011 I took advantage of the 30% tax credit and got SREC credit so I got a 6500kw system in stalled by Straightup Solar with monitoring by Sunpower (27x240w panels) for $6578 or $1.012/watt installed. That was perfect timing because - it isn't that cheap anymore.
Where I live it's definitely worth going solar. The local farms that have solar arrays actually get paid for the excess electricity they feed back into the grid, so their electricity bill is negative; they receive money each month. This surplus of power generation does have some downsides. Local grid voltages can exceed 127 volts at the wall outlet. I've seen 131 volts, and I know that surges over 138 volts have happened.
Because solar panels are a scam. ;) It doesn't matter where you live or what the local price per kWh is, the claimed payback time is always seven to eight years.
@@WhoStoleMyAlias It matters a lot where you live. My power bill used to be over $2000 pa. Now with 5.5kW of panels I'm making money. It's not rocket surgery.
@@3rdrock You're right. It's not rocket science. Like you expressed, it's about money. It's about savings and as a rule this means that the person that helps you achieve that wants a piece of it as well. effectively: if you can save $100 then he will want $50 and if you can save $50 he can't ask for $50 and will drop to $25. That is straight forward economics. And of course you are saving the environment which is regrettably only partly true. Or rather a drop in the ocean. Just consider what Matt says: he has a 9.49kWp installation on his roof. Assuming 24/7 operation that would generate over 83MWh pa. According to Matt he only produces 6.6MWh pa which is in fact amazingly little considering that the USA as a whole is further south than here I live and we get about a 10% result, but as we can see from the footage he has panels facing in opposite directions so we can safely assume that both directions will not be optimal. As a rough estimate I'd say Matt's panels will probably do an average of 6kWh per day this time of year. That will not feed his household appliances and will not charge his EV. The main issue however is that there is no appliance that uses something like a kWh - they use Watts which is instant power and should be matched with when the panels are producing electricity. Yes a battery might provide a buffer, but that becomes very impractical very quickly if the panels are not producing enough power during some extended period like days, weeks or even months.
@@WhoStoleMyAlias Solar isn't the answer for everywhere but as it gets cheaper it is going to be worthwhile for nearly everywhere. I get your drift but you are taking a bit of a dim view with some of your assumptions. Im in Perth Australia my 5.5 kw pv system made 9 MW in the last 12 Months and that was with some down time. Hopefully my next car will be an EV and with some more panels I will have sun fed transport and then, Fuck all those gougers.
Not sure if this is important to you but with grid-tied Solar, generally you won’t have power during a blackout (due to both technical and safety issues). For that, you’ll need an energy storage solution like the Tesla Powerwall 2.
Powerwall (or any battery system) can be pretty expensive. I was quoted by Tesla $12K installed for first one. $7K for next one. I would only do one if I had a lot of blackouts. We only have one blackout for a few hours every 4 or 5 years so it is not viable for us.
interesting to get the "30% cost-off deals". I live in France. I remember how the politics were pushing for solar personal systems 10 to 15 years ago, and there were programs financing up to around 30% of this type of PV system also like yours. But now the situation has changed drastically, the 60 cent KW intial resold price has dropped to 20 cent... And this is a shame because in the end a country has everything to gain for pushing its citizens to invest in this type of non fossil energy. I know people right now who have crossed the path 15 years ago and who are gaining a lot money out of their PV solar systems, cause they got the benefit from the 30% off contracts. Interesting to see that costs in USA and in France are closely the same for this type of installations. So if I have an advice for americans who still are cold about trying it, just DO IT! the investment is WORTH IT but only thanks to the 30% off programs you can still get from your government. After this deal is out, you will lose the 10k to 15K money that makes the difference between the no gain / no lost situation (where the investment is just matched by the gain untill the installation is out of oldness) and the 10 to 15 last years of gaining money situation when you finally paid your bills and start to make daily profit.... while having the benefit to know you are taking care of the planet and sharing a more global climatic protection for the earth you are giving to your childs. Believe me, if I had the budget and the opportunity to get this type of 30% off contracts, I would jump to the occasion without any doubt.
For the Netherlands: price for kWh is low, 0.22 euro. I use only 1100 per year. Your electricity back to the grid is 0.06 euro. So any investment does not pay off. Not even in 30 years!
Very interesting to hear about the economics of solar from the other side of the world. Makes me feel lucky over here in Australia where it costs about $0.50 - 0.70USD per watt and a payback period of about 3 years.
$78 per month power bill average with all electric (heatpump, wh, lights, range, laundry). Hydro produced from a lake in the county producing more power than the county uses. Yes grid is all power produced but our five counties produce much more from hydro than they use. The utility also has solar farms. Solar home conversion will also recommend conversion of dryer, range, wh and heat to propane. Cost is $4000 and a new utility (Hank Hill at about $700 a year). And AC is discouraged in solar in favor of fans only or evap coolers so hot days in July/Aug are uncomfortable. Lat 35. 75-100 grey days, live in a forest. $20,000+ for my size home and no good solar electricians in the county, due to it being a yuppie consumer product in white suburbs. Subtract propane for high heat appliances my utility savings would average $15 a month ($180/yr) with a $28,000 outlay plus insurance and maintenance. I'd be nuts. I've done the math and studied adjacent homes and farms that use only solar with no line connection. It doesn't work out *for me* , but *may for some* . One adjacent small farmhouse solar only for ten year with a small dedicated building of batteries, was spending $1000 a year on diesel fuel last year due to the long gray winter. They hooked back up for net metering. Solar has grown hand in hand in the last 20 years with natural gas fired plants. Only gas fired plants can react fast enough with high production megawatts to unexpected gray days, thunderstorms and the evening head of the power duck. Gas fired electric lobbyists are often high proponents of home solar, as it "fuels" the need for LPG plants over coal or hydro. Dirty secret of the solar and wind industry that T Boone Pickens doesn't mention as he's in all three. Not saying solar doesn't work, but swinging from 10 kWhr a day to the hundreds through the year, still means you are using power plant power much of the time. Just using your example. You are offloading your surplus at midday and midyear, when most of the surplus is offloaded to the power grid and not used. Each day is a micro model of the year for you. Chemical batteries are not efficient power storage by laws of thermodynamics. Convenient yes, efficient no.
There are a few non-chemical batteries and storage systems... but they are absurdly or extremely bulky, requiring mechanical force, motors, heat exchange, which are even less efficient systems. Chemical resistance or electron exchange, or regular combustion/oxidisation is so much more effective and divisible to the needs of the typical user. For instance, pumping water "uphill", which can be used to store kilowatts or megawatts in a dam or storage area, or cooling/heating water, moving extreme loads ie train carriages full of tonnes of steel & cement blocks against gravity, etc. Non-chemical storage isn't easy or portable either, usually requiring fixed or unique locations, such as coastal areas, acreages, farm/ underground storage, open plains, extreme climates, or stable river/lakes nearby, etc.
Even if we don't fuel our cars with solar, the coming wave of EV transportation is going to be revolutionary. Even fueling the car from the grid is going to reduce the cost of a cab ride by 90% when autonomous driving is fully a factor. I am so excited about the possibilities associated with autonomous EV's that I would almost sell my soul to be able to experience that. If you want to see a movie, you summon your self-driving car to pick you up in front of your house and drop you at the theater entrance as it goes to find a parking spot. If you choose to get about by "car service" you have an even more convient and lower cost situation. With none of the bother of maintaining a car. It's going to be a great world in just a few years.
I think it’s a little more than a few years away, but I do agree that it’s coming. Car ownership will slowly fade away once self driving cars, buses, etc. become the norm.
@@UndecidedMF The payoff for the first fully autonomous car, one that can operate in the snow belt as well as the sun belt, will be so massive that an astonishing amount of investment is being made in the field. One of the most promising is an AI equipped car with a driver used during the research. The AI observes as the driver moves about the road network. At times the AI function becomes confused. It notes these situations and they are reviewed later, likely with a programmer. In all this driving the AI function updates it's learning. So essentially the brain of the autonomous car learns about the objects in it's "world" and how these objects behave and change in appearance. The brain of these cars must eventually get as smart in the driving field as a human being. Which would be an incredible achievement. Projections about how long it might take to achieve a fully autonomous car can not factor in the incredible amount of urgency being channeled into these programs. Whoever wins may have it's design adopted by all automakers. And that would earn them a fortune. Projections about how long will be necessary to engineer a solution are frequently gotten wrong by the experts. The problems can seem so insurmountable to all but a few. So, this may be one of those situations where the conservative estimate gets it all wrong. Never underestimate what a motivated researcher might achieve.
holy crap solar is expensive in the USA... here in Australia our 6kw system was 13k and after rebates it was $6,700 and that's in Australian dollars, so more like 5k USD at the end of it... and that was a year ago
I was thinking exactly the same thing! We got in early with a 5kW system and locked-in the high feed-in tariff, so we enjoy getting a cheque from the our power company just before Christmas each year... :-) Of course, we also live in a sunny, sub-tropical location, so that helps.
I agree, whenever I see the prices the Americans are paying I think they are getting ripped off which seems strange considering the size of business they do with China, maybe the Chinese are just trying to make a bit of extra foreign currency back given how much America has devalued its currency and thus caused the rest of the world to settle her debts via the petro dollar..yes this is a deliberately provocative answer for our increasingly perverse and unjust planet.
I installed solar on my house and happened to have an almost identical timeline. We started right around when you did and it went online around when you did. We're also seeing similar production during these darker months. It's a little depressing when there was so much anticipation when things got going but we're really looking forward to tracking production during the summer.
John Kerbaugh , exactly! And it will be great. "I need to go to the hardware store to pick up some nuts and bolts...and use this coupon for a free 25 watt panel" lol!
5:00 WHOA THERE: you just glossed over the biggest charge: a 5.99% (yes he said rate) interest rate over10 years is 59.9%. The rebate is not given till after the panels are installed. This means that that that $29,000 you paid initially is actually $46,371. That interest is killer.
Even if the rebate came before the loan, $29,610-$8,883=$20,727 $20,727×(10years×5.99%apr)=$33,142. Everything would workout far better if the interest was 3% or less.
Your math is off. As you pay the loan down, the amount you owe in interest also declines. For $29k over 10 years the interest is actually closer to $9,600 (www.calcxml.com/calculators/loan-payment-calculator?skn=#results). We just got our rebate money, which we’re about to apply to the loan, so our loan will immediately drop to around $20k. Taking that and applying how much time is left on the 10 year loan (we’re 6 or 7 months in) and it’s about $6k in interest left. BUT ... we’re planning on paying it down faster than the minimum payment. In the end the interest paid will be lower than that. Bottom line though: you are right that 5.99% is high and 3% would have been ideal.
