DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 46 minutes ago, rct said: Do all of you peoples in California own your solar systems or lease them? rct You can do either. I personally own mine…..I’ve had it for coming on 8 years…..I’d say it’s almost paid for itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 43 minutes ago, Larsongs said: California may be better than most other States but Fossil Fuels still make up a large amount to produce Electricity. Much of their Electricity is bought from other States who don’t have the same practices as California. I love the concept of Electric vehicles. I’m not in favor of the things they do to make the Vehicles, including, some of their Content, Child Slavery & the Electricity produced with Fossil Fuel to power them at this time. I don’t view them as Green & users of total renewable Clean power. That said, my kids just leased 2 Polestar’s for my Teenage Grand kids. The deals were too good to pass up. Lars, you’re in the same boat as me! Proud and disappointed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Just now, DanvillRob said: You can do either. I personally own mine…..I’ve had it for coming on 8 years…..I’d say it’s almost paid for itself. Yeah, as it should be. New Jersey started bad, lots of shennanigans with leases sanctioned by the state and stuff, trying to get early adopters to get the solar stuff going. Unfortunately it hasn't changed much at all. Today you either lease, which can really become a mess if you have any problems or worse you want to sell your house, or you can take out pretty egregious loans against your own house to buy the solar, which again, hurts when you sell. It sucks. We should have all kindsa solar on our house, should have been early adopters, but not doing it. It's a giant scam here. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 2 minutes ago, rct said: Yeah, as it should be. New Jersey started bad, lots of shennanigans with leases sanctioned by the state and stuff, trying to get early adopters to get the solar stuff going. Unfortunately it hasn't changed much at all. Today you either lease, which can really become a mess if you have any problems or worse you want to sell your house, or you can take out pretty egregious loans against your own house to buy the solar, which again, hurts when you sell. It sucks. We should have all kindsa solar on our house, should have been early adopters, but not doing it. It's a giant scam here. rct My system cost me about $40K. I got a big tax write off, but I forget how much. My electric bill was over $1,000 a month during the summer months…..that’s why I got it in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 1 minute ago, DanvillRob said: My system cost me about $40K. I got a big tax write off, but I forget how much. My electric bill was over $1,000 a month during the summer months…..that’s why I got it in the first place. See, this here is part of the rub. My current home averages 200 a month over the year for electricity. A little higher during super hot times like this past month, a little higher if we get a bad cold snap which hasn't happened in a few years or more now. So our energy costs here in the most densely populated state in the country, just don't lend themselves to people falling over themselves to go so into debt or so into lease hell to get some "relief" from our electric bills. The house we are moving to soon(fingers crossed almost there) is more than twice the square footage of this one with average electric of 300 a month. It just doesn't work out here, I guess that's why it is still such a scam. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 1 hour ago, rct said: Do all of you peoples in California own your solar systems or lease them? rct I own them. Also on a well with whole house Reverse Osmosis so no electric bill (after all said and done) and no water bill in parched California. That being said my house is up for sale and I'm ready to leave after 33 years. It's time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 26 minutes ago, ghost_of_fl said: Hi. I don't post here. But if I did, I would tell you: I have direct knowledge of a large K-12 school district that uses solar to offset their electric costs. At this point after installing panels on roofs of several of the buildings and also a solar farm on some land owned by the district, they now cover about half of their yearly electric bill with solar. This is a large district with 10 buildings so think in the millions. Think about all those PCs and servers and network infrastructure, HVAC, printers and copiers, interactive wall displays, auditorium projectors, etc. The bills are massive - and solar is covering half. Yes, the equipment costs money and it's not free to maintain but the fact is, over the years it will absolutely save the school district literally millions of dollars they can spend on educational services instead of using it to keep the lights on. And fossil fuels have absolutely zilch to do with that (beyond manufacturing and shipping of the equipment). Solar starts to make sense when you scale it up. 👆 So your taxes will.... Nah. Nevermind. rct 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 3 hours ago, Tman said: I own them. Also on a well with whole house Reverse Osmosis so no electric bill (after all said and done) and no water bill in parched California. That being said my house is up for sale and I'm ready to leave after 33 years. It's time. Good luck with it. You've been through a lot, I hope you can find a good place to be in all kindsa ways. rct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 (edited) 4 hours ago, DanvillRob said: My system cost me about $40K. I got a big tax write off, but I forget how much. My electric bill was over $1,000 a month during the summer months…..that’s why I got it in the first place. Summers here in the Palm Springs area are in the 100-118 range. My Electric bill for July was about $900.00 & in August after raising the Thermostat it was almost $700.00. I called our Utility Co. & asked if I could install a Solar System with a Back up Battery. And have it set up with a Control that enables me to go off their grid if there is a Power outage. That way I can run totally on Solar & my back up battery if needed. They said, no. There have been Power outages this Summer. Luckily not us. But, those with Solar suffered the Power outages along with people without Solar. It’s caused one Solar Co. to close down their business. They were the Panel supplier to another big Co. called Renova who was the Installer. Now Renova has fulrloughed their employees & have shut down until they can get a new Supplier. Now the 2 biggest Solar Companies are closed down. Smells fishy! Edited September 5 by Larsongs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 4 hours ago, Tman said: I own them. Also on a well with whole house Reverse Osmosis so no electric bill (after all said and done) and no water bill in parched California. That being said my house is up for sale and I'm ready to leave after 33 years. It's time. Where are you moving to? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 ‘tis. Best to you as always Phillip. Go well mate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 9 hours ago, rct said: So your taxes will.... Nah. Nevermind. rct Agree. They may not go up - but they sure won't go down. Those millions they are saying they are saving on Utilities will not be refunded to the taxpayers who foot the bill for EVERYTHING. The School Board will re-shuffle their budgets to hide where the savings is going. A little $ in the first year of savings will be easier to hide. People will not pay attention after that. Capital Asset acquisitions on the Balance Sheet - depreciation on the Operating Statement, Construction in Process, Debt, Teachers salaries, and especially administrator salaries. Like stepping on a balloon or "Whack A Mole". It's all a game - and only an independent outside auditor could untangle it to present fair 'before and after' reports on the project and the overall School District Budget. It's sort of a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" game. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 8 hours ago, ghost_of_fl said: Taxes have not gone up whatsoever during the entire project. It's easy to stand off to the side and have opinions, but when you see the numbers with your own eyes, it gives you a different perspective. Speaking of "having the numbers", our school board is entirely transparent about the budget. Just go to a board meeting if you want to hear about it. They are required to be public in my state (actually they are streamed online if you can't be bothered to drive there). Isn't it like that where you are too? It is like that here too, yes. Your taxes won't go down. Surprise, the superintendent of schools probably got a nice raise, and the district motor pool got some nice new rides, you know, the stuff they couldn't afford when they had them big electric bills. rct 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 13 hours ago, rct said: See, this here is part of the rub. My current home averages 200 a month over the year for electricity. A little higher during super hot times like this past month, a little higher if we get a bad cold snap which hasn't happened in a few years or more now. So our energy costs here in the most densely populated state in the country, just don't lend themselves to people falling over themselves to go so into debt or so into lease hell to get some "relief" from our electric bills. The house we are moving to soon(fingers crossed almost there) is more than twice the square footage of this one with average electric of 300 a month. It just doesn't work out here, I guess that's why it is still such a scam. rct You have to do the math, and do what’s right for YOU. Since we have about 300 sunny days a year here, and utility bills close to highest in the nation, it made sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 12 hours ago, Tman said: I own them. Also on a well with whole house Reverse Osmosis so no electric bill (after all said and done) and no water bill in parched California. That being said my house is up for sale and I'm ready to leave after 33 years. It's time. We have a well too….but it never produced enough water to run the household….only the yard…..then several years ago, I was changing out the pump, and the rope broke…..now the pump is about 150 feet down a hole! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 10 hours ago, ghost_of_fl said: Hi. I don't post here. But if I did, I would tell you: I have direct knowledge of a large K-12 school district that uses solar to offset their electric costs. At this point after installing panels on roofs of several of the buildings and also a solar farm on some land owned by the district, they now cover about half of their yearly electric bill with solar. This is a large district with 10 buildings so think in the millions. Think about all those PCs and servers and network infrastructure, HVAC, printers and copiers, interactive wall displays, auditorium projectors, etc. The bills are massive - and solar is covering half. Yes, the equipment costs money and it's not free to maintain but the fact is, over the years it will absolutely save the school district literally millions of dollars they can spend on educational services instead of using it to keep the lights on. And fossil fuels have absolutely zilch to do with that (beyond manufacturing and shipping of the equipment). Solar starts to make sense when you scale it up. 👆 Our factory recently (after I retired) installed $7M in solar panels on the roof. I need to ask what percentage of the power bill is off-set by them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 9 hours ago, Larsongs said: Summers here in the Palm Springs area are in the 100-118 range. My Electric bill for July was about $900.00 & in August after raising the Thermostat it was almost $700.00. I called our Utility Co. & asked if I could install a Solar System with a Back up Battery. And have it set up with a Control that enables me to go off their grid if there is a Power outage. That way I can run totally on Solar & my back up battery if needed. They said, no. There have been Power outages this Summer. Luckily not us. But, those with Solar suffered the Power outages along with people without Solar. It’s caused one Solar Co. to close down their business. They were the Panel supplier to another big Co. called Renova who was the Installer. Now Renova has fulrloughed their employees & have shut down until they can get a new Supplier. Now the 2 biggest Solar Companies are closed down. Smells fishy! When my power goes out, my solar system quits working. They don’t want solar systems pumping juice into the grid when their workers have to be working on the lines. Now the generator is set so it closes off the backwards feed so no power from my house goes back into the grid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 14 minutes ago, rct said: It is like that here too, yes. Your taxes won't go down. Surprise, the superintendent of schools probably got a nice raise, and the district motor pool got some nice new rides, you know, the stuff they couldn't afford when they had them big electric bills. rct Speaking of that…..Oakland Unified School District, (one of the poorest performing districts in the nation, with HORRIBLE classrooms, and you could swing a dead can and not hit a student who is proficient up to their grade level), just bought a 100% fleet of Electric School Buses! I’ll bet some of that money could have helped bring up the academic scores, (which is what school’s TOP priority ought to be). