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If solar panels are so good why is it that in the state of Florida only 3% of homes have them?
Solar Panels for house
- Thread starter Chevelle3221
- Start date
Who removes the panels when you must get a new roof? Or when you must fix a leak?
Just wondering.
Just wondering.
Hurricanes and solar panels seem like a swell combination to me.
Maybe because they're not cheap, can cause roof problems, especially in a state that gets a lot of rain and storms producing a lot of wind. IIRC they drive the cost of HO insurance up too. When we were house hunting in Florida we looked at a couple of resale houses with solar panels on the roof. We would have had to take over the lease, which wasn't cheap. When I factored in the cost of the lease for the solar panels and what I would have to pay for electric not coming from solar it made zero sense to me. Maybe the 97% of houses in Florida that don't have solar panels did the math too. Don't forget a roof in Florida has about a 12-15 year live expectancy, which means those solar panels have to come off to do a roof job, then go back on, that costs a lot more. Would you put 15 year old solar panels back on to a new roof? I wouldn't, so add that cost of new solar panels to a roof job too. Flame suit on. Having said that maybe the 3% of people with them got a fantastic deal. and saw value, I saw no value at all. Bottom line do your homework.
and hail storms
Lots of reasons.
Is electricity cheap?
Is the utility solar friendly?
Either one of those can simply make it not worth it.
Is the roof suitable? If the roof is terracotta that can more than double the install labor cost.
If the roof is trashed and a new roof is needed before panels go on, few people can afford solar panels on top of a new roof.
Can the structure handle panels? Every thousand watts adds around 100lb to the roof if the house is structurally deficient that could be a total new roof trusses and all and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Extreme weather panels and racks weigh at least 25% more than standard racks and panels.
Is the current electric service suitable?
An obsolete, overloaded panel or bad wiring can add $5,000 to $10,000 to the cost making it not worth it.
Is the roof south facing?
Is there a tree or something that doesn't belong to you blocking the sun?
Got trees that need to come down? Each high risk tree can cost thousands to bring down. More money.
Got a stupid HOA that won't allow solar panels?
Got good credit? Bad credit can easily double your loan payments.
Rent? Almost no one's going to put solar on a rental.
So according to marketing firms who spent S loads of money to figure out how many homes are suitable for solar panels it's a third or less.
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I have lost 4 out of 30 panels to hail in 4 years. I'm going to replace the busted ones with extreme weather panels that have 4mm glass. Current panels are made with typical 3mm glass.
And development hail countermeasures.
Mine already survived 100mph winds. Code is to withstand 120mph winds. That's not even "extreme weather" rated.
It happens.
As @demarpaint says, do the math. In my case, the math was a big fat no brainier. High CA energy costs, 330+ days of sunshine and NEM2 gave me a 5 to 7 year ROI, which I am way beyond. So I probably pay about $10 per month, no more than $20, for the house and EV. I did ask for more production than recommended, because I sure as heck did not want to be paying a big PG&E bill on top of the solar project. I knew I would be retiring soon and would use the AC, etc. By the way, leasing is generally the worst way to go solar.
My panels are guaranteed for 20 years, hail and wind to 120 mph or something like that. I did a roof at the same time, because you don't want to remove and replace the solar components. I got a 30% tax credit on the project.
NEM2 is Net Metering 2, or the 2nd iteration of Net Metering. I get like 40 cents per kWh for production. NEM2 has been replaced by NEM3, which pays wholesale, so the benefit of solar around here has been lessened dramatically.
I considered solar for 5 years and did my homework. Make sure you know what you are getting, the quality of components, warranty, etc. Costco Sunrun was very helpful and very good, but they did not ultimately earn my business. A couple of years ago I asked @OVERKILL to review my system; he gave it a thumbs up.
I will be saving many thousands of $$ over the next 15 years or so. I love my solar and it works for my use case. Especially with an EV and the rising costs of electricity around here. But as the man says, do the math; your use case will surely be different from mine. If so few Floridians have solar, there must be a reason for it.
Good luck.
My panels are guaranteed for 20 years, hail and wind to 120 mph or something like that. I did a roof at the same time, because you don't want to remove and replace the solar components. I got a 30% tax credit on the project.
NEM2 is Net Metering 2, or the 2nd iteration of Net Metering. I get like 40 cents per kWh for production. NEM2 has been replaced by NEM3, which pays wholesale, so the benefit of solar around here has been lessened dramatically.
I considered solar for 5 years and did my homework. Make sure you know what you are getting, the quality of components, warranty, etc. Costco Sunrun was very helpful and very good, but they did not ultimately earn my business. A couple of years ago I asked @OVERKILL to review my system; he gave it a thumbs up.
I will be saving many thousands of $$ over the next 15 years or so. I love my solar and it works for my use case. Especially with an EV and the rising costs of electricity around here. But as the man says, do the math; your use case will surely be different from mine. If so few Floridians have solar, there must be a reason for it.
Good luck.
Kansas gets more sunshine than Florida.
True story.
True story.
Yeah Florida gets thunderstorms almost daily during the summer. Been there done that.
Jupiter, FL gets 4.7 hours of solar insolation per day, annualized. The number used for general planning.
FPL buys back the power at less than the going rate, and the rate for future approvals will be 50%. Max system size 115% of use. So you will not be able to have a $0 electric bill, 43% of normal will be as low as allowed.
Although not exactly cost competitive with grid power, it is now possible (in many locations) to semi-affordably run 'Off Grid' with a Solar/Battery/Inverter system.
FPL buys back the power at less than the going rate, and the rate for future approvals will be 50%. Max system size 115% of use. So you will not be able to have a $0 electric bill, 43% of normal will be as low as allowed.
Although not exactly cost competitive with grid power, it is now possible (in many locations) to semi-affordably run 'Off Grid' with a Solar/Battery/Inverter system.
Is the company that sold/installed the panels still in business?
Individuals owning solar doesn't make financial sense in very many places at all. In the places that have large installations it was typically subsidized, such as in California. I presume Florida never did that.
There are some decent size solar farms going into Florida. Those likely make more sense - for the utility to own them and install them in more of an industrial scale - more efficient. https://www.theledger.com/story/new...r-florida-polytechnic-university/71959601007/
Hail is also a lot more common in Florida than people think, so thats possibly part of it too?
There are some decent size solar farms going into Florida. Those likely make more sense - for the utility to own them and install them in more of an industrial scale - more efficient. https://www.theledger.com/story/new...r-florida-polytechnic-university/71959601007/
Hail is also a lot more common in Florida than people think, so thats possibly part of it too?
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Turns out, they really aren't the "Sunshine State".
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
Yeah - also seeing a few new developments that build a right sized solar farm - and that gets baked into the community fees etc …
The more solar panels are installed, the more electricity will cost. It’s that simple.
It actually depends. With the way EVs and AIs soaking up all the excess electricity, there may not be a duck curve soon and all the extra electricity would be used, eventually, instead of having near negative electricity during mid day and then almost not enough during early evening to ramp up fossil fuel plants.
Las Vegas has a lot of solar panels and cheap electricity. A company I used to work for move its data center to Vegas because of that.
Many realize they will die long before reaching their ROI.