Correct Anand. Solar is NOT viable yet. IF you can get the gov't to put a gun to your neighbors head and make THEM pay for your system you might get a deal.
I live in South Australia and we recently had a 6.6kw solar system installed by a reputable installer in our area and it cost us a total of $6,000 (Just over $7,000 when accounting for the extra electrical work we wanted done at the same time) and we paid for that outright. We also had our home evaluated by a real estate agent and he specifically said that adding this solar system to our home will NOT add any additional value. So I was surprised hearing you say that your solar added a bit of value to your house.
I think it really depends on the region and size of the system. I have family in California and they saw an increase in home value, but I don’t think it’s a guarantee everywhere. For my house, I’m not counting on it adding value whenever I do end up selling. If it does, then that’s just a nice perk.
@@chefgav1 doesn't seem strange to me. I have priced out systems and the majority of the cost comes from the companies that sell the systems I reselling the Parts Plus extra and the labor.
@@mradaChris cost of doing business in Australia is a lot more expensive than U.S especially labour (Electricians charge over $100 U.S hr/ alone. Doesn't make sence that Australia 1/4 of the price installed. Some of it comes down to government subsidies (better in Australia) but not the total cost.
Great video, we have a 5.1kw system on our roof up in Canada. Our installation cost was $15000 Canadian for 20 255W Canadian Solar panels which seems a lot less than you pay. There are no incentives in my province for solar. We create 6000kwh per year. My expected return is 16 years. We have cheaper utility prices hence the long pay back time. We are still quite happy with this and encourage others to go solar.
Part of the reason mine was so much more was the LG 365 watt panels I picked ... and the fact that U.S. prices are probably a little out of whack too. If I gone with something lower wattage per panel, it could have knocked the price down. Awesome that you’re so happy with your system and that it’s working out for you.
Canadian Solar now have 365w panels as well now, they were not available when we installed 3 years ago. I notice at the end of your video you were looking at your solar panel performance. One thing I have learned is how amazing and consistent solar energy is. After 3 years my graphs have show we collect the same 6mW within a few hundred kWh each year. They really do work. Good luck with your system. Well presented video by the way. @@UndecidedMF
Honestly is that the question you want to ask? That's like asking if marriage makes sense economically (I guess that's a qualified yes if you usually pay for sex). The reasons for off-grid energy self sufficiency go far beyond a monetary calculation. The question that should be asked ito the audience is why aren't you actively considering alternative self-sufficient energy options when so many options are readily available and at par or beating grid supplied energy costs in many places. In Australia, the power company is facing a crisis because so many homes are generating electricity.
I live in the USA and our government does not want us to be self sufficient. Allthough I want have my our power I have everything else. A well with whole house filtration, recently I replaced an old electric furnace with a gas one propane. The energy savings on the gas heat has paid for itself in less than 4 years. Water system in less then 10 years and ac in 5 years. water quality is very good. I also replaced electric stove with gas which saves money and cooks better as well. The big satisfaction is not depending or relying on utilities which keep going up in price no matter how much I use.
It really depends on where you’re living. In my situation there’s no way for me to be 100% self sufficient, so I still have to rely on the grid for 40% of my energy. And the financial angle can’t be discounted if it’s going to dramatically increase your cost of living.
@@brianperry4815 I suspect my utility company is scamming people. A few years ago we went on vacation for a week. Recently I wanted to see what the base line of the house was while no one was home so I went looking at the usage history. I couldn't find the obvious dip that should be there. I checked the exact week we were gone and to my surprise it showed the same usage as other weeks. The same pattern of low over night, increase between 6 and 7 am, low during the day while we're at work, and an increase around the time we would normally get home. I always suspected something was up since we replaced everything in the house with much more energy efficient stuff yet there was 0 change in usage.
@@systematic101 What that could be is if you have a new smart meter which I have heard everyone shares power cost/consumption. That would not surprise me. Do you have your furnace or ac hooked up to a new smart thermostat? The new ones help and most you can even control temp from your phone. Good luck.
@@brianperry4815 that doesn't really explain why there would be 0 change during the week we weren't home or why there has been 0 change in power usage despite installing many low power replacements unless they're cheating. The shared power cost could explain it but it would be wrong to charge me more because other people are less efficient.
Typical install is about $1000 for each 1kW of system power for materials (to meet code) and from 3 to 5 times that for contractor labor and permits for 1-2 day on site installation job. So take your time when shopping.
I have a similar situation to you and a few years ago we did lose several trees, most age, one noreaser. We still have one gorgeous Norwegian Spruce, have no idea how old it is but it is huge. Every solar company I got quotes from wanted us to take down that tree. The cost of the system was over 40,000 and it would not generate all of our power needs. Yes there were rebates but it was still a lot of money. Another factor is our home is 2 storiies, one section fairly steep and we couldn't do the maintenance ourselves, ie. Snow removal, cleaning the pollen (a lot) dust and snow. We would have to hire people to do it. When it was all added up it just wasn't worth it. Panels get more efficient and cheaper every year so I will look into it again. I told the last company that I did not want a system that would be obsolete before it was paid for.
Here in Arizona you would guess solar makes plenty of sense....and you would be wrong. The power company will install a second ‘Smart Meter’ on your home and then your electric bill will magically go right back to what it was prior to installing solar panels. Oh yeah, that is only for the case of you being ‘grandfathered’ into the old electric rates. The new electric rates, only for solar power owners, are much higher. Bottom line, they will take your money no matter what you do.
The beauty of government is; they write the rules. When they decide to take more of your wealth, they will do it one way or another. They can be quite creative.
That is why I split my system in the short term: AC/heat runs off the grid, everything else off of solar/battery. Long-term will likely see one or more DC air con units, which is much more efficient.
i think it's better to focus your attention on ensuring that panels are only mounted on south facing roofs , and to design an angle mounting system that can change it's angle to suit the seasons.
you are the man you need to think about Tv ! you never missed a beat ! great job ! I restore historic building need to mix the two ! because history and the future go hand to hand ! look at were we have been and were we are going ! THINK ABOUT IT ! Barry L. Walker marathon village .com
That's a 14% tax free return. I don't think you're thinking this through. If you could buy a tax free Bond what's a 21 year maturity that paid 14% it would be a no-brainer.
In my situation 7 years really isn't that long. My monthly out of pocket expenses are roughly what they were before I went solar (on the slightly better side). The 7 year mark is when I start seeing the financial profit from the change. But money wasn't my only motivator for doing this. Each person's equation is going to be very different. If you live in an area with high energy costs, like California, you'll see that payback period much lower.
@@UndecidedMF yes it's just a question of "compared to what?." Would buying LED bulbs, or putting the money in bonds, or buying more insulation results in the same return on the investment. 14% tax free return is awesome.
Thanks Matt. This really helps in understanding the cost of adding solar panels for the house. I've been thinking of having a system installed. I look forward to your followup video as spring and summer arrives.
Thanks for watching! Glad you found it useful ... and stay tuned. I’ll probably be putting out my next solar video in a couple of months. Starting in March the uptick in my solar production has been dramatic.
It would depend on how expensive electricity is in your country. Here in Australia it is ridiculously expensive and although we have been promised that energy prices will fall, that promise has been broken time and again for the past decade. So here it is well worth the initial outlay, and would quickly pay for itself.
Outstanding Info Matt ! Would love to see a continuation on your install with information on maintenance, inspection, and some info on how well the system provides once you get out of the winter months ! Set up a EnergySage Account myself and started looking seriously into this.
I've got 23 panels on top of my house. I live in the SW U.S. affectionately known as the sun belt. Tons of direct sun and no shade. I'm leasing my system so I wasn't able to take advantage of any of the tax breaks (sucks) but the system is 100% warrantied for 25 full years and guaranteed to produce 90% of my usage for just as long (awesome). The system produced 100% of my usage for 10 months of the first year and 12 months of the second year. I really appreciate the fixed bill every month opposed to the ups and downs. OVERALL I'm very happy.
Nice informative video. I have two PV systems on my house. Had a paid for 10 panel system with microinverters when I bought it and had the installer come an inspect it to transfer the warranty. Problem was later one when they went out of business and the monitoring stopped working. Enphase said it was a problem the original installer had to diagnose so basically my warranty was no good after 7 years of life. After getting a consultation from a solar repair company, they basically said the inverters I have are known to fail at about that age but odd for all 10 to fail at once. Hired a company that will be around for a long time to install a second 27 panel system using SolarEdge with power optimizers and they told me that the problem with my old system was probably that the old installer disconnected everyone's inverters from Enphases database. I found lots of complaints from customers of this installer with the same issue. The new company was able to transfer my inverters over to their account and my monitoring is working again. Of course they will not touch my old system and the new one is a totally separate install. Key lesson is to really look at the company that is going to install your system and ask yourself if they're going to be around to back up your 25 year warranty. Going to the component manufacturers to try and get satisfaction is not going to work for the average homeowner. The other thing I had to deal with was losing my grandfathered-in net metering plan where I got paid the same rate for excess power as I paid for power from the grid. But my power company is forcing everyone to TOU and my old system wasn't large enough to generate much excess. I am looking to adding battery backup and I've already got the StoreEdge system attached to my inverter. The battery rebate system in California is a joke. You apply and you might get a rebate in a couple years.
Hi Matt and thanks for producing such an informative video. We have been entertaining the idea of solar over the last 3-4 years and have just now signed up with a vendor and going all in. I used the energy sage website as you recommended and can't thank you enough. It certainly made the vendor selection process easier and the last thing that sealed the deal for us was to personally visit three of their recent customers homes, see the systems and interview them in person about the experience and ask candid questions like would they do it again? Our system hopefully will be installed in late May early June just in time for a Houston summer, it will consist of 38 LG panels which is a 12.7 kW array. I look forward to your next video with your comments and how you feel about your system thus far. Thanks again, David.
Thanks so much, David. Really happy to hear that EnergySage helped you find a good installer and ultimately talk to their customers. That’s fantastic. Being in Houston, you’re probably going to get some great production out of that 12.7 kW system ... year round. Being further north, it’s been fascinating to watching how quickly our daily production is ramping up as we exit winter. February was around 25% of our use. March was about 75% of our use. And April is just a hair above our actual usage so far. Definitely planning more follow up videos. Let me know how the install goes and how it works out!
Well done! One interesting factor is about timing -- when I looked at solar for our house both 10 years ago, then 5 years I realized, as you have, that efficiency gains on newer panels is still very significant. Should I wait another 5 years, or is now the right time? Obviously that's a purely economic question, as there are many other factors that matter.
