Home solar salesmen?

[jb5001]

Agreed. What gets me is that HOAs seem to be very particular about everything else but solar panels get a free pass. If everything else has to adhere to the architectural guidelines, why don't these?

This right here. Ugly as sin.

[Gclyde28]

Agreed. What gets me is that HOAs seem to be very particular about everything else but solar panels get a free pass. If everything else has to adhere to the architectural guidelines, why don't these?

"Texas Property Code 202.010 states that HOAs are not allowed to include or enforce provisions within their regulations, covenants, or by-laws that prohibit or restrict homeowners from installing a solar energy device"

[Bayouboy]

My neighbor has them. It really fuglied up a two year old house.

[wes122984]

They are very cost effective if you build your own battery banks from harvested cells and install yourself. ROI under 2 years if done that way.

[fowlwaters]

They call me atleast 4 times a week

[91cavgt]

They call me atleast 4 times a week

Just tell them that you already live off grid. They will stop calling you.

[fowlwaters]

Just tell them that you already live off grid. They will stop calling you.

I tell them I am homeless

[RiverRat1]

We've priced it out for a bunch of our clients. From what we can tell, its probably about a breakeven cost at this point.

Significant costs up front that are offset in your electric bill for the next 25 or so years to save that money back. But from what we have been explained, the panel's efficiency degrades a small % yearly so you have to replace them after 25ish years so you start the cycle over again. The luxury homes we build value their architecture more than offsetting their energy costs so our clients don't typically elect to stick solar panels which look like crap on the top of the roof of their architecturally significant home.

I think Tesla is on to something with the solar roof but the lead time is so ridiculous that you can't work it into a schedule for new construction. I think they are catering more to re-roof applications at this point.

So absolute best case scenario is one breaks even after 20-25 years?

I get hit up by those guys at Home Depot every other trip. Lots of good talking points but in the end it just doesn't pay for itself at the current time. When it gets better I will start looking into it. I have been hoping those roof shingle style panels get better. Lots nicer look. But I know these saleman are successful because a lot of houses in my neighborhood have panels popping up on them.

Not just you Man.. but to everyone who says "pays for itself" or breakeven.. What exactly does that mean?

Are you running simply math like average electric bill is $200/month and after paying $24k (or whatever) the bill goes to $100/month. So $1,200 per year in savings. So breakeven is 20 years in the case?

$24k in the market..pretty much any market would net that much in gains easy. A lot more if leaving gains in the market for compound returns.

[twosixteens]

They just called me she hung up when I asked her what she was wearing.

[Still Hunter]

Looked at I stalling systems years ago. Average break even was 17 years. Not a product I felt the least bit ethical to sell to a client. Never pursued it further.

[Jtrage]

Funny to see this thread. I hadn’t had anyone knock on the door until after I read this. He was scared of my dog so that helped him understand that I wasn’t interested.


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[txwhitetail]

I haven’t seen any reputable folks advertise any returns under 15 years or so.


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[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I have heard that you can recoup your money faster if you have high electric bills, $300 or more per month.

I listened to one company’s spiel. You basically paid a monthly rate to their company for like 20 years. Additionally, if I was to sell the house the buyer would have to agree to take over the payments for the solar panels. When it was all said and done they said they could save me $13 per month. Wow, I can retire on that! The guy wanted me to give financial info to get me approved. He got a little pizzy when I told him no thanks. He thought he had a sale just because I listened to his presentation. The company had mixed reviews when I googled them.

[Preacher Man]

Short answer is no. Not worth it.

And they sometimes cause roof leaks.

And, in my area, they do not add value to your home.

And, they can cause problems when you sell your home.

And, they will likely not pay for themselves by the time most people decide to sell their homes.

Until the technology gets better, it’s a hard pass

[CentralTXHunter]

Let me elaborate on my previous post to help explain how we got to our residential paybacks.

Let’s say someone installed a 10kW system on your home and you paid them $20,000 to install it.

Let’s say your average electric bill is $200/month, so $2,400/ year.

This 10kW system will reduce your electric bill by 70% annually, so it will save you $1,680/year.

You live in Oncor territory and claimed the incentive they offer annually through a approved service provider. That incentive for 2021 can be up to $8,500 for a residential install. So let’s say they gave you $5,750.

Then, IF you have the tax liability, for installs in 2021, you can claim the federal tax credit for solar for 22% of your installation cost, or $4,400.

So after the first year, you’ve spent $20,000. Then you received $5,750 in Oncor incentive, reduced your tax liability by $4,400, and saved $1,680 on your electric bills. You’ve already recouped $11,830. It’ll take you another 5 years of electricity bill savings to cross your break even threshold, so approximately 6 years total.

Now if you finance that cost and aren’t able to capture the incentives and tax credits, then you absolutely are looking at a no win situation. However, it can be done.


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