does solar make sense for me?
First you need to own a roof and you don’t want to put a 20 year solar panel array on an old roof. If necessary I can help you with choosing a new roofing system that may save you some solar installation costs. You also may be eligible for some incentives to help pay for the roof.
Solar arrays need lots of sunlight! If you have trees or other buildings shading you roof, don’t let anybody tell you that it is a candidate for solar. Your roof will also ideally have a large south facing exposure. East and West exposures are good but you will lose some efficiency. Flat roofs are great too!
The cool thing is that if you give me the address of your building, I can look at in Google Earth and usually determine if solar is likely to work on your property and I may also be able to roughly determine the size of the solar array that could be installed. To provide your address for a free solar analysis, please use the I'M READY TO GET STARTED form below.
Next, we will need to figure out your current electricity usage and costs. A copy or download of the last twelve months of electric bills would make it easy. This can be uploaded in the I'M READY TO GET STARTED form below.
Solar arrays need lots of sunlight! If you have trees or other buildings shading you roof, don’t let anybody tell you that it is a candidate for solar. Your roof will also ideally have a large south facing exposure. East and West exposures are good but you will lose some efficiency. Flat roofs are great too!
The cool thing is that if you give me the address of your building, I can look at in Google Earth and usually determine if solar is likely to work on your property and I may also be able to roughly determine the size of the solar array that could be installed. To provide your address for a free solar analysis, please use the I'M READY TO GET STARTED form below.
Next, we will need to figure out your current electricity usage and costs. A copy or download of the last twelve months of electric bills would make it easy. This can be uploaded in the I'M READY TO GET STARTED form below.
Let’s also have a discussion about charging electric vehicles. We want to get rid of your gasoline usage and bills as well! We likely will want to make vehicle chargers a part of your system.
A few things you should know:
With this information I will build for you an initial proposal including a preliminary array and system configuration, estimated installation costs, estimated electricity production, and estimated savings on your electric bill and a return on investment analysis. This proposal will give you a good idea if it makes sense to move forward with solar energy.
At this point we can talk about adding sustainability components to your system like battery walls or a generator. Batteries are great but, very expensive! There are plenty of other options that may add to the cost of your project. These likely should be thought of as luxury costs and not be included in your return on investment calculations.
A few things you should know:
- You will have a “grid based” system. We will need to talk about and understand “net metering”, month to month energy “banking “and minimum monthly charges.
- If there is a power outage in your area, your system will likely be required to shut down as well. There are exceptions like systems with battery walls.
- You will want to make sure that your solar array is insured. It is supposed to be wind rated to 130 MPH or more. You will need to check with your insurer. Energy companies may require additional liability insurance if your system is over a certain size.
- Depending on your roof configuration, you may not be able to build a system big enough to cover all of your annual electricity usage. Your return on investment will only be realized on the amount of electricity your system produces. You will still have much smaller electric bills.
With this information I will build for you an initial proposal including a preliminary array and system configuration, estimated installation costs, estimated electricity production, and estimated savings on your electric bill and a return on investment analysis. This proposal will give you a good idea if it makes sense to move forward with solar energy.
At this point we can talk about adding sustainability components to your system like battery walls or a generator. Batteries are great but, very expensive! There are plenty of other options that may add to the cost of your project. These likely should be thought of as luxury costs and not be included in your return on investment calculations.
Paying for your Solar PV system
Remember, I am a former investments advisor.
My favorite recommendation for paying for a Solar PV system is to use funds from your investment accounts. Your return on investment from electric bill savings should be higher and more reliable than your other investment alternatives. If you use money from an IRA you will have to pay taxes on it like any other withdrawal.
My next favorite suggestion for paying for solar is using a Home Equity Loan on the value of your house. Use a bank or credit union that you know. The biggest issue here is that they are usually variable rate loans. It will be mortgage loan and is tax deductible if you itemize. Remember the value of your home should go up by at least the cost of the PV system.
Other financing for Solar PV systems are now readily available. Some banks offer good normal fixed rate loans. However, beware! Some loans will look like incredibly low interest rates and monthly payments but they may have huge “dealer pay ups” that would make it very expensive to pay off the loan early. For example if you sell your house before the loan expires. Please let me take a look before your sign on the dotted line.
My favorite recommendation for paying for a Solar PV system is to use funds from your investment accounts. Your return on investment from electric bill savings should be higher and more reliable than your other investment alternatives. If you use money from an IRA you will have to pay taxes on it like any other withdrawal.
My next favorite suggestion for paying for solar is using a Home Equity Loan on the value of your house. Use a bank or credit union that you know. The biggest issue here is that they are usually variable rate loans. It will be mortgage loan and is tax deductible if you itemize. Remember the value of your home should go up by at least the cost of the PV system.
Other financing for Solar PV systems are now readily available. Some banks offer good normal fixed rate loans. However, beware! Some loans will look like incredibly low interest rates and monthly payments but they may have huge “dealer pay ups” that would make it very expensive to pay off the loan early. For example if you sell your house before the loan expires. Please let me take a look before your sign on the dotted line.