6kW rooftop system installed cost in Victoria Australia is around $4,000, after the very generous state and federal gov rebates. Payback 3 to 4 years. Typical power bills are around $1500/year (varies a lot of course).
I did a quick search for Boston, you can use community Co-Ops. These can be out of state but are usually instate. This allows for gradually adding of owning panels without the need to have roofing checks, opening shade, etc.
My mom got a level two car charger installed when they got their solar panels. That I think is where you will really start to see money back on your investment.
Since I live in the same region as you (just north over the border in NH). I certainly look forward to your 6 month and 1 year video. Looking at doing solar on my roof which can support up to a 19KW system or more. Problem is I need a new roof first as mine is at the end of it's life. So, probably will miss out on that 30% tax credit.
Good video. I like to hear from people that have done it, not those that want to sell products. I didn’t hear, but I could have missed it. The power company buys your excess electricity at a much lower rate than electricity you buy. Power plants don’t have a big switch to turn on the power. It takes hours to ramp up to a load. So during a sunny day and solar kicks in and the power plant is blowing off steam, but has to be up and running when the sun goes down. Makes for an inefficient system. The more solar systems come on line, the higher the rates will have to be from the power companies.
Yes, it’s very true that energy companies have a challenge to balance the load to match demand, but that’s part of the reason in areas like mine they have a limit on the number of solar panel systems that can get onto the SREC and SMART energy programs. They’re trying to not over expand too quickly. It’s also the biggest reason why we need grid scale energy storage systems to take advantage of renewables and tap into it when we actually need it. Tesla’s grid scale battery systems are just one of those solutions. Also, how the energy company pays back for the electricity varies region to region. Where I am they aren’t “buying it back” with my netmeter. My over production is literally just rolling back usage off my account like I’m putting that energy into a bank.
Once again excellent and clear insights. One concern my wife had was that like yours, our roof faces east and west. In addition, aesthetics play a factor too (our shingles are brown and asked if they make brown solar panels to match, ha!) How do the panels affect the effectiveness and longevity of the roof shingles with the weather? Could snow cover affect the power generation in the winter too? We did get a little snow in our area today so I suppose these could be points for your follow up reviews. I can’t express enough how thorough your videos are, great job once again Matt!
Thanks, Clark! The more efficient panels available today make homes with less than ideal positioning more viable, like my east to west orientation, as well as smaller roof. The aesthetics are sadly something still lacking. Tesla’s solar tile roofs are something heading in the right direction, but they only make sense if you need to replace your roof. I didn’t cover some of the winter time questions you raised in the video because it was already pretty long, but it’s interesting how they actually benefit your roof in the winter time. If there’s snow on them you’ll get no production, but snow has a harder time sticking to them. It melts faster and slides off sooner than it does on a regular roof. After a big snow fall in my area you’ll often see the solar panel covered roofs show up quickly. They also extend the life of the shingles because they’re providing shade to the roof underneath, as well as helping to reduce the temperature in attic spaces. Someone else in the comments actually mentioned using a roof broom to pull snow off easily after a storm.
Great video, Matt! I'm not solar right now, but I hope to do so once we're out of our apartment. I'd love to see a follow up to the performance and what it's like living with your solar config.
I worked as a solar installer last summer in Michigan. But starting this year the local energy companies have cut off direct connection with solar companies. Now solar companies have to use battery packs to store energy instead of connected to the power grid. Users used to be able get rebate from the energy company for the surplus they produce, now they don't. And the have to pay extra for the battery packs.
That’s frustrating, but I can see where the electric company is coming from. They probably don’t want to deal with the excess electricity and duck curve effect that can happen. Requiring batteries offsets that issue.
Love the content. One quick note about module efficiency though. That guarantee is strickly based off the STC (standard testing conditions, though not field practical) of the specific module manufacturer. So anyone shopping around for solar should be looking at the guaranteed rate of degradation. Also, another important factor to look at is the efficiency rating. Some have a plus or minus % of listed efficiency. With the technology as it is, you should ALWAYS expect a positive only ratio. I.E. a 300w panel should have a positive only difference. Meaning you can always expect 300w but typically it could put out 307w or so.
Our 2.5KW solar system in Central Florida was installed in 2009. It was a $20,000 dollar system. We got $4.00 a watt or $10,000 cash back from Florida and 30 percent back from federal rebates. The system was almost free. In 10 years it has produced 25,000 KWH of power. At 11 cents per KW that is only $2750 it has produced. For us that is okay because we did get subsidies but if it was out of pocket it would take a long time to scratch even! I just thought I'd put this out there. Jeff 😎 Sunny Central Florida
Electricity prices can have a major impact on the payback period if that’s one of your primary concerns, which for most people it is. I wish I had 11 cents per kW where I am, I’m over twice that.
Good video and super good information. I paid $15,000 US in 2015 to have a SunPower 3.35 kilowatt solar PV system installed. It produces 6,000 kilowatt hours annually.
Yes, I am pleased. It brings a smile to my face every morning over a cup of coffee which is priceless. SunPower is Cradle to Cradle certified for clean disassembly and remanufacturing too. I am never going to sell the house and property so I see it as another system of household improvement into increase my energy, financial and ecologically security. Together with fruit trees, R70 attic insulation, R25 floor insulation, a solar house heater and a silent radiant floor electric heating system the solar PV system was the next step in my overall strategy to be 100% renewably powered. Hopefully next, will be a Tesla Powerwall, Model 3 and more PV panels over the coming years. Thank you again for your excellent informational video.
Your welcome! And thanks for watching. One last note for anyone else reading this ... that’s another area people tend to overlook: proper insulation of your home. It can make a massive difference in your energy usage. That’s some good R value you have in the attic.
CORRECTION: There was a typo in my script and onscreen graphics for my 30% calculation. It should read $8,883.
hi everyone ,if anyone else wants to discover how much does it cost to install a solar power plant try Magonsi Solar System Expert (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my work buddy got cool success with it.
I'm studying average cost of solar energy for home and discovered an awesome resource at Ewans energy roadmap (check it out on google)
*Super compact and easy to carry and travel with accessories for the electric **Generater.Systems** .I was worried this was going to be bulky or hard to use.Hooks up easy and charges quickly*
This panel can put out close to 100 watts ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.
I installed my own 30kw system, 96 - 315w panels, three 7.6kw inverters with optimizers. Install on my shop metal roof took three of us 2 days. I have a single kwh meter feeding two large homes, office and welding shop. In an average year I should generate all my energy plus about 20k miles per year in my Teslas. I have net metering with my utility so they are my "storage" for now. I may add a Tesla battery pack from a wrecked car someday and go off grid. I am seeing about 20%+ rate of return with the system because I paid for the entire system myself upfront. Much better rate of return than any bank CD and most stocks.
96! That is one impressive system. I’d love to see that.
Wow. What did that cost?
@@cpad007 $40k including rewiring my service. That's before the 30% tax credit. I am an electrician.
@@simongold2739 There is a 30% tax incentive, so "our" tax dollars pay for almost 1/3 of the cost. Far, far less of "our" tax dollars than big oil gets!
@@UndecidedMF If you ever get to western NC, look me up! Be happy to show it to you.
I really love your transitions man. Makes the video more visually interesting and gives it a polished professional feel.
Love your channel.
I appreciate you.
🙏
Undecided with Matt Ferrell yep great video mate .Was very interested for a quality system like yours how much energy your PV averages annually and did I get it right that you average 6000 kWh annual? Solar hours in Australia’s depending on your location and direction should get 4 times your array.Average size system in Australia is around 6.6kw so 6.6 times 4 = 26.4 kWh average through the year so total 9636 average although in saying that some states will get a lot more and a North array will be more
My 4.96kW system was just installed yesterday. Just waiting on electrical and net meter to be installed. Very few high quality videos like this highlighting the processes and making it more approachable for folks. Love it
Well done video. Very straight forward. Big thumbs up! There are three primary ways solar saves you money. 1.Sunlight is free - capture it to make it pay back; 2.There are really good federal and state incentives - the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) gives you a 30% tax credit which helps to pay for the system. Once the system is paid off you get years of free power. 3.Reducing your carbon footprint while laying the foundation for resiliency. While grid tied solar w/o batteries won't help you when the grid goes down, if you pair the solar with storage and install a microgrid, then you can have off-grid operation during grid outages. Let's grow solar!
As I already mentioned above....not if you fall under the income threshold of actually getting any tax credit.... These people have to pay full price with no benefits of the 30% hence that policy is biased...
Matt, excellent education on solar! Bought solar in 2011, and haven’t paid for electricity since, we have generated 50.1 MWH to date. You covered this topic very well, and I hope your subscribers get on board. We can all make a difference. Love your Tesla and hope to get one some day. Keep up the great videos. Scott.
Thanks, Scott. I’m jealous that you haven’t paid for electricity since 2011!
One very big factor when considering buying a Solar system is How Old is Your Roof. If your roof is near the end of its life and you install a Solar array expect to pay high cost to remove and re-install the system.
Very good call out. Definitely a major factor when getting a system. Many installers, like Tesla, won’t even install a system on a roof if it’s near the end of life.
When you see cost projection of solar, they always conviently leave out this major consideration. What else are you not being told. Solar is bogus and will be for years to come.
@@winomaster if you read further in the comments you will find that there are many long term solar customers with very good experience with their systems. What is your problem with solar in general?
@@winomaster Do you have solar? I've had solar on my house for 5 years. I'm an accountant. Do you really want to try to explain to me how it is "bogus" and won't work? Please.
Not from all of the installers I’ve talked to. They all talk openly about the state of your roof, and make it part of the conversation of the system. Keep in mind that the installers still manage your system for you after the installation is complete. They keep tabs on production and if anything is off they’ll contact you. If they install a system on a house that needs a roof replaced after the fact, it’s going to come back and bite them.
Nice video. I went the DIY route in December and bought panels on Ebay (sunpower 327w series E panels). I got 21 of them at 34cents per watt shipped. I bought ironridge mounting, solaredge 6kw inverter $850, 21 optimizers $1300. I hauled the panels up myself, put the mounts up and did 100% myself. I got the itch end of november and had everything shipped and installed by Dec 13th. Total cost was 80cents per watt with everything. No inspections yet which will add a bit to the price. I put the sense monitoring system and got 2 bills to see how much I am getting. Total in 10 weeks during worst part of year is 920kw. I am estimating 5 year payback. The meter goes to zero alot of time during the day even with raining. During a cold sunny day even my heatpump is offset. The solar edge adds 0.2 volts to the grid so all power goes to house first then out to grid. That cutoff box for the AC cost $60 on ebay. I did my own conduit bending. It took a week putting everything up working 4 hours a day. I am 66 years old and found the 3x5 panels that weight 50lbs take a bit of thought to raise them. I found taping 2x4's to the ladder made a nice slideable surface. Texas is a right to work state so I can do alot of stuff on my own house.
