Questions about solar power installation
January 26, 2022 10:44 AM Subscribe
Need advice, cautions, tips and tricks from those of you who have had a solar power system installed at your home.
Complete solar newbie here. Considering a home solar system installation. Need advice from those of you have have done this so I don't make avoidable mistakes out of ignorance. I am also doing lots of reading but it is always helpful to have input from those who have gone through it. Thanks.
Complete solar newbie here. Considering a home solar system installation. Need advice from those of you have have done this so I don't make avoidable mistakes out of ignorance. I am also doing lots of reading but it is always helpful to have input from those who have gone through it. Thanks.
If you need to replace your roof soon, do that BEFORE the panels go on.
posted by Drosera at 11:57 AM on January 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Drosera at 11:57 AM on January 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
This does seem very broad, and I think good specific advice will depend on how involved you're going to be in your installation.
You can read about what other people did on the solar subreddit and this company has a great section where people are interviewed about what it was like to install.
posted by moons in june at 11:58 AM on January 26, 2022
You can read about what other people did on the solar subreddit and this company has a great section where people are interviewed about what it was like to install.
posted by moons in june at 11:58 AM on January 26, 2022
We have 37 panels on our roof. Each with their own micro-converter. But, it appears we cannot easily run that through a battery storage, (like a Tesla Powerwall battery), before it goes out on the net meter. We've had it for a long time, so the tech has likely changed. (We also have a solar water heater thing going on, which has gotten harder and harder to maintain, as these days it's pointless).
posted by Windopaene at 12:16 PM on January 26, 2022
posted by Windopaene at 12:16 PM on January 26, 2022
When you get quotes, be aware of who you are talking to. Sometimes it a sales/quote person, sometimes the owner or foreman and depending on the size of the company, the owner may or may not be the one doing the work. Sales people are better at explaining but we got a better quote and better system from the company where the owner came out to do the quote for us.
posted by metahawk at 12:16 PM on January 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by metahawk at 12:16 PM on January 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you need to replace your roof soon, do that BEFORE the panels go on.
The caveat to this is that there are some roof replacement costs that can probably qualify for the solar tax credit, which is a huge deal. Guidance is very unclear, but almost certainly things like reinforcing the roof to support the panels would count. So while you should absolutely replace the roof before the panels go on, it may make sense to couple the process together somewhat depending on what you need done.
Depending on where you are the system may be grid tied or not. Get a clear description of what happens when the power goes out, and if you have a battery where it would go.
Ask if the solar company has ever dealt with the local zoning board or whoever approves permits and installations.
For our system and use, it made sense to go to 'time of use' electrical billing. Instead of paying a flat rate for all hours, we pay a huge amount for summer peak, nearly nothing for overnight usage, and a medium amount for non-summer daytime. Because our system can produce basically everything that we need during summer daytime, we don't actually pay anything for the 'peak' charge, but have dirt cheap electricity for overnight electric car charging and powering the air source heat pump. This isn't something you should do up front, but make sure your system comes with good monitoring so you can make decisions about whether it would be worth doing. On that note, I would also ask them to install a home energy monitor in your main box while they are in there to connect the solar. Installed properly it can measure your usage, solar production, and net consumption from/to the grid in real-time. I don't have that particular one but it's really helpful to have in addition to the often clunky solar company monitoring. Just make sure you get one that has two sets of two monitors - if you only have one set you can't monitor all of those things.
posted by true at 12:43 PM on January 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
The caveat to this is that there are some roof replacement costs that can probably qualify for the solar tax credit, which is a huge deal. Guidance is very unclear, but almost certainly things like reinforcing the roof to support the panels would count. So while you should absolutely replace the roof before the panels go on, it may make sense to couple the process together somewhat depending on what you need done.
Depending on where you are the system may be grid tied or not. Get a clear description of what happens when the power goes out, and if you have a battery where it would go.
Ask if the solar company has ever dealt with the local zoning board or whoever approves permits and installations.
