The azgreg household is going solar.



Definitely worth it there.

And that reminds me, I've only heard 30 or so commercials from Peterson/Dean Solar 4 America this week. They are really slowing down lately. Then again, it is only the 2nd day of the week.

Tell us more! What was the cost to get started? Anticipated savings? Etc?

Where in the country are you?

    ZWExton
    We're in Phoenix. Cost us nothing to install. Me and the wife had two goals with solar. Lower our bill and zero hassle. We went with Vivint solar and choose the plan where they own the panels and we buy power from them. Currently we are on an equalizer plan with APS and pay $210 a month. With Vivint our bill will be $120 a month. We plan on moving after retirement in about 15 years and the financing on a system purchase didn't make sense.

        azgreg

        Do The panels power the entire house or does the company send power generated by other means?

            So you're saving $1,000 a year with no effort and no investment on your part... Sounds like a good deal to me!

            We also did a solar lease (we live in Manteca, Ca which is the Central Valley). The option we chose was to pay $1500 up front so the lease payment would stay the same the whole 20 years (otherwise, it would increase 1.6% each year). So we pay $134 per month to the lease company.

            We were paying a average of $250 per month to PG&E for electricity and since this got us out of the higher priced tiers, the power we use is a lower cost. We still pay PG&E but some months we only pay for gas and the highest bill we have had since we went solar (3+ years) was because of using gas+electric during the winter. The summer months with the A/C doesn't kill us anymore.

            I have a spreadsheet where I looked at it and have figured we have saved just over $1,000 a year.

            And after the lease ends (16 more on the lease), if we are still in the house, we can tell them to come get the panels and fix the roof. They likely won't want to do that since the cost of labor will probably be more than the panels are worth.

            Oh, one other good thing about the lease is that they monitor the output and will replace a panel if something happens to it (unlikely) or they will replace the inverter if needed (very likely in a 20 year span).

            I live in North Texas and have been interested in solar, but we've got an extremely efficient AC unit. In our 2,400sf home, even keeping the temp at 70 24/7, we've only ever had one electric bill over $300. Rarely over $220 in the hottest months, and it's under $40 in the spring and late fall. That includes a pool pump running daily!

            I don't think we use enough electricity to justify the jump to solar, but my mind is always open to it. The biggest part of our roof is wide open to the western sky so it seems like a prime location.

            Sounds like a good plan. I can't justify it with the options I've seen here, good deal for you!

            sdandrea1
            Yes they do. Sometimes they will generate excess power and that power will go back into the grid. I will use grid power at night and on days when the sun isn't shinning.

              4 days later

              We went with Solar City, had the install and everything in Feb. So far been really good, suppose to save us about $50 a month. We did the lease option also not knowing if we will still be here in 20 years. We already use less than our neighborhood, because we keep windows open and air off until it is really uncomfortable​.