5 Things Homeowners Regret After Buying Solar for Home

[@TexasNightRider]

Still watching videos on solar even after recently having a whole house 38kw Kohler generator installed. So far no regrets but I still find these videos interesting.

[@martinholden8480]

My biggest regret with going solar was that once my power bill was gone I then wanted to plug a lot of other things into my solar system as it was now free power and my system was just to small to run them all, so more panels and inverters, then even more batteries and it just went on from there, now I have a complicated system but it still works very well indeed, I guess that I have been lucky??????? Still the best investment of my life, no ever increasing power bills makes retirement a whole lot better!!!!!!!!!

[@AzrethK9]

3. Putting more panels than needed today on the roof usually don't change the time the system pays of, but the system is much more future proof and can charge the battery in winter too.

[@lownow7640]

Good video! A few other things most people don't realize: 1) Unless you include a battery in your system purchase, your home won't have power if the utility goes down, even on a bright sunny day. 2) If you buy 10,000 watts of panels, you're likely to get only about 7,000 to 8,000 of that in actual use, and that's in peak full sun. 3) Solar panels are extremely sensitive to shading. If you have trees or other obstructions that will shadow even one panel of your system, the total output will suffer much more than you would expect.

[@jackthesolarguy]

Those are all great points

[@GerbenWulff]

There are some solutions where a system without battery can supply the house with power during blackouts (if there is sufficient sunshine). It's not common, but it does exist.

[@BigGuy8059]

I designed and installed my own 5 KW array and grid-tied inverter, and did it early enough to get the tax rebates and a good net-metering deal. My wife and I are retired now, with no kids so our needs are unlikely to change much. So we don't have any of the regrets you listed. Our inverter actually gives us 1200 watts if the sun is shining and the grid goes down, so we could keep the fridge and freezer happy for an extended outage so we don't really need batteries. By the time our power utility cancels our net metering deal, I plan on buying sodium batteries. We have plenty of room, so their size won't matter. We live in Southern California, so 5 KW is enough for our needs: We are all-electric, even heating, AC, and water heating. Never had an electric bill since we installed it.

[@tonyprynne3945]

I guess most people will be putting panels on fairly new houses, but if you are considering SP for an older house having an assessment of likely life of the roof structure must be number 1 priority.

[@cristiancucu4100]

i dont know what to say man , i am a heavy fan of of grid systems .... the only bad side to that are the battery prices wich are actually going lower and lower .... you have to see the system in steps : first the big charger - panels + mppt + cables (i dont see overpaneling as a bad thing , it helps with clouds and shades) ; second is storage (battery) if you are not using pomps and such you dont need more then 20 kwh of battery capacity but if you do then you will need i would think about 60 kwh but you will go bigger if you want air conditioner ; and third is the invertor and it depends on where you live you may need an invertor for 120 or 240 ac exit voltage and if it is US for example 120 (more expensive electric instalations - lower voltage higher amperage -you peeps in US do like to make your lifes more expensive, hi hi) ....... you can update your your dc instalation litle bi litle (a few more panels and an mppt and cables and you expanded a bit ) and use it as a supliment in wich you get your consumator one bi one out of the grid and when your solar is as big as you like you go completly of grid , it is how i done it and had no problems .... i do recomand big mppt and big battery from the start ,the battery will be a big efort ...... sory for bad english , i am not an english man

[@callmebigpapa]

What I regret is not going solar 10 years ago. The system would have paid for itself 2x over by now.

[@HomesteadEngineering]

Good points

[@jackthesolarguy]

Thanks

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

PV panels shade your roof from heat build up in the hot months. Air-condition load reduced. 😊😊

[@ClubhouseGardens]

I read a lease contract after I signed it and could not cancel it quickly enough. These leases are set up for the benefit of the company. The other horrific thing is the financial health of the lease companies would not be approved for the same leases that you as the customer need to meet. Their financial metrics are so over leveraged that most people will be stuck making payments on a bankrupt company and will no longer have the support if something goes wrong with the system. I ended up buying a system instead from a great local contractor.

[@peteroffpist1621]

Correct analysis, did buy and pay my 64 panels 2013. This year I hope to buy a battery to add on. I have east, south and west faced panels. If you build a new house the Tesla solar roof is the way to go. But for the rest of us the panels these days are so cheap just add some extra panels and inverters the sherry on the cake is a battery. But warranty is no worries, never heard of some under warranty broken panels or inverters. Should last 50 years even if efficiency will drop a bit.