For our system and use, it made sense to go to 'time of use' electrical billing. Instead of paying a flat rate for all hours, we pay a huge amount for summer peak, nearly nothing for overnight usage, and a medium amount for non-summer daytime. Because our system can produce basically everything that we need during summer daytime, we don't actually pay anything for the 'peak' charge, but have dirt cheap electricity for overnight electric car charging and powering the air source heat pump. This isn't something you should do up front, but make sure your system comes with good monitoring so you can make decisions about whether it would be worth doing. On that note, I would also ask them to install a home energy monitor in your main box while they are in there to connect the solar. Installed properly it can measure your usage, solar production, and net consumption from/to the grid in real-time. I don't have that particular one but it's really helpful to have in addition to the often clunky solar company monitoring. Just make sure you get one that has two sets of two monitors - if you only have one set you can't monitor all of those things.
posted by true at 12:43 PM on January 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
If possible, make sure you own the equipment. Find a local installer who will sell you the equipment and do the installation. Don't trust anyone who wants to become your electricity provider or who makes you sign a long term contract.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:58 PM on January 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:58 PM on January 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
I got solar panels on my roof in 2016. It was one of a number of home improvements, including seismic retrofit, replacing the roof, and several energy efficiency upgrades. We started by applying for a rebate on the seismic retrofit from an organization (now) called Enhabit that promotes the seismic and energy upgrades. They fixed us up with a contractor who could do all the work, helped with the tax rebates, and did a final inspection to make sure it was all up to spec. If I was to do it all over again, I'd still want Enhabit to be overseeing the process. If you aren't within their region, then perhaps there is a similar organization you can call upon.
posted by polecat at 1:23 PM on January 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by polecat at 1:23 PM on January 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Reminder if you are grid-tied: if you don’t have a battery system, you will lose power when the grid goes down — the solar array will not power your house unless the grid is up. This may appear to be an irritation, but it’s necessary to avoid electrocuting linemen when they’re trying to repair the grid and the sun comes out so everyone’s panels start pumping power into the grid.
posted by aramaic at 2:19 PM on January 26, 2022
posted by aramaic at 2:19 PM on January 26, 2022
It's a fair question but it's very broad so not sure how to answer. My recommendation is to read chapter 9 of the free book Electrify Everything in Your Home, it's a quick introduction to what to think about when adding solar to a home. (You can enter any email address in the download form and you get the PDF immediately.)
If you're in California be aware of the coming change to the much more expensive NEM 3.0 rate plan. It may still be possible to get in under NEM 2.0 but you need to move quickly. NEM 3.0 is still under negotiation.
posted by Nelson at 2:33 PM on January 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you're in California be aware of the coming change to the much more expensive NEM 3.0 rate plan. It may still be possible to get in under NEM 2.0 but you need to move quickly. NEM 3.0 is still under negotiation.
posted by Nelson at 2:33 PM on January 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
The size of your installation is likely to be limited by the amount of electricity your home has historically used. If you are intending to change that (say, getting an electric car to charge at home, or changing from gas appliances to electric) you will probably be better off doing those things first to get an accurate baseline including those needs.
posted by Sublimity at 5:01 PM on January 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Sublimity at 5:01 PM on January 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've watched the Matt Ferrell youtube channel, covering interesting science and tech with little hype.
He installed a solar roof and Tesla Powerwall in New England. He had lots of powerwall delays and annoying install/design problems. But it's working well now.
three of the videos:
Solar panels two years later
What you need to know before installing a Tesla powerwall
Smart electric panel upgrade, with interesting circuit by circuit control and monitoring.
posted by jjj606 at 6:53 PM on January 26, 2022
He installed a solar roof and Tesla Powerwall in New England. He had lots of powerwall delays and annoying install/design problems. But it's working well now.
three of the videos:
Solar panels two years later
What you need to know before installing a Tesla powerwall
Smart electric panel upgrade, with interesting circuit by circuit control and monitoring.
posted by jjj606 at 6:53 PM on January 26, 2022
The size of your installation is likely to be limited by the amount of electricity your home has historically used. If you are intending to change that (say, getting an electric car to charge at home, or changing from gas appliances to electric) you will probably be better off doing those things first to get an accurate baseline including those needs.