Total for the 7kw system with monitoring was $5400. Yesterday it generated 28kw on Feb 12, 2019 in Austin Texas.
The sunpower e327s are 19.9% efficient. They put out 60 volts and are commercial panels that were replaced on a job with newer panels. Probably they were depreciated. All work perfectly well. They are about 4 years old. The solaredge system allows me to view on my phone the output of each panel real time and cumulative. The optimizers read 1v output if not connected for testing and safety. If grid detected they put out 40 volts. I have 11 on one string and the system adjusts it so I have 397 volts off roof. I could use 12 ga wire coming off roof. You need solar wire from end of string to connection box. Everything exposed is in conduit to prevent UV breaking down insulation. I just got pricing from some vendors of 39 cents per watt on new panels. I got quotes from energy sage but after rebates it was going to cost $3 per watt or over 3x what I installed it for with no rebates or tax credits.
Wow! That’s a fantastic bargain.
Terrific
Nice job! You are very handy.
Great job...it blows my mind how much the installers charge in the USA, maybe it's a lack of incentive or competition at the moment? Here in Aus there were a lot more incentives to install Solar a few years ago which drove a lot more competition, our most recent system cost about $1.1 per watt fully installed by professionals ($6700 AUD for 6.3kw or about $5000 USD)
Did the same...Santansolar.com
Amazing video! Easily the best residential solar video I have watched. Great production value and very interesting to hear about the installation costs in the US. This as I’m thinking about installing similar rooftop system here in Sweden. Thank you for your hard work on your channel and the exceptional content!
Glad you liked it! I read somewhere that Sweden stopped charging for solar panel building permits and taxes to help promote adding them to homes. Curious how production is year round with such a northern location. I’m guessing that much like where I am winter-time production takes a step dive, but works out well over the coarse of a year.
@@UndecidedMF They even went a step further, and removed the permit all-together for roof solar installations. What I have heard from installers is that it should be like in MA but with even larger dip in the winter, but the summer production should balance it out as the sun wont set until 10PM and be back up at 4am here in Gothenburg.
Thanks again!
I am a solar expert in the state of NC. This is a great representation on what solar can do for residential homeowners. It is a little different in this state, but going solar makes sense in 98% of the houses I walk into!!
I like the hydroelectric storage method. When it rains you get even more free energy.
Unfortunately you also get evaporation and mechanical loss aswell.
Another great video with clear clear content. Well done and professional. Also music extremely suitable
Thanks!
Wonderful video Matt! We are a registered EnergySage Contractor in Texas. Thank you for all of the opportunities you have created within EnergySage and the non-biased content you have put out. The price per watt has gone down to record lows in Texas despite all of the import tariff opposition. We are currently selling locally made standard 305 watt Mono/PERC modules and SolarEdge Inverter systems at $2.55 a watt for a cash price.
That’s a really good price, and awesome to hear your using locally built panels.
I recently installed Solar on my house here in Manitoba, Canada. Our local utility gave a trial incentive and loan assistance for grid tied systems. I turned it on last Nov and at first want crazy with the results since it was only supplying about half my household usage. But last month I produced enough that it not only covered my household use, but it fed enough into the grid that it paid for my grid electricity, gas bill and installation loan, and gave me a $23 credit. I haven't done the math yet, but my tooth estimate is that I'll have the system paid for entirely by the time the home is paid for, in about 11 years.
Very informative, I recently installed solar after buying an EV and had sticker shock of plugging in during Peak energy hours. We got a 12 330 W LG panels totaling 3.9 kWh with a 10kWh LG Chem battery for a total offset electric bill.. I just received authorization from PG&E this weekend and took 6 months from start to PTO and its been quite a journey but I hope this works out.
I noticed you don't have consumption monitoring (only production). I believe with the IQ Envoy it's only a $40 add-on to monitor consumption to more easily compute profitability / etc. I'm planning on adding this to my system (just installed yesterday). Great video, love seeing these install experiences
Great video, thanks.
You asked for some comments regarding experiences with solar systems:
I'm in eastern Ontario and had a 30 panel, dual array 5.7 kW system (with Enphase micro inverters) installed on our 8/12 pitch steel roof back in May 2010.
As of tonight, we have produced 68.2 MWh of energy in the past 108 months (about 630 kWh/month average).
That is about 17% better than (what was known as) PVWatts estimates.
One array (12 panels) faces 165T and the main portion (18 panels) faces 255T.
Until I got my Tesla Model 3 last summer, we were net producers of energy (on a yearly basis) by about 2 MWh a year.
I always use a snow broom (with a telescoping handle) to sweep the panels clear after any snowfalls.
With the panels closing in on nine years old, I have yet to see any (measurable) degradation, by proxy of when the 165T facing panels' micro-inverters "clip" at 199 watts each on cold, clear (late January thru early April) days.
Thanks for sharing! That’s interesting that the clipping may have helped mask degradation. Any recommendations on a specific snow broom? I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing, but don’t want to damage the panels.
@@UndecidedMF I've used this Snow Pro unit (on my 2nd one now) since my first winter with the panels: www.telescoping-pole.com/store/p/Remove-Snow-From-Solar-Panels.aspx
The 24 foot telescoping pole I've used (with the use of silicon lubricant spray to prevent moisture freezing up the extention mechanisms) is: www.telescoping-pole.com/Garelick-Telescoping-Poles.aspx
I use an extension ladder with pads for rain gutter protection.
It took the first winter to learn the best technique but now I can clear them all in about 40 minutes (heavy snow fall) or 20 minutes (light snow fall).
About the clipping: yes, my nominal 215 watt rating for my nine year old NEC panels my be hiding their degradation behind a 199 watt limit on the micro inverters, but since I'm getting the same amount of clipping (starts around 1035 and end around 1330) year after year, I consider it statistically irrelevant at this point.
You will find May to be your best month, panels are still cool and not all the leaves have budded on the trees yet.
Thanks. That looks much safer to use than some of the ones I had been looking at. And interesting note on May ... curious to see if that plays out for me the same way.
@@UndecidedMF Cheers. I look forward to your six month report. I've got nine years of data now and it's cool to be able to predict with confidence what the system will provide us on a monthly basis.
As a former roofer, I can tell you that every time you walk around on a roof, you are shortening it's life. And the effect is most damaging in the later years of a roofs life when it becomes very fragile. Any benefit from sweeping panels free of snow is pure illusion.
I wish I had such a good experience with energy sage... I had people from India calling me that I could barely understand. Kept getting the same quote from the same installer. I'm glad to hear it worked out for you
Really? I had 5 or 6 quotes show up in my EnergySage account. No calls.
In Australia i purchased a 6.5 kw system . Full installed for 2350 us. Plus a Heat pump hot water system $1600 us plus changed all lights to LED 700 us. Total repay in less than 2 years.
I am seriously jealous of how cheap solar is in Australia. Incredible.
@@UndecidedMF Sounds like there's a lot of gouging going on with permits, labor, mark up etc artificially bumped up precisely because of the rebate.
Add to that the fact that the fossil fuel industry owns everything and are doing everything they can to impede the revolution. If Dems can win in 2020, things should improve drastically and quickly.
greg lomas dude they would have cut corners at that price and bet you they would not have been CEC certified retailers at that price.Everyone knows Aussie average at 1.00AUD a watt
Andy Lee Robinson yes you are correct.If the Aussies can do a decent setup for 0.70c U.S per watt anyone can do it.Also Aussie labor costs are over 2 times the cost than U.S labor costs then prices should be around like 0.60c per watt installed.Someone is ripping off someone
Just FYI, we are getting a 7.2 KW system installed next month & we looked at a Home Equity loan to pay for it but the rates were like around 5%. However, the bank offered to refinance our home for 3.25% interest so we refinanced & added the cost of the system to our mortgage & our payment stays the same ( now 15-year mortgage). When we get the 30% credit it will go toward extra principal payments on the loan, 3.25% these days ain't bad. After the 30% tax credit our system will net out at $13,200.00 for the system - (22) 320 Watt panels.
I'm about to get solar panels with battery for my house after replacing my roof with new metal (old singles were dying). I can't wait!!!
Great thinking about roof condition and acting accordingly.
Hey is it possible to use electricity and charges the battery at the same time? I'm planning to go off grid.
I have had solar since Oct. last year. With the coming of spring my electric bill for the last months has been 0. This month is also looking like a zero electric bill. Been very happy with Vivint system here in Florida.
Nice! I haven't hit zero, but have come very, very close along the same timeframe. I have a follow up video coming out in a few weeks.
Best video on solar energy I have ever seen!
Ever???
@@Lpabmendez may be the first one he has looked at, and of course probably only a small % of it is relevant to his location and market
Good video but let me also add a few of my own personal experiences with my solar. First off I live in South Texas where we have lots of sun, hot sun. Second I have a 8.6 peek power kWP and we had a the highest performing panels installed, it was a bit more expensive but has already paid off. Our panels were installed 3 years ago and are performing great, we had a long 9 months of a lot of cloudy days with rain so that didn't help much. Our electric bills for our 2500 sqft 2 story home runs between 9 to 60 dollars a month. Better than the 120 to 220 a month we were paying.
We got a solar panel loan at 0% interest and paid it off within the 18 months. We used the Federal tax credit of about 8000 and the local municipality rebate of about 7000 to offset the cost and pay off the loan. The total out of pocket was about 14 grand.
There are a few things to note that I don't think many people realize. Here in Texas since our panels face the hottest part of the suns tregectory it provides it's own R factor. I know it's not mentioned anywhere as the main point of solar panel sales is to install solar panels. But there is a real R factor since the panels face the sun, are elevated off the roof about 2 inches which provides an air flow between the solar panel and the roof tile.
The other consideration is cash outlay. My wife and I are both retired so we are on a fixed income. Utilities are not fixed as mentioned in this video. Yes the value of your home increases so do not look at this as an expense look at it as an investment. And the insurance for these is pennies on the dollar.
The benefits in my opinion are very real. I would recommend them to any one however due to the fact that the Tax credits are running out your window is slowly closing and with the proposed tariffs it will make solar once again not a viable solution. So for those of us who jumped on this band wagon we are all lucky indeed.