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 (edited) From what I’ve been reading, supposedly, a Solar system can have a switch that takes you on & off the Grid. That may not be the case anymore in Ca. after Gov’t & Utility Companies have become involved. It’s Sunny here in Palm Springs, Ca. almost everyday of the year. If I ever get Solar & a back up battery I’d own it. Ideally, I don’t want to be affiliated with the Grid 100%. I’ll use the minimum from my Power Co. & Solar for as much as possible. I’m happy to give back Electricity to them to reduce my Utility bill & help create more Solar power for them & others. I just want the choice to go off Grid during Power outages. The Sun stays on regardless. But, I don’t think that’s possible anymore in Ca. Edited September 5 by Larsongs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil OKeefe Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 15 hours ago, rct said: Do all of you peoples in California own your solar systems or lease them? rct I purchased mine from a company called Sunlux. It's a 5kW system with 16 Panasonic panels. I'm in a great area for solar since I have a south facing roof and we get about 350 days of sunshine a year here, and nothing (other than the occasional cloud) ever shadows my roof. In the summer, the system produces between 30-35 kWh a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil OKeefe Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 California is now mandating solar panels for all new residential construction, which sounds fine on the face of it, but for someone living in, say, the San Bernardino mountains (I'm on the desert side in the foothills) with lots of pine trees around them (we have some, but none that shadow our roof), it would make a lot less sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil OKeefe Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 38 minutes ago, Larsongs said: From what I’ve been reading, supposedly, a Solar system can have a switch that takes you on & off the Grid. That may not be the case anymore in Ca. after Gov’t & Utility Companies have become involved. I have a switch, but the system is currently configured so that if the power goes down, everything switches off automatically so that the Edison electrical lines aren't powered via my system sending power to the grid while they're trying to work on them. If I had batteries, the switching would automatically switch to the batteries (sending or pulling power to/from them, as needed) instead whenever the grid goes down. So yes, you can be connected to the grid and avoid power outages, but in order to do that, you must have the panels and battery, not just the solar panels. The question for me is, is it worth another ~$20k (about what I paid for the panels) to put in a couple of Tesla Powerwalls? I'm still debating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 1 hour ago, Phil OKeefe said: I have a switch, but the system is currently configured so that if the power goes down, everything switches off automatically so that the Edison electrical lines aren't powered via my system sending power to the grid while they're trying to work on them. If I had batteries, the switching would automatically switch to the batteries (sending or pulling power to/from them, as needed) instead whenever the grid goes down. So yes, you can be connected to the grid and avoid power outages, but in order to do that, you must have the panels and battery, not just the solar panels. The question for me is, is it worth another ~$20k (about what I paid for the panels) to put in a couple of Tesla Powerwalls? I'm still debating it. If it can automatically switch to battery that’s a positive for me. People I’ve talked with that have Solar say the Installers never mentioned back up batteries? Which sounds odd as it’s another profit center? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil OKeefe Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 2 hours ago, Larsongs said: If it can automatically switch to battery that’s a positive for me. People I’ve talked with that have Solar say the Installers never mentioned back up batteries? Which sounds odd as it’s another profit center? When I was specifying what I wanted for my solar system, I requested that it be compatible with future battery installation so I could run off-grid in the future once storage technology/capacity catches up and goes down in price. I have no idea why the salespeople don't mention it sometimes since, as you mentioned, it's another product that their companies can profit from. Only one of the five companies that submitted estimates ever bothered to mention batteries to us at all before I brought it up, and that was Sunlux, and all of their systems are designed for easy backup battery addition when they are installed, or at a later date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 13 hours ago, Ceptorman said: Where are you moving to? Oahu, Hawaii. I can grow mangos and avocados and get an assignment to teach at Trippler Army Med Center. Really feels like the change I need. 9 hours ago, 'Scales said: ‘tis. Best to you as always Phillip. Go well mate. Thanks so much. My sister in Melbourne turns 75 next year and I am planning to visit and also do some traveling around. Would love to jam if even a possibility. 14 hours ago, rct said: Good luck with it. You've been through a lot, I hope you can find a good place to be in all kindsa ways. rct Thanks Rotator Cuff (private joke). Sincerely appreciated. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.