Really depends on your local laws and optimal timing for the price of the system net of credits. Around here, you would be allowed to build too many panels for your usage so long as they fit correctly on the roof, and you’d just lose your balance of net metering credits once a year. That makes it optimal to buy your system whenever state incentives make it cheapest, even if you’re not buying your electric car yet.
posted by michaelh at 10:32 PM on January 26, 2022
Really depends on your local laws and optimal timing for the price of the system net of credits. Around here, you would be allowed to build too many panels for your usage so long as they fit correctly on the roof, and you’d just lose your balance of net metering credits once a year. That makes it optimal to buy your system whenever state incentives make it cheapest, even if you’re not buying your electric car yet.
posted by michaelh at 10:32 PM on January 26, 2022
Be sure that your installer can legally install panels *and* connect them to your electrical system In Your Location. One of the three local installers we contacted for quotes came out to the house, said "I don't install in $YourMunicipality - I thought you were on the other side of X", got back in his truck and drove away.
What is your end desire? If you want backup power for when the grid goes down overnight, you need at least one battery. If you just want to lower your electrical bills, you don't. Depending on the installation, you *may* be able to route power from the panels into the household system if the grid goes down, but that will be highly dependent on the power handling system *and* local restrictions.
The only restriction we had on the size of our installation was the size of the roof wrt to the panels -- limiting array size to current usage is a thing that some installers do, but it's because of the way they're selling their systems. They sell a system that can be paid off in X years based on your current electricity bills. We didn't do that. We said "this is the space we have and this is the budget. What's the biggest system we can install?" We wound up buying our panels and equipment from a supplier in CA, and using a local solar contractor to do the final installation and connection.
posted by jlkr at 9:06 AM on January 27, 2022
What is your end desire? If you want backup power for when the grid goes down overnight, you need at least one battery. If you just want to lower your electrical bills, you don't. Depending on the installation, you *may* be able to route power from the panels into the household system if the grid goes down, but that will be highly dependent on the power handling system *and* local restrictions.
The only restriction we had on the size of our installation was the size of the roof wrt to the panels -- limiting array size to current usage is a thing that some installers do, but it's because of the way they're selling their systems. They sell a system that can be paid off in X years based on your current electricity bills. We didn't do that. We said "this is the space we have and this is the budget. What's the biggest system we can install?" We wound up buying our panels and equipment from a supplier in CA, and using a local solar contractor to do the final installation and connection.
posted by jlkr at 9:06 AM on January 27, 2022
Get multiple quotes. Ask questions about the brand of panels they use. Some panels degrade faster than others. Ask about reported for SRECs.
We looked at 3 different places and ended up picking a local installer (PVSquared for those in Western MA).
They have a monitoring app, but I wasn't impressed with it. Instead, we bought a Sense and had the solar installers install it at the same time. This gives full monitoring of the power usage and makes pretty good guessed as to what's using power.
In retrospect, I wish that I had pushed to get two more panels squeezed in, which would give us more days where power usage is net zero.
If you're in an area with lots of snow and have a more steeply pitched roof, ask about things to mitigate shedding. The panels shed a lot of snow and with wet snow it can damage things under it (like cars).
posted by plinth at 12:26 PM on January 28, 2022
We looked at 3 different places and ended up picking a local installer (PVSquared for those in Western MA).
They have a monitoring app, but I wasn't impressed with it. Instead, we bought a Sense and had the solar installers install it at the same time. This gives full monitoring of the power usage and makes pretty good guessed as to what's using power.
In retrospect, I wish that I had pushed to get two more panels squeezed in, which would give us more days where power usage is net zero.
If you're in an area with lots of snow and have a more steeply pitched roof, ask about things to mitigate shedding. The panels shed a lot of snow and with wet snow it can damage things under it (like cars).
posted by plinth at 12:26 PM on January 28, 2022
If there happens to be a Solarize program in your area (community-led group buy programs that run for short periods) then absolutely jump on it. Full stop. Many reasons.
Find your local group of solar nerds (maybe on Facebook), join that group, and wait for some to mention "Solarize".
posted by intermod at 8:18 PM on January 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Find your local group of solar nerds (maybe on Facebook), join that group, and wait for some to mention "Solarize".
posted by intermod at 8:18 PM on January 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks to all of you for thoughtful and helpful answers. I appreciate you taking the time as I try to educate myself about solar in all its permutations.
posted by Ginesthoi at 2:14 PM on February 6, 2022
posted by Ginesthoi at 2:14 PM on February 6, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by michaelh at 10:59 AM on January 26, 2022 [2 favorites]