solar panels (il)

Gone_2022

TCG Elite Member
Sep 4, 2013
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The Tesla site calculator and I think solar city ones are pretty accurate. Personally I would only consider it if I knew I was in my forever home or built my dream home. Depending on usage and sunlight it can take quite a lot of years to pay itself back
 

sickmint79

I Drink Your Milkshake
Mar 2, 2008
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grayslake
The Tesla site calculator and I think solar city ones are pretty accurate. Personally I would only consider it if I knew I was in my forever home or built my dream home. Depending on usage and sunlight it can take quite a lot of years to pay itself back

i don't plan on staying here much longer, although it also improves the value of the home and with enough subsidies i'm wondering if that's a winning combo. i'm only looking at buying/owning a system outright. we just got a new roof later last year so it would seem a pretty good time to do it as well.
 

Stink Star

Don’t Drive Angry!
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Jan 20, 2008
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Big wood cock
Problem here is watts/m*2 aren’t very high and our electricity is also already pretty cheap. It’s prettymuch a break even proposition at best. I mean if you had multiple electric cars and ran electric kitchen appliances and water heater it’d probably help you in the long run, but most everybody here has natural gas
 

sickmint79

I Drink Your Milkshake
Mar 2, 2008
26,906
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grayslake
i did see the rate you get back is the wholesale rate the energy company buys stuff for, not the one you pay for, if you were a net producer.

wasn't sure the proper way to calculate cost per kwh i think i had between 10-11 cents which sounds low, the other numbers were fixed costs though
 

sickmint79

I Drink Your Milkshake
Mar 2, 2008
26,906
16,620
grayslake
1. do you have the manufacturer's warranty only or an additional premium warranty offered by the guys you bought solar from?
2. it looks like your seller collected the SRECs? i've been advised i would apply/collect/sell them.
3. did yours produce more/less/same as predicted?

the cheaper option i'm looking at appears to be
19k for 27 rec panels 7.83 kW
-5700 federal credit
-7205 (7.17 * 15 years * $67 per srec)
= $6,095

the average of my last 53 bills was $100. so 61 months breakeven.

iiiiif it actually works like this - which i'm not sure it does. trying to understand the srec, i'm wondering if i am rewarded them for past production, which i can then sell on the market, year after year. and if my only way to get money for them now, it one big lump for 15 years, is if a 3rd party purchases my future production expectations - at a discount to what the SREC listed rate is. meaning my $7205 discount above is overstating what i would be paid for SREC. maybe a fairer estimate would be $3500. maybe it's a really good business to be going around purchasing other people's SRECs...

not sure what appraisers do for panels, esp in our area. per some studies it looks like home buyers do take into account the value they add; although this also depends on prevalence and education in the area. nonetheless, it would seem $2 per W is conservative to estimate, and 6 kW of output the same; so even at my safe estimates, i think i could say

6095+3500 = 9595 investment
6000*2 = 12000 home appreciation

thoughts? also some kind of $600 incentive for me enrolling in this process, and $350 referral once others are installed too; i have no problem singing high praises if all works out.

really feels like it's shaping out to be a really solid investment given federal and state credits and subsidy. thoughts? any of my math seem wonky??
 

Vogz

Moist Ass Bitch
Jul 4, 2006
4,481
233
Batavia, IL
1. do you have the manufacturer's warranty only or an additional premium warranty offered by the guys you bought solar from?

Only manufacturer warranty. Since solar has no moving parts, systems are VERY reliable. I've had zero issues through 2 years of use

2. it looks like your seller collected the SRECs? i've been advised i would apply/collect/sell them.

Yes, but I'm under the old SREC program. I get paid quarterly for 5 years. I don't know if you can go around purchasing SRECs

3. did yours produce more/less/same as predicted?

My system has produced slightly more power than was predicted


the cheaper option i'm looking at appears to be
19k for 27 rec panels 7.83 kW
-5700 federal credit
-7205 (7.17 * 15 years * $67 per srec)
= $6,095

the average of my last 53 bills was $100. so 61 months breakeven.

iiiiif it actually works like this - which i'm not sure it does. trying to understand the srec, i'm wondering if i am rewarded them for past production, which i can then sell on the market, year after year. and if my only way to get money for them now, it one big lump for 15 years, is if a 3rd party purchases my future production expectations - at a discount to what the SREC listed rate is. meaning my $7205 discount above is overstating what i would be paid for SREC. maybe a fairer estimate would be $3500. maybe it's a really good business to be going around purchasing other people's SRECs...

not sure what appraisers do for panels, esp in our area. per some studies it looks like home buyers do take into account the value they add; although this also depends on prevalence and education in the area. nonetheless, it would seem $2 per W is conservative to estimate, and 6 kW of output the same; so even at my safe estimates, i think i could say

6095+3500 = 9595 investment
6000*2 = 12000 home appreciation

thoughts? also some kind of $600 incentive for me enrolling in this process, and $350 referral once others are installed too; i have no problem singing high praises if all works out.

really feels like it's shaping out to be a really solid investment given federal and state credits and subsidy. thoughts? any of my math seem wonky??

See bolded answers above.

