Solar power in TX

This was i project I promised to do in a now dead thread....

so, I checked on home solar power in TX. South of Houston

$33,008 install price
$24,426.00 after federal credit
20 LG375 solar panels. 9215 kw hours per year.

36% power savings estimate

my bill avg's $300/mth

that's an 18yr ROI. not even factoring in cost of money.

This does not factor in the grief, pain & suffering of having to convince the wife to put ugly ass panel on the roof.

in short - no thanks.

 

18.85 years to pay off, and that is not factoring in inflation. That is not good Enough for me. I could invest that 24K and make Much More a month on avg than the $108 in savings. Luck deciding.

 

Most solar panels degrade by 1% per year. So after 20yrs you lose 20% or more of solar power. Depending where you live, you might not save any money. In California the price of electricity is high. My average electric bill in my old house ran between $200/$300 per month on a 1600sqft home, all electric. The same size home in Nevada, runs about $45/$55 per month for electric and $35/$55 for natural Gas.. So having solar in most parts of California make more sense.

 

yea, the ROI is not good - unless you sell back to the grid.

 

That’s about what I’ve seen… eventually if energy prices skyrocket that payback period could come down, but solar should also be getting cheaper over time and battery tech improving. I’ll let others be the early adopters there.

 

So, instead of having a massive solar system, I want to make a solar system that can power the well and some lights. After the big freeze in Houston this past winter, I don’t want to be without water for us and the horses ever again

 

A good 10k/15k home backup generator installed cost about $5,000. A lot cheaper then $24,000. Go natural gas or propane.

 

Current house came with older solar panels installed (no cost to me and I do not have to pay on them, do not know if prior owner paid them off or if they are still paying). Yes they help some but we still have an energy bill. Seeing how much a new system would cost just makes no sense... as already addressed, it will take way too long to recoup the costs. Definitely not something that makes sense unless you plan to hand the house down to a family member to keep it for many many years. With most people moving every ~10 years (or so it seems) this doesn't seem to be a benefit.

 

I bought a motorcycle instead of the diesel jetta i should have bought, but my plan is to spin a 15kw pto generator.

 

I'll 2nd this.

I have 20KW Standby Briggs & Stratton Nat Gas.

would not have a house without one.


Biz partner has the Propane setup - he lives up in God's country near Jasper.

 

sell back to grid? It does not produce enough KW to do so.

in short, Solar is an expensive grift.

if my power went out....the solar would not be available!!! it does not work that way. it only works when utility is avail.

hence, the absolute beauty of my 20kw nat gas standby.

 

What does that Texas hail do to the solar panels?

 

I imagine nothing nice.

I had my roof replaced last year do to hail damage.

Hail damaged asphalt shingles!!!

 

The answer is to have solar on your boondocking rig parked in the driveway and the battery bank for some selectable house circuits close to where the boondocking trailer is parked. No ugly panels on the house, no city permits, no big electric bill. Yeah, I get creative and find ways!

 

I think he was referring to Tesla's system with the power wall. This allows you to produce when sun is out and sell back during peak hours, but obviously this system costs even more.

 

Just had my shingles replaced and exterior of chimney rebuilt since the hail did a number on them. No visible damage to the solar panels.

 

I've worked at two companies where I participated in projects to sell solar-generated electric back to the grid (after powering our building). Yes, there are a shit-ton of panels, and the ROI was 20-30 years...which companies do not want to hear.

 

thanks for the validation.

20 yr ROI...I can't think of an asset I would INVEST in that had that.

 

in AZ here, before solar panels, summer bill was hitting $400-500 a month, trying to keep the house at 79 degrees (2600sq ft, single story). Neighbor with 2 stories (3000+ sq ft) was looking at over $600+ a month, keeping it at 78. I have a friend with one story keeping his house at 70 degrees and his bill was INSANE. I got solar panels 2 years ago, a 10kw system, 32 panels. This past summer, I kept the house at 77 and our bill was under $150 for 3 of the hottest months, march - june was pretty much credit. This is along with charging a tesla model 3 every other day. Overall $$ put toward electricity usage Oct '20 to Oct '21, was under 700$, $655.71 to be exact.

so prior, for 5 months of the year, I was spending $2500 to keep my house cool. net saving of $1800. my payback period is 10 years with the setup I have. The panels are suppose to last 20 years with a 25 years warranty. As for the ugliness of the panels, I'm not on my roof to see it except that it is constantly generating power, selling it back to the grid, and netting me credit.