I have also heard that solar research has jumped again and discovered a new resource better than the silicon used to mfg the panels which is cheaper and even more productive. Not sure when and how much those are. Also one last thing while I'm babbling on, is banking what you do not use. If you take advantage of the Federal tax credit you will not be able to set up a battery wall bank for 5 years. The battery back up is a great deal as it also is available for a federal tax credit. Not sure how long this will as as I have 2 more years, maybe if we vote correctly next time the person in the WH will realized the hugely mistakes of this one and re-examine solar as a better solution and extend the tax credits.
I agree with everything you said spend 28k got back from feds and state about 9k; saving about $1700 plus $1900 for solar credits every year, 5 .5 years to get money back not bad
I have stopped myself each time I think about installing a system because of the cost. I see that the rebates don't really go to you, but to the labor. I would like to see a video showing the wholesale price of your equipment and then the various forms of labor. I think the incentives are really for the installers and they price a system smartly so they can extract as much money from you. I think a video like that would be very interesting. $0.50 per watt panel cost plus the rest of the equipment is not much. Of course, installers must make money, but they may be getting a lot more than people think.
I see your point, solar is a profitable business. Full disclosure I sell solar and I hope this sheds some light on your concern of cost. As with any business the point is to make a profit and stay in business. There are factors that the homeowner is not aware of and I will speak to what I know in Texas. Firstly you will always save the most money by doing it yourself, as with most things in the construction industry we are not paid to do what people can't do, but rather paid to do what they don't know how or want to do. So... for sake of math we will use a 10kw system financed to the homeowner instead of cash at $3 a watt, so $30,000. Solar panels, racking, inverter and optimizers and various bits, $1.65/watt or 16.5k plus design permitting and Interconnection agreement 1.5k for 18k total. But when a deal is financed the lender takes a finance charge paid by the installer, usually around 15% to 20%. That means on 30k that's 4.5k or 6k that goes straight to the lender. Let's call it 5k. Added to the 18k that's 23k out of 30k or 7k profit. That's 70 cents per watt that has to pay for lead generation, insurance, property rent, and installation and salesforce. Again you will save the most by doing it yourself and I'll gladly tell you how but it is not as cut and dry as saying solar companies make too much money. I hope this helps and in no way was I trying to be a jerk, just trying to show the other side of the coin.
I'm so excited about renewable energy because that's the future of our kids, grandkid,and great grandkids!! They deserve to have a good environment to live in the same as we!!!
We had (Qty.22) 320 Watt solar panels installed on our roof on 10/9/19 & love watching the electric bill shrink as the days get longer. We had a storm which damaged the shingles on our old roof so the insurance company paid for a new roof so figured now that new roof is up perfect time to install solar panels. I am looking forward to filing my taxes & getting the 30% tax credit. The final cost after tax credit will be about $13,200.00 out of pocket for the whole project.
One thing buyers (particularly in Hawaii) should be aware of is the schemes the power co uses to rob solar generators of their power. For example, in Hawaii, you can only gain credits to offset usage, and those credits are non-transferable between electric meters, and the banked energy expires. I currently pay a $30 meter fee to put energy in the grid, then pay $150 to use that energy at my next house.. when I contacted HELCO, they told me my only option was to "go off the grid".. which is a totally different story altogether.
Also, they'll only give you hot water heating tax credit if you had an electric hot water heater installed; if it was propane, you won't qualify.
It is amazing! I installed solar about 7 years ago. During the heat of the summer (in Southern California) my monthly electric bill due to air conditioning could, and often did, hit over $650 in one month (some of my neighbors hit closer to $800 per month cranking up that AC), while regular months would still run me around $200-$250 a month, so around $4200 per year.. Now my annual electricity is only around $750 for the entire year. My system has already paid for itself and going forward it's just saving me money. My system is a little smaller than yours, a 8.7Kw system. Trying to rationalize adding a bit more and a battery backup, but I think I need to get an EV first.
$30k seems a very high price for a pretty small array with no battery system. I'm saving up to building my dream house in about 10 years (without going in debt) and I'm considering going totally off-grid and using solar/battery power, with geothermal heating/cooling, but this is still relatively rare right now. Plenty of people build off-grid homes, but they tend to be basic homes without many amenities. I want a modern home with no compromises, which is difficult to achieve off-grid. In any case, I hope I can get my system (which will need to be at least 20kw) cheaper than this, else I'll wind up spending $100k just for the electrical system in the house!
That sounds awesome. I’d love to have geothermal for my home at some point. I wouldn’t be surprised if you can do it cheaper as part of a new build, especially in about 10 years ... should be much cheaper by then.
Right , paying someone to install solar is expensive ,and if you tie to the grid you have to pay someone .
And to run a house with no comprises for 24. Hours a day ?
People dont mention all the cut backs and do withouts , batterys are very costly and limiting .
You need enough panels to run your electric needs day time and more to charge. Batterys for night use , a very large up front expense . Then the batterys get worn out and need replacing .
I did the math , no thanks .
I would like to have enough panels to help run a mini split during the day . That's about it
@@boracay12
I'm not totally new to this. I understand all of the challenges, but I plan to overcome them. Again, I won't be building for 10+ years, so solar and battery technology and pricing will be a very different picture by then. Also, I'm willing to pay for what I want, which is why I'm waiting and saving. A 20-30 kw solar array with a large enough battery bank, and a supplemental propane generator to run the house and charge the batteries when needed, can power ANY home. The only question is whether you're willing to pay for that system. I am...in theory, but I'll have to wait and see what product innovations and price reductions occur in the next 10 years to know for sure. But there's no question that it can be done.
Glad to see you are happy with solar. In California it's a completely different story if you are a PG&E customer. We consume close to 10kWhrs per year. I received quotes from 11 different Energysage solar installers who told me I needed around a 7.9 to 9.1 kW system (That's 24 to 30 panels.) Glad I did not go with any of Energysage installers and here's why. Turns out Energysage and their installers do not have software which can accurately size solar systems for PG&E customers. We installed 4.55 kWh system or 14 panels. That's half the size of what all of the Energysage installers told me we needed. Even with a 4.55 kWh system even in the short days of late fall and early winter we are receiving too many energy credits. In reality I think we really only need 2.6 kWh system or 8 panels.
What the folks at Energysage and their installers are NOT telling PG&E customers is that PG&E credit's solar customers for excess electricity at market rate. Energysage and their installers design systems on trading kWs, not the value of the kW. PG&E has 11 different rate plans for solar customers. (Something Energysage does not understand.) For the rate plan I am on our rates changed up to 5 times a day. During prime solar hours PG&E will buy my excess electricity for $0.52 kWhr. Later in the day PG&E drops the rate to $0.12 kWhr. For every kWhr I sell to them during the day at $0.52 I can buy back 4.3. Energysage and their installers don't seem to understand that if you sell 1 kWhr to PG&E during the day when prices are high you can get over 4 back when the prices are lower. For the rate plan we are on we estimate in 3.6 years our solar system will have paid for itself.
PG&E added a new solar rate plan which penalizes people for installing solar. Their new rate plan pays solar customers only $0.14 kWhr. Then in the evening they raised rates to $0.48 kWhr. This means new solar customers will have to sell over 3 kWhrs during the day to get 1 back during the evening. The folks at Energysage and their installers no nothing about this. Or if they do, they aren't saying anything about it.
Matt, if you would ever like to make a video comparing PG&E rates in California with your energy company's rates please contact me. I think it would make for a very interesting video. I'm hearing from a lot of PG&E customers they feel cheated in going solar.
What most people don't know that the warranty is usually for the equipment only and for them to come out you will get charged for the labor.
Thank you! I have been watching your solar videos (well, all videos) for about a year now and decided to go solar. I checked with other companies but decided with Tesla in the end. The system is half installed (due to poor weather) and will be completed in two days. I forgot to use your referral code but my project manager said they will apply it. I'm located not to far from you either. I wish I could afford the powerwall, we lose power often.
Obvious you put a lot of time in your videos. Fantastic as always
I don't have solar myself but i work as an electrician installing them and you're pretty accurate in the way you explain what the components do, but there's one major difference between how it was done for you and how it's done here in the netherlands, we tend to install the inverters inside so people can't fuck with them, they're always installed in a cooled room with enough space for the inverter to cool down (30cm's in every direction)
Interesting. Makes sense to put them where they’re hidden away and safe.
Great video, thank you.
But paying 30k for just 10kw system... Even for LG panels. For this price we install 50kw (Tier-1 solar panels with SMA inverters).
Where are you?
Please share the details of your system and where you purchased the components...thanks
@@UndecidedMF Kiev, Ukraine. Here solar energy market is growing twice each year. I believe installation cost in US is higher, but not 5 times higher.
And you should also know that March-2019 price for Tier-1 A-grade poly panels from the factory is 0.235-0.245 USD/Wp. So regular 330Wp modules cost 77-80USD.
@@UndecidedMF we also can our solar panel is world number three yingli panels, inverters for on grid is SMA inverter, off grid suvpr inverters. contact me 13691858019
High U.S prices puzzles me too. Even with Australia very high Labour costs which would be more than double U.S and terrible AUD dollar I got quoted for 10.5kw system $11700 AUD after rebates for a full install including meter box upgrade to grid connect and installed by a federal government recommended installers/ retailer and fully inspected for Q cells and fornius set up so approx $8000 U.S.And if you want LG panels add $300 U.S per kw so extra $3000 U.S plus maybe extra for 2 storey so say extra $1000 installed.
Same system in Australia would be approx $12000 U.S installed.And believe me labor is expensive for qualified tradesmen as they make more $ than university grads in Australia, like plumbers charge over $100 U.S per/hr
I forgot to calculate micro inverter so maybe 2k there.So absolutely max 13_14k U.S installed
In 2011 I took advantage of the 30% tax credit and got SREC credit so I got a 6500kw system in stalled by Straightup Solar with monitoring by Sunpower (27x240w panels) for $6578 or $1.012/watt installed. That was perfect timing because - it isn't that cheap anymore.
I paid US$ 3300 for 4.3 KW grid connected system in India. It will fully payback me in 4 yrs.
That’s great! How’s it been working out for you? Covering all of your electricity?
Where I live it's definitely worth going solar. The local farms that have solar arrays actually get paid for the excess electricity they feed back into the grid, so their electricity bill is negative; they receive money each month. This surplus of power generation does have some downsides. Local grid voltages can exceed 127 volts at the wall outlet. I've seen 131 volts, and I know that surges over 138 volts have happened.
Why is solar so expensive in the USA? In Australia you can have the 10kW system installed for about Aus$13000 thats about US$9000.
