Home Solar panels

[Tadashi]

I did not know where to post this but many members here talk about having solar panels on their home. How did you go about doing it? Where did you look for the rebates? Are they federal and/or state? Any recommendations for companies in the Waco or Fort Hood Area in Texas or National companies?

Do you have any cost models for me to determine if it would be worth it financially? Although I would not mind helping the environment it still has to make sense. Electricity in the area costs around $0.154 per kWH and I use an average of 1000-1500 kWH per month. That is here in El Paso where I have gas for heating. The new home is all electric.

Thanks.

[burritos]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 12 2007, 08:33 PM) [snapback]389236[/snapback]</div>

I did not know where to post this but many members here talk about having solar panels on their home. How did you go about doing it? Where did you look for the rebates? Are they federal and/or state? Any recommendations for companies in the Waco or Fort Hood Area in Texas or National companies?

Do you have any cost models for me to determine if it would be worth it financially? Although I would not mind helping the environment it still has to make sense. Electricity in the area costs around $0.154 per kWH and I use an average of 1000-1500 kWH per month. That is here in El Paso where I have gas for heating. The new home is all electric.

Thanks.
[/b]

I'm in socal. I used advancedsolarelectric.com They did all the paperwork necessary to get the rebate from the utility companies. Then when I filed my taxes there is a form specifically for the tax credit:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf

Your installer should be able to help you out. Good luck.

[darelldd]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 12 2007, 05:33 PM) [snapback]389236[/snapback]</div>

I did not know where to post this but many members here talk about having solar panels on their home. How did you go about doing it? Where did you look for the rebates? Are they federal and/or state? Any recommendations for companies in the Waco or Fort Hood Area in Texas or National companies?

Do you have any cost models for me to determine if it would be worth it financially? Although I would not mind helping the environment it still has to make sense. Electricity in the area costs around $0.154 per kWH and I use an average of 1000-1500 kWH per month. That is here in El Paso where I have gas for heating. The new home is all electric.

Thanks.
[/b]

There are both state and federal incentives, and they are different in each state, and with each tax year. NOT fun. Your best bet is to ask around to find a local installer, and they'll be able to answer all those questions for you. With your cost per kWh, and your consumption numbers, you are a pretty good condidate for PV. If you also owned an EV, you'd be throwing money away by NOT having PV on the house.

[tripp]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 12 2007, 06:33 PM) [snapback]389236[/snapback]</div>

I did not know where to post this but many members here talk about having solar panels on their home. How did you go about doing it? Where did you look for the rebates? Are they federal and/or state? Any recommendations for companies in the Waco or Fort Hood Area in Texas or National companies?

Do you have any cost models for me to determine if it would be worth it financially? Although I would not mind helping the environment it still has to make sense. Electricity in the area costs around $0.154 per kWH and I use an average of 1000-1500 kWH per month. That is here in El Paso where I have gas for heating. The new home is all electric.

Thanks.
[/b]

So are you moving to a new house that's all electric meaning electric water heating too? If that's true you should definitely look into solar water heating. There's a fed tax credit for 30% of the cost of the system. The fed PV incentive is capped at $2K for residential. Like Darell said the state rebates very wildly from nothing to pretty darn good. Here in CO they cover about half of the cost of the system.

[Godiva]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Feb 12 2007, 08:51 PM) [snapback]389254[/snapback]</div>

I'm in socal. I used advancedsolarelectric.com They did all the paperwork necessary to get the rebate from the utility companies. Then when I filed my taxes there is a form specifically for the tax credit:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf

Your installer should be able to help you out. Good luck.
[/b]

Thanks. I'll be shopping for an installer soon. They are on my list.

[tochatihu]

The web site listing federal and state renewable energy incentives:

www.dsireusa.org

Excellent magazine fo rresedential solar etc:

www.homepower.com

[stevelawrence]

Just pokin' my head in here.

I ordered solar panels for my house last summer. I live in NJ, where we get a rather excellent rebate (about 50% of the total cost). The company I went with (http://thesolarcenter.com/) basically take a deposit. They apply for the rebate on your behalf (you sign it over to them). They apply the rebate to your bill, and you end up paying the difference.

I did practically zero paperwork - they did it all for me. They also offer a service where they'll sell your 'green credits' on the market for you, and pocket 10% of the cost. But they tend to get better prices as they sell in bulk, (100's at a time) whereas I'd have about 12 to sell if I did it personally.

So.. like the others above said - Look to your local installer. I bet they'll do similar.

Steve.

[Tadashi]

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately, nothing is local. I think the closest I have been able to find is in Austin (about 1 hour away). I sent the companies some emails and hope one of them services my area. Anyone have any ballpark figures on what a typical system would cost and how long it would take to recoup costs? (it has been something I wanted to do but have to get past the initial sticker shock) :P

Do all electricity companies buy back any excess power generated that you do not use? Is our technology up to that point where a house can make more power than it uses?

[McShemp]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 14 2007, 12:14 PM) [snapback]390274[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately, nothing is local. I think the closest I have been able to find is in Austin (about 1 hour away). I sent the companies some emails and hope one of them services my area. Anyone have any ballpark figures on what a typical system would cost and how long it would take to recoup costs? (it has been something I wanted to do but have to get past the initial sticker shock) :P

Do all electricity companies buy back any excess power generated that you do not use? Is our technology up to that point where a house can make more power than it uses?
[/b]

Here is SA, our utility gives us this great deal - 1) they look over your plans and bless them, and 2) they provide you with a bi-directional meter. That's it. The kicker is, they take the power you put on the grid and don't give you anything for it ... no credits, no "reduced" rates, nada, zip, nothing.

So, during a bright summer day while I'm at work and my home electricity demands are relatively low ('cause no one is at home but the dog and cat), my utility takes any the extra juice PVs would provide without even sayin' "Thanks." I'm certain a moderately sized PV system would provide more than is used during a normal work day, and there's not enough wind here for a turbine.

While Austin is only 80 miles away, the handling of alternate energy by their utility and ours is tremendous. I just want a sniff of a chance of a PV installation paying for itself in some reasonable time frame.

[tripp]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Feb 14 2007, 11:14 AM) [snapback]390274[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately, nothing is local. I think the closest I have been able to find is in Austin (about 1 hour away). I sent the companies some emails and hope one of them services my area. Anyone have any ballpark figures on what a typical system would cost and how long it would take to recoup costs? (it has been something I wanted to do but have to get past the initial sticker shock) :P

Do all electricity companies buy back any excess power generated that you do not use? Is our technology up to that point where a house can make more power than it uses?
[/b]

Check out Real Goods. This is for CO but it does show the price of unsubsidized PV systems. They figure on $9/Watt installed.

The buy back part is called net metering and this varies from state to state. You'll have to see what TX offers in that line. It's definitely possible to produce more than you use, but you'll need to make an effort (probably) to reduce your use. There's a lot of "low hanging fruit" that will help you cut your consumption down. The first step in a PV installation is figuring where you can cut out waste. This will enhance your ROI and get you closer to having the system cover or exceed your usage.

If you have electric water heating you'll want to install solar thermal water heating. Using PV to heat water is VERY expensive and really makes no sense, esp given where you live. If you're heating with NG then your OK. Solar thermal installations are considerably cheaper than PV so if there are no subsidies for you you might wanna check it out. It really depends upon what your requirements are.