I'm not following your extra $3500 "investment". You don't buy SRECs, you earn them by producing clean power. That's really the only wonky math I see.
 

sickmint79

I Drink Your Milkshake
Mar 2, 2008
26,906
16,620
grayslake
that's great you produced more than expected.

so for your SRECs, instead of you earning them, then selling them, is it that your installer purchased future generated ones from you for 5k? so whatever you generate, they actually collect, and they sell under the old program?

the +3500 was my fudge factor for not understanding how SREC works.

basically the math we did was the first set to 6,095. assuming 15 years, selling SREC at the block 3 fixed allocation rate of the current program (lowest) - although he made it sound like i could collect these all up front. he is a newer guy to solar particularly in the IL market though. i like a big lump up front and not having to worry about it.

BUT

my understanding now is IL isn't just going to give me 15 years of these when i flip the switch - it's going to give me them after power is produced, and i will sell them over time. so over 15 years - i think i'd be getting 7.17 kW * 15 years * $67 (block 3 pricing) = $7,205 or someone will purchase the rights to these today for say 5000.

the latter is more compelling because
1. instant cash
2. life is simple
3. avoid complexity when selling home
4. avoid complexity if new homeowner adds 2 panels

etc. so my +3500 was basically to say instead of 7205 savings today... someone will buy my future SREC for 3,705; so i'll only discount my price that much, for conservative math.

if this is actually how it works, it seems if you plan to stay in your home, you're better off to just hold on to them rather than sell them today. i wonder if it's even a compelling investment to buy other people's; SRECs (??)
 

Vogz

Moist Ass Bitch
Jul 4, 2006
4,481
233
Batavia, IL
that's great you produced more than expected.



so for your SRECs, instead of you earning them, then selling them, is it that your installer purchased future generated ones from you for 5k? so whatever you generate, they actually collect, and they sell under the old program?



the +3500 was my fudge factor for not understanding how SREC works.



basically the math we did was the first set to 6,095. assuming 15 years, selling SREC at the block 3 fixed allocation rate of the current program (lowest) - although he made it sound like i could collect these all up front. he is a newer guy to solar particularly in the IL market though. i like a big lump up front and not having to worry about it.



BUT



my understanding now is IL isn't just going to give me 15 years of these when i flip the switch - it's going to give me them after power is produced, and i will sell them over time. so over 15 years - i think i'd be getting 7.17 kW * 15 years * $67 (block 3 pricing) = $7,205 or someone will purchase the rights to these today for say 5000.



the latter is more compelling because

1. instant cash

2. life is simple

3. avoid complexity when selling home

4. avoid complexity if new homeowner adds 2 panels



etc. so my +3500 was basically to say instead of 7205 savings today... someone will buy my future SREC for 3,705; so i'll only discount my price that much, for conservative math.



if this is actually how it works, it seems if you plan to stay in your home, you're better off to just hold on to them rather than sell them today. i wonder if it's even a compelling investment to buy other people's; SRECs (??)



I get checks for $180/srec , so my installer doesn’t collect anything. I also don’t know if they paid to acquire the rights to them. It’s my opinion that more money is better even if it takes a little longer to receive payment.
 

sickmint79

I Drink Your Milkshake
Mar 2, 2008
26,906
16,620
grayslake
I get checks for $180/srec , so my installer doesn’t collect anything. I also don’t know if they paid to acquire the rights to them. It’s my opinion that more money is better even if it takes a little longer to receive payment.

hmm i'm confused by your post here then:
http://www.thechicagogarage.com/forum/off-topic/162441-wind-solar-power-2.html#post3685229

"There is a 30% federal tax credit, and my installer also "purchased" SREC credits so I got an additional $5K off."

if you are generating them now, and you own them, and you get to sell them for $180 - where did this additional 5k off come from? or is that just your future estimated realization?

i don't think anyone would purchase SRECs for you, just from you??
 

Vogz

Moist Ass Bitch
Jul 4, 2006
4,481
233
Batavia, IL
hmm i'm confused by your post here then:

http://www.thechicagogarage.com/forum/off-topic/162441-wind-solar-power-2.html#post3685229



"There is a 30% federal tax credit, and my installer also "purchased" SREC credits so I got an additional $5K off."



if you are generating them now, and you own them, and you get to sell them for $180 - where did this additional 5k off come from? or is that just your future estimated realization?



i don't think anyone would purchase SRECs for you, just from you??



I shouldn’t have said “purchased”. I don’t know how installers exactly acquire them. $5000 is the total over 3 year of quarterly checks for SRECs.
 

Stink Star

Don’t Drive Angry!
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Jan 20, 2008
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Big wood cock
So me and the wife decided to go solar. 23 panels @360 watts with microinverters. I’ll be getting $10,702 in SRECs and $9923 in federal tax credit. Not looking forward to having to juggle the panels around when redoing my roof but whatever. System is predicted to save over $17000 in 25 years
 

Stink Star

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Big wood cock
Crossover point is 5 years for savings. Admittedly it starts at like $10/year and then just goes up from there. Problem with waiting is that federal tax credit goes down to 20% in 2020 and the SREC goes down the more people collect them. Also net metering may not be 1:1 like it is now. I’ll be grandfathered into that. The tax credits are the only way it’s possible really. I’m not gonna spend $33,000 on solar panels so getting $20,000 back is the only way I’d do it
 

Stink Star

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i think they are a good buy now with current subsidies available to us. the only reason i'm not buying is i hope to not be in my house 12 months from now.

Yea that’s why we decided not to do one of those “no money down lease” options. We aren’t planning on moving but you never know what may happen years from now to change our minds about that
 
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