Because solar panels are a scam. ;)
It doesn't matter where you live or what the local price per kWh is, the claimed payback time is always seven to eight years.
@@WhoStoleMyAlias It matters a lot where you live. My power bill used to be over $2000 pa. Now with 5.5kW of panels I'm making money. It's not rocket surgery.
@@simongold2739 The current subsidy is about Aus$630/kW installed ie $6300 for a 10kW system. I still think you're getting ripped off.
@@3rdrock You're right. It's not rocket science. Like you expressed, it's about money. It's about savings and as a rule this means that the person that helps you achieve that wants a piece of it as well. effectively: if you can save $100 then he will want $50 and if you can save $50 he can't ask for $50 and will drop to $25. That is straight forward economics.
And of course you are saving the environment which is regrettably only partly true. Or rather a drop in the ocean. Just consider what Matt says: he has a 9.49kWp installation on his roof. Assuming 24/7 operation that would generate over 83MWh pa. According to Matt he only produces 6.6MWh pa which is in fact amazingly little considering that the USA as a whole is further south than here I live and we get about a 10% result, but as we can see from the footage he has panels facing in opposite directions so we can safely assume that both directions will not be optimal.
As a rough estimate I'd say Matt's panels will probably do an average of 6kWh per day this time of year. That will not feed his household appliances and will not charge his EV. The main issue however is that there is no appliance that uses something like a kWh - they use Watts which is instant power and should be matched with when the panels are producing electricity. Yes a battery might provide a buffer, but that becomes very impractical very quickly if the panels are not producing enough power during some extended period like days, weeks or even months.
@@WhoStoleMyAlias Solar isn't the answer for everywhere but as it gets cheaper it is going to be worthwhile for nearly everywhere.
I get your drift but you are taking a bit of a dim view with some of your assumptions.
Im in Perth Australia my 5.5 kw pv system made 9 MW in the last 12 Months and that was with some down time.
Hopefully my next car will be an EV and with some more panels I will have sun fed transport and then, Fuck all those gougers.
A complete residential solar presentation.
You showed how you went from ~ +$0.24 per kWh to ~ -$0.xx per kWh.
Very nice.
I love this video it really helped me understand my field alittle better
Not sure if this is important to you but with grid-tied Solar, generally you won’t have power during a blackout (due to both technical and safety issues). For that, you’ll need an energy storage solution like the Tesla Powerwall 2.
That's a fair callout. It wasn't for me, but it may be for others.
Powerwall (or any battery system) can be pretty expensive. I was quoted by Tesla $12K installed for first one. $7K for next one. I would only do one if I had a lot of blackouts. We only have one blackout for a few hours every 4 or 5 years so it is not viable for us.
@@JBoy340a webosolar.com/blog/grid-tie-solar-home-system-blackout/
interesting to get the "30% cost-off deals". I live in France. I remember how the politics were pushing for solar personal systems 10 to 15 years ago, and there were programs financing up to around 30% of this type of PV system also like yours.
But now the situation has changed drastically, the 60 cent KW intial resold price has dropped to 20 cent... And this is a shame because in the end a country has everything to gain for pushing its citizens to invest in this type of non fossil energy.
I know people right now who have crossed the path 15 years ago and who are gaining a lot money out of their PV solar systems, cause they got the benefit from the 30% off contracts.
Interesting to see that costs in USA and in France are closely the same for this type of installations.
So if I have an advice for americans who still are cold about trying it, just DO IT! the investment is WORTH IT but only thanks to the 30% off programs you can still get from your government.
After this deal is out, you will lose the 10k to 15K money that makes the difference between the no gain / no lost situation (where the investment is just matched by the gain untill the installation is out of oldness) and the 10 to 15 last years of gaining money situation when you finally paid your bills and start to make daily profit.... while having the benefit to know you are taking care of the planet and sharing a more global climatic protection for the earth you are giving to your childs.
Believe me, if I had the budget and the opportunity to get this type of 30% off contracts, I would jump to the occasion without any doubt.
For the Netherlands: price for kWh is low, 0.22 euro. I use only 1100 per year. Your electricity back to the grid is 0.06 euro.
So any investment does not pay off. Not even in 30 years!
I wish my government wanted to push our country to solar energy!
Very interesting to hear about the economics of solar from the other side of the world. Makes me feel lucky over here in Australia where it costs about $0.50 - 0.70USD per watt and a payback period of about 3 years.
$78 per month power bill average with all electric (heatpump, wh, lights, range, laundry). Hydro produced from a lake in the county producing more power than the county uses. Yes grid is all power produced but our five counties produce much more from hydro than they use. The utility also has solar farms.
Solar home conversion will also recommend conversion of dryer, range, wh and heat to propane. Cost is $4000 and a new utility (Hank Hill at about $700 a year). And AC is discouraged in solar in favor of fans only or evap coolers so hot days in July/Aug are uncomfortable.
Lat 35. 75-100 grey days, live in a forest. $20,000+ for my size home and no good solar electricians in the county, due to it being a yuppie consumer product in white suburbs. Subtract propane for high heat appliances my utility savings would average $15 a month ($180/yr) with a $28,000 outlay plus insurance and maintenance. I'd be nuts.
I've done the math and studied adjacent homes and farms that use only solar with no line connection. It doesn't work out *for me* , but *may for some* . One adjacent small farmhouse solar only for ten year with a small dedicated building of batteries, was spending $1000 a year on diesel fuel last year due to the long gray winter. They hooked back up for net metering.
Solar has grown hand in hand in the last 20 years with natural gas fired plants. Only gas fired plants can react fast enough with high production megawatts to unexpected gray days, thunderstorms and the evening head of the power duck. Gas fired electric lobbyists are often high proponents of home solar, as it "fuels" the need for LPG plants over coal or hydro. Dirty secret of the solar and wind industry that T Boone Pickens doesn't mention as he's in all three.
Not saying solar doesn't work, but swinging from 10 kWhr a day to the hundreds through the year, still means you are using power plant power much of the time. Just using your example. You are offloading your surplus at midday and midyear, when most of the surplus is offloaded to the power grid and not used. Each day is a micro model of the year for you. Chemical batteries are not efficient power storage by laws of thermodynamics. Convenient yes, efficient no.
There are a few non-chemical batteries and storage systems...
but they are absurdly or extremely bulky, requiring mechanical force, motors, heat exchange, which are even less efficient systems.
Chemical resistance or electron exchange, or regular combustion/oxidisation is so much more effective and divisible to the needs of the typical user.
For instance, pumping water "uphill", which can be used to store kilowatts or megawatts in a dam or storage area, or cooling/heating water, moving extreme loads ie train carriages full of tonnes of steel & cement blocks against gravity, etc.
Non-chemical storage isn't easy or portable either, usually requiring fixed or unique locations, such as coastal areas, acreages, farm/ underground storage, open plains, extreme climates, or stable river/lakes nearby, etc.
What a great and informative video. I run a small system off grid. Love my solar. Thanks again. Have a fantastic day..!!
Thanks for watching! I'd love to go off grid if I could.
Another point of advantage is free car running costs for an EV car, charge the batteries for free and enjoy the low cost car experience
That was one of the many factors that pushed me into getting solar. I wanted to offset my increased energy usage from driving an EV.
Even if we don't fuel our cars with solar, the coming wave of EV transportation is going to be revolutionary. Even fueling the car from the grid is going to reduce the cost of a cab ride by 90% when autonomous driving is fully a factor. I am so excited about the possibilities associated with autonomous EV's that I would almost sell my soul to be able to experience that. If you want to see a movie, you summon your self-driving car to pick you up in front of your house and drop you at the theater entrance as it goes to find a parking spot. If you choose to get about by "car service" you have an even more convient and lower cost situation. With none of the bother of maintaining a car. It's going to be a great world in just a few years.
I think it’s a little more than a few years away, but I do agree that it’s coming. Car ownership will slowly fade away once self driving cars, buses, etc. become the norm.
The total amount of power generated however it's used or sold back is accounted for in the totals.. plugging a car up doesn't change the totals.
@@UndecidedMF The payoff for the first fully autonomous car, one that can operate in the snow belt as well as the sun belt, will be so massive that an astonishing amount of investment is being made in the field. One of the most promising is an AI equipped car with a driver used during the research. The AI observes as the driver moves about the road network. At times the AI function becomes confused. It notes these situations and they are reviewed later, likely with a programmer. In all this driving the AI function updates it's learning. So essentially the brain of the autonomous car learns about the objects in it's "world" and how these objects behave and change in appearance. The brain of these cars must eventually get as smart in the driving field as a human being. Which would be an incredible achievement.
Projections about how long it might take to achieve a fully autonomous car can not factor in the incredible amount of urgency being channeled into these programs. Whoever wins may have it's design adopted by all automakers. And that would earn them a fortune.
Projections about how long will be necessary to engineer a solution are frequently gotten wrong by the experts. The problems can seem so insurmountable to all but a few. So, this may be one of those situations where the conservative estimate gets it all wrong. Never underestimate what a motivated researcher might achieve.
You have given a good detail description on your video and was impressed on how far technology has come. Keep up the good work.
Thanks!
holy crap solar is expensive in the USA... here in Australia our 6kw system was 13k and after rebates it was $6,700 and that's in Australian dollars, so more like 5k USD at the end of it... and that was a year ago
I was thinking exactly the same thing! We got in early with a 5kW system and locked-in the high feed-in tariff, so we enjoy getting a cheque from the our power company just before Christmas each year... :-) Of course, we also live in a sunny, sub-tropical location, so that helps.
I agree, whenever I see the prices the Americans are paying I think they are getting ripped off which seems strange considering the size of business they do with China, maybe the Chinese are just trying to make a bit of extra foreign currency back given how much America has devalued its currency and thus caused the rest of the world to settle her debts via the petro dollar..yes this is a deliberately provocative answer for our increasingly perverse and unjust planet.
Trump, coal, oil.
Yuuup, our govt likes to screw us!!!
well australia's grid is very unreliable and the US has lots of oil they don't want to lose the profits from oil with electric vehicles and all that
I installed solar on my house and happened to have an almost identical timeline. We started right around when you did and it went online around when you did. We're also seeing similar production during these darker months. It's a little depressing when there was so much anticipation when things got going but we're really looking forward to tracking production during the summer.
It’s really anti climatic, isn’t it? I can’t wait to get into the spring months and start seeing some real production kick in.
I wonder if solar prices might be higher now because of the added supply of money available via rebates.
And the tech is new and evolving. When they saturate the high value buyers and make their factories more streamline, prices will fall.
John Kerbaugh , exactly! And it will be great. "I need to go to the hardware store to pick up some nuts and bolts...and use this coupon for a free 25 watt panel" lol!
Nope, the cost has gone down since then actually!
Great video. I just went solar, this month is the first month . love it
Where are you located? Curious how your energy production is going so far.
I'd like to know about Solar Energy, the projects that involves the Solar Energy, thanks.
5:00 WHOA THERE: you just glossed over the biggest charge: a 5.99% (yes he said rate) interest rate over10 years is 59.9%. The rebate is not given till after the panels are installed. This means that that that $29,000 you paid initially is actually $46,371. That interest is killer.
Even if the rebate came before the loan, $29,610-$8,883=$20,727
$20,727×(10years×5.99%apr)=$33,142. Everything would workout far better if the interest was 3% or less.
Your math is off. As you pay the loan down, the amount you owe in interest also declines. For $29k over 10 years the interest is actually closer to $9,600 (www.calcxml.com/calculators/loan-payment-calculator?skn=#results). We just got our rebate money, which we’re about to apply to the loan, so our loan will immediately drop to around $20k. Taking that and applying how much time is left on the 10 year loan (we’re 6 or 7 months in) and it’s about $6k in interest left. BUT ... we’re planning on paying it down faster than the minimum payment. In the end the interest paid will be lower than that.
Bottom line though: you are right that 5.99% is high and 3% would have been ideal.
so the system would not be viable without all the discounts from the government?
No, it would (for me) ... for my system specifically it would just make the ROI longer.
Correct Anand. Solar is NOT viable yet. IF you can get the gov't to put a gun to your neighbors head and make THEM pay for your system you might get a deal.
I used Energysage when I was looking to get solar. An excellent site.
so why is nobody worrying about is the investment for their car paying off? their holidays? their tv's?
Because making your own electricity is an investment and those other things are not. Are you really so dull that this has to be explained?
@@winomaster
yes i am as dull as you are, what you are saying was exactly what i am pointing at. i am greatly satisfied that you understood.
@@winomaster Having a bad day were we?
@@winomaster You didn't understand what was being implied. I understand sarcasm is beyond some people.
I don't know man, I'm so frugal I'm doing ALL of those.
I live in South Australia and we recently had a 6.6kw solar system installed by a reputable installer in our area and it cost us a total of $6,000 (Just over $7,000 when accounting for the extra electrical work we wanted done at the same time) and we paid for that outright. We also had our home evaluated by a real estate agent and he specifically said that adding this solar system to our home will NOT add any additional value. So I was surprised hearing you say that your solar added a bit of value to your house.
I think it really depends on the region and size of the system. I have family in California and they saw an increase in home value, but I don’t think it’s a guarantee everywhere. For my house, I’m not counting on it adding value whenever I do end up selling. If it does, then that’s just a nice perk.
only problem is that installers inflate their prices so they in essence get the federal rebate.
Chris Sparks true in U.S.Australia has the cheapest solar in the world so we don’t have that issue
@@chefgav1 that's really good for you
@@mradaChris something strange happen there..Australia does it 1/4 of the cost per watt.
@@chefgav1 doesn't seem strange to me. I have priced out systems and the majority of the cost comes from the companies that sell the systems I reselling the Parts Plus extra and the labor.
@@mradaChris cost of doing business in Australia is a lot more expensive than U.S especially labour (Electricians charge over $100 U.S hr/ alone. Doesn't make sence that Australia 1/4 of the price installed. Some of it comes down to government subsidies (better in Australia) but not the total cost.
Great video, we have a 5.1kw system on our roof up in Canada. Our installation cost was $15000 Canadian for 20 255W Canadian Solar panels which seems a lot less than you pay. There are no incentives in my province for solar. We create 6000kwh per year. My expected return is 16 years. We have cheaper utility prices hence the long pay back time. We are still quite happy with this and encourage others to go solar.
Part of the reason mine was so much more was the LG 365 watt panels I picked ... and the fact that U.S. prices are probably a little out of whack too. If I gone with something lower wattage per panel, it could have knocked the price down. Awesome that you’re so happy with your system and that it’s working out for you.
Canadian Solar now have 365w panels as well now, they were not available when we installed 3 years ago. I notice at the end of your video you were looking at your solar panel performance. One thing I have learned is how amazing and consistent solar energy is. After 3 years my graphs have show we collect the same 6mW within a few hundred kWh each year. They really do work. Good luck with your system. Well presented video by the way.
@@UndecidedMF
Thanks. That’s great to hear how consistent it is. Can’t wait to see that myself.
Please my solar panels is not charging, please what should do
Honestly is that the question you want to ask? That's like asking if marriage makes sense economically (I guess that's a qualified yes if you usually pay for sex). The reasons for off-grid energy self sufficiency go far beyond a monetary calculation. The question that should be asked ito the audience is why aren't you actively considering alternative self-sufficient energy options when so many options are readily available and at par or beating grid supplied energy costs in many places. In Australia, the power company is facing a crisis because so many homes are generating electricity.
I live in the USA and our government does not want us to be self sufficient. Allthough I want have my our power I have everything else. A well with whole house filtration, recently I replaced an old electric furnace with a gas one propane. The energy savings on the gas heat has paid for itself in less than 4 years. Water system in less then 10 years and ac in 5 years. water quality is very good. I also replaced electric stove with gas which saves money and cooks better as well. The big satisfaction is not depending or relying on utilities which keep going up in price no matter how much I use.
It really depends on where you’re living. In my situation there’s no way for me to be 100% self sufficient, so I still have to rely on the grid for 40% of my energy. And the financial angle can’t be discounted if it’s going to dramatically increase your cost of living.
@@brianperry4815 I suspect my utility company is scamming people. A few years ago we went on vacation for a week. Recently I wanted to see what the base line of the house was while no one was home so I went looking at the usage history. I couldn't find the obvious dip that should be there. I checked the exact week we were gone and to my surprise it showed the same usage as other weeks. The same pattern of low over night, increase between 6 and 7 am, low during the day while we're at work, and an increase around the time we would normally get home. I always suspected something was up since we replaced everything in the house with much more energy efficient stuff yet there was 0 change in usage.
@@systematic101 What that could be is if you have a new smart meter which I have heard everyone shares power cost/consumption. That would not surprise me. Do you have your furnace or ac hooked up to a new smart thermostat? The new ones help and most you can even control temp from your phone. Good luck.
@@brianperry4815 that doesn't really explain why there would be 0 change during the week we weren't home or why there has been 0 change in power usage despite installing many low power replacements unless they're cheating.
The shared power cost could explain it but it would be wrong to charge me more because other people are less efficient.
Typical install is about $1000 for each 1kW of system power for materials (to meet code) and from 3 to 5 times that for contractor labor and permits for 1-2 day on site installation job. So take your time when shopping.
yeah and whats the problem?
You just cost me $29 grand! Used your page so they should be tossing you a few bones sooner or later. Thanks for the video
Ha! Thanks. Glad you found it useful. Let me know how it works out!
Hankster64 29k .U.S so expensive for solar
I have a similar situation to you and a few years ago we did lose several trees, most age, one noreaser. We still have one gorgeous Norwegian Spruce, have no idea how old it is but it is huge. Every solar company I got quotes from wanted us to take down that tree. The cost of the system was over 40,000 and it would not generate all of our power needs. Yes there were rebates but it was still a lot of money. Another factor is our home is 2 storiies, one section fairly steep and we couldn't do the maintenance ourselves, ie. Snow removal, cleaning the pollen (a lot) dust and snow. We would have to hire people to do it. When it was all added up it just wasn't worth it.
Panels get more efficient and cheaper every year so I will look into it again. I told the last company that I did not want a system that would be obsolete before it was paid for.
Here in Arizona you would guess solar makes plenty of sense....and you would be wrong. The power company will install a second ‘Smart Meter’ on your home and then your electric bill will magically go right back to what it was prior to installing solar panels. Oh yeah, that is only for the case of you being ‘grandfathered’ into the old electric rates. The new electric rates, only for solar power owners, are much higher. Bottom line, they will take your money no matter what you do.
The two meter system is the biggest scam put on solar that utilities have utilized in unfriendly states...
Isn't that illegal ?
The beauty of government is; they write the rules. When they decide to take more of your wealth, they will do it one way or another. They can be quite creative.
That is why I split my system in the short term: AC/heat runs off the grid, everything else off of solar/battery. Long-term will likely see one or more DC air con units, which is much more efficient.
Not allowed to have a battery on the system or to separate from the grid in AZ. They write the rules.
i think it's better to focus your attention on ensuring that panels are only mounted on south facing roofs , and to design an angle mounting system that can change it's angle to suit the seasons.
you are the man you need to think about Tv ! you never missed a beat ! great job ! I restore historic building need to mix the two ! because history and the future go hand to hand ! look at were we have been and were we are going ! THINK ABOUT IT ! Barry L. Walker marathon village .com
Just had a 34 panel system installed. Turned on 4 days ago to early to catch big results. I have produced 290Kwh so far.
This video now convinced me NOT to go solar! It takes 7 YEARS for the system to pay for it self? That's what I call a BAD investment.
That's a 14% tax free return.
I don't think you're thinking this through.
If you could buy a tax free Bond what's a 21 year maturity that paid 14% it would be a no-brainer.
In my situation 7 years really isn't that long. My monthly out of pocket expenses are roughly what they were before I went solar (on the slightly better side). The 7 year mark is when I start seeing the financial profit from the change. But money wasn't my only motivator for doing this. Each person's equation is going to be very different. If you live in an area with high energy costs, like California, you'll see that payback period much lower.
@@UndecidedMF yes it's just a question of "compared to what?."
Would buying LED bulbs, or putting the money in bonds, or buying more insulation results in the same return on the investment. 14% tax free return is awesome.
7 years, lol it takes a minimum of 12 years to pay off a solar system
It all depends on where you live, how much your system cost, and what your electricity rates are.
Thanks Matt. This really helps in understanding the cost of adding solar panels for the house. I've been thinking of having a system installed. I look forward to your followup video as spring and summer arrives.
Thanks for watching! Glad you found it useful ... and stay tuned. I’ll probably be putting out my next solar video in a couple of months. Starting in March the uptick in my solar production has been dramatic.
Install yourself
Other wise it does not pay
It would depend on how expensive electricity is in your country. Here in Australia it is ridiculously expensive and although we have been promised that energy prices will fall, that promise has been broken time and again for the past decade. So here it is well worth the initial outlay, and would quickly pay for itself.
Trees must go because we are going green energy :)
Only trees really close to the building on the South side.
Only trees really close to the building on the South side.
TeslaKaniv isn't that a shame? Our neighbor has a big oak tree.which shades our southern roof all afternoon. I expect it to live another 20 years.
@@nickiemcnichols5397 Yeah, solar is kind of opportunistic in residential areas.
Outstanding Info Matt ! Would love to see a continuation on your install with information on maintenance, inspection, and some info on how well the system provides once you get out of the winter months ! Set up a EnergySage Account myself and started looking seriously into this.
Thanks! I’m definitely going to be doing update videos over time on my system.
I've got 23 panels on top of my house. I live in the SW U.S. affectionately known as the sun belt. Tons of direct sun and no shade. I'm leasing my system so I wasn't able to take advantage of any of the tax breaks (sucks) but the system is 100% warrantied for 25 full years and guaranteed to produce 90% of my usage for just as long (awesome). The system produced 100% of my usage for 10 months of the first year and 12 months of the second year. I really appreciate the fixed bill every month opposed to the ups and downs. OVERALL I'm very happy.
Sounds like a good system!
Keep in mind- increased home value means higher property taxes in many areas. It's apparently typically about $200 more per year in taxes.
Nice informative video. I have two PV systems on my house. Had a paid for 10 panel system with microinverters when I bought it and had the installer come an inspect it to transfer the warranty. Problem was later one when they went out of business and the monitoring stopped working. Enphase said it was a problem the original installer had to diagnose so basically my warranty was no good after 7 years of life. After getting a consultation from a solar repair company, they basically said the inverters I have are known to fail at about that age but odd for all 10 to fail at once. Hired a company that will be around for a long time to install a second 27 panel system using SolarEdge with power optimizers and they told me that the problem with my old system was probably that the old installer disconnected everyone's inverters from Enphases database. I found lots of complaints from customers of this installer with the same issue. The new company was able to transfer my inverters over to their account and my monitoring is working again. Of course they will not touch my old system and the new one is a totally separate install. Key lesson is to really look at the company that is going to install your system and ask yourself if they're going to be around to back up your 25 year warranty. Going to the component manufacturers to try and get satisfaction is not going to work for the average homeowner. The other thing I had to deal with was losing my grandfathered-in net metering plan where I got paid the same rate for excess power as I paid for power from the grid. But my power company is forcing everyone to TOU and my old system wasn't large enough to generate much excess. I am looking to adding battery backup and I've already got the StoreEdge system attached to my inverter. The battery rebate system in California is a joke. You apply and you might get a rebate in a couple years.
Thanks for watching! That sounds like a frustrating situation. It’s a really good call out to make sure you’re choosing your installer carefully.
Your neighbourhood is awesome, would love to live in that kind of area.
Hi Matt and thanks for producing such an informative video. We have been entertaining the idea of solar over the last 3-4 years and have just now signed up with a vendor and going all in. I used the energy sage website as you recommended and can't thank you enough. It certainly made the vendor selection process easier and the last thing that sealed the deal for us was to personally visit three of their recent customers homes, see the systems and interview them in person about the experience and ask candid questions like would they do it again? Our system hopefully will be installed in late May early June just in time for a Houston summer, it will consist of 38 LG panels which is a 12.7 kW array. I look forward to your next video with your comments and how you feel about your system thus far. Thanks again, David.
Thanks so much, David. Really happy to hear that EnergySage helped you find a good installer and ultimately talk to their customers. That’s fantastic. Being in Houston, you’re probably going to get some great production out of that 12.7 kW system ... year round. Being further north, it’s been fascinating to watching how quickly our daily production is ramping up as we exit winter. February was around 25% of our use. March was about 75% of our use. And April is just a hair above our actual usage so far. Definitely planning more follow up videos.
Let me know how the install goes and how it works out!
Well done! One interesting factor is about timing -- when I looked at solar for our house both 10 years ago, then 5 years I realized, as you have, that efficiency gains on newer panels is still very significant. Should I wait another 5 years, or is now the right time? Obviously that's a purely economic question, as there are many other factors that matter.
Thanks. It’s a complicated equation given the money and a dozen other factors you have to weigh out.
6kW rooftop system installed cost in Victoria Australia is around $4,000, after the very generous state and federal gov rebates. Payback 3 to 4 years. Typical power bills are around $1500/year (varies a lot of course).
I did a quick search for Boston, you can use community Co-Ops. These can be out of state but are usually instate. This allows for gradually adding of owning panels without the need to have roofing checks, opening shade, etc.
That’s a really good call out. I wasn’t aware that co-ops were available here in Massachusetts.
Love our solar. We've produced over 35 megawatts since our system was installed a few years ago. Which has inspired me to do the garage roof too.
Nice! How much of your electricity usage does it cover?
Our system does better than 60% in the winter and runs the meter backwards all summer.
That’s not bad at all! I’m guessing that you’re goal would be to hit 100% in the winter with the additional garage panels. I’m a bit jealous.
Thanks Matt, we have a Tesla Powerwall2 which harnesses even more of our generated solar - works well- cheers
My mom got a level two car charger installed when they got their solar panels. That I think is where you will really start to see money back on your investment.
Solar combined with an EV is a great combo.
Nice pacing on your video, no cheap jokes and wasted time, i really enjoyed this.
Thank you ... and thanks for watching!
Since I live in the same region as you (just north over the border in NH). I certainly look forward to your 6 month and 1 year video. Looking at doing solar on my roof which can support up to a 19KW system or more. Problem is I need a new roof first as mine is at the end of it's life. So, probably will miss out on that 30% tax credit.
I believe you can actually claim the cost of that as part of the 30% tax credit, so it might be worth asking an installer or EnergySage about that.
Good video. I like to hear from people that have done it, not those that want to sell products. I didn’t hear, but I could have missed it. The power company buys your excess electricity at a much lower rate than electricity you buy. Power plants don’t have a big switch to turn on the power. It takes hours to ramp up to a load. So during a sunny day and solar kicks in and the power plant is blowing off steam, but has to be up and running when the sun goes down. Makes for an inefficient system. The more solar systems come on line, the higher the rates will have to be from the power companies.
Yes, it’s very true that energy companies have a challenge to balance the load to match demand, but that’s part of the reason in areas like mine they have a limit on the number of solar panel systems that can get onto the SREC and SMART energy programs. They’re trying to not over expand too quickly. It’s also the biggest reason why we need grid scale energy storage systems to take advantage of renewables and tap into it when we actually need it. Tesla’s grid scale battery systems are just one of those solutions.
Also, how the energy company pays back for the electricity varies region to region. Where I am they aren’t “buying it back” with my netmeter. My over production is literally just rolling back usage off my account like I’m putting that energy into a bank.
Thank you Matt. I love your channel. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! 🙏
Once again excellent and clear insights. One concern my wife had was that like yours, our roof faces east and west. In addition, aesthetics play a factor too (our shingles are brown and asked if they make brown solar panels to match, ha!) How do the panels affect the effectiveness and longevity of the roof shingles with the weather? Could snow cover affect the power generation in the winter too? We did get a little snow in our area today so I suppose these could be points for your follow up reviews. I can’t express enough how thorough your videos are, great job once again Matt!
Thanks, Clark! The more efficient panels available today make homes with less than ideal positioning more viable, like my east to west orientation, as well as smaller roof. The aesthetics are sadly something still lacking. Tesla’s solar tile roofs are something heading in the right direction, but they only make sense if you need to replace your roof. I didn’t cover some of the winter time questions you raised in the video because it was already pretty long, but it’s interesting how they actually benefit your roof in the winter time. If there’s snow on them you’ll get no production, but snow has a harder time sticking to them. It melts faster and slides off sooner than it does on a regular roof. After a big snow fall in my area you’ll often see the solar panel covered roofs show up quickly. They also extend the life of the shingles because they’re providing shade to the roof underneath, as well as helping to reduce the temperature in attic spaces. Someone else in the comments actually mentioned using a roof broom to pull snow off easily after a storm.
Great video, Matt! I'm not solar right now, but I hope to do so once we're out of our apartment. I'd love to see a follow up to the performance and what it's like living with your solar config.
Thanks! I’m thinking of doing a follow up in June or July once I have more summer time data.
I worked as a solar installer last summer in Michigan. But starting this year the local energy companies have cut off direct connection with solar companies. Now solar companies have to use battery packs to store energy instead of connected to the power grid. Users used to be able get rebate from the energy company for the surplus they produce, now they don't. And the have to pay extra for the battery packs.
That’s frustrating, but I can see where the electric company is coming from. They probably don’t want to deal with the excess electricity and duck curve effect that can happen. Requiring batteries offsets that issue.
This video is one of the best on Solar PV
Love the content. One quick note about module efficiency though. That guarantee is strickly based off the STC (standard testing conditions, though not field practical) of the specific module manufacturer. So anyone shopping around for solar should be looking at the guaranteed rate of degradation. Also, another important factor to look at is the efficiency rating. Some have a plus or minus % of listed efficiency. With the technology as it is, you should ALWAYS expect a positive only ratio. I.E. a 300w panel should have a positive only difference. Meaning you can always expect 300w but typically it could put out 307w or so.
Our 2.5KW solar system in Central Florida was installed in 2009. It was a $20,000 dollar system. We got $4.00 a watt or $10,000 cash back from Florida and 30 percent back from federal rebates. The system was almost free. In 10 years it has produced 25,000 KWH of power. At 11 cents per KW that is only $2750 it has produced. For us that is okay because we did get subsidies but if it was out of pocket it would take a long time to scratch even! I just thought I'd put this out there.
Jeff 😎 Sunny Central Florida
Electricity prices can have a major impact on the payback period if that’s one of your primary concerns, which for most people it is. I wish I had 11 cents per kW where I am, I’m over twice that.
Good video and super good information. I paid $15,000 US in 2015 to have a SunPower 3.35 kilowatt solar PV system installed. It produces 6,000 kilowatt hours annually.
Nice! You happy with the investment?
Yes, I am pleased. It brings a smile to my face every morning over a cup of coffee which is priceless. SunPower is Cradle to Cradle certified for clean disassembly and remanufacturing too. I am never going to sell the house and property so I see it as another system of household improvement into increase my energy, financial and ecologically security. Together with fruit trees, R70 attic insulation, R25 floor insulation, a solar house heater and a silent radiant floor electric heating system the solar PV system was the next step in my overall strategy to be 100% renewably powered. Hopefully next, will be a Tesla Powerwall, Model 3 and more PV panels over the coming years. Thank you again for your excellent informational video.
Your welcome! And thanks for watching. One last note for anyone else reading this ... that’s another area people tend to overlook: proper insulation of your home. It can make a massive difference in your energy usage. That’s some good R value you have in the attic.