[@jackthesolarguy]

👍🏽

[@jaysway007]

Great video, I’m a diy guy that needs to figure out the best placement for my ground mount in my back yard that will gather the most sun. Is there a free site that I can use to figure this out on my own?

[@jackthesolarguy]

Google Sunroof and PVWatts may be able to provide some information. Otherwise, if that does not provide enough information and if you are going to do it yourself, you can go on Fiverr or Upwork and buy an Aurora design.

[@BigGuy8059]

Mine is pretty optimal: South and just a bit Southwest. You would get the most power from due South, but I have a time-of-day net metering plan with electricity more expensive from 4 to 9 PM. So my placement earns me a bit more credit in the summer late afternoons.

[@mickkaylor]

Plenty of Lease options with no escalation.

[@hmspain52]

I think putting solar on an older roof should make the list.

[@b4804514]

Yes and that the solar install voids the roof warranty

[@HB-yq8gy]

I’m in the same situation now. My roof is 19 years old but it looks a lot younger lifetime GAF timberline ultra shingles. I got a quote from an independent roofing company not a SOLAR COMPANY and he recommend to replace the roof only that section where the solar panels which is about 10 squares of roofing material cost about $4500. Using the timberline HD Z 25 year shingle. Watch out these solar companies they all will install panels on a roof. They don’t care what condition it is as long as it’s not leaking. they put that in the contract they’re not responsible for roof shingle replacement, torn shingles, missing shingles, wear, and tear. only leaks so all they’re gonna do is patch it up with some sealant product. The cover you for 25 years parts of labor, workmanship, roof penetration and leaks. So basically you’re gonna need a new roof so it’s better to do it now my opinion. Solar Energy World offers roof replacement and panel removal and installation guarantee after 10 years you could use any own roofer. Infinity Solar system offers 25 year roof replacement if you use their roofer and they will remove it and reinstall the hardware system for the panels.

[@FirmIntegritySolar]

Hey man, love your videos. Have you actually come across a REAL scenario of 'fair-market-appraisal lease buyout' being "inflated"? I am asking genuinely. We HEAR a lot of talk in the solar industry and most people are bias in one direction... The only person I've ever come across who bought out their system from Sunrun in San Diego when they purchased their home got a very fair buyout price. I believe the system was less than 5 years old, roughly 5 kW and they paid

[@jackthesolarguy]

From the lease contracts which I have seen, in my experience the buyout price after year 5 is generally equivalent to what the homeowner would have been able to pay for the system cash in year one. I was not able to show too much information from what I found from online contracts, but Reddit has some good data on this.

[@FirmIntegritySolar]

@@jackthesolarguy Nice. I find it very rare that I come across them myself. From the research I've done, the Solar company will work with you to find a contractor to appraise the system for it's "fair market value", then they deduct the 30% tax credit (that you did not get) and the remainder will be your "Buyout Price". (This is the experience of the ONE real person I encountered who did it) Most people who argue against leases will knowingly mention the "Pre-Payment-Purchase-Price" rather than F.M.V. price in order to create some separation from competitors who are offering leases. At the end of the day, perhaps we can agree that ALL METHODS of investing in solar energy REQUIRE A DEEP ASSESSMENT of needs/wants, risk/reward, and a WELL-THOUGHT decision that considers ALL contributing factors. Do not rush into a contract. Purchase, Lease, PPA, Cash... They all have the potential to be really great or really NOT. The Integrity of the person representing their company could not be MORE CRUCIAL! I pray the solar industry continues to mature. Thanks for the video, bro! You're a boss. I can tell you truly care about your clients.

[@michaelmammoth1010]

I regret buying a solaredge inverter instead of solarark. It's been nothing but trouble and nothing is user-serviceable. I'm almost at the point of taking the L and scrapping the solaredge inverter and paying for a new SolarArk inverter out of pocket.

[@jackthesolarguy]

Sol-Ark is a great product.

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

Vehicles have 2 jobs, the long drive and 100s of daily drives. Parked 23hrs every day and all night your BV, battery vehicles, has a massive oversized battery, oversized for that daily drive. Its UTILIZATION when parked as a massive supply of electricity or storage of electricity will be a massive feature. 😳 V2G, V2Home, V2Building, feature will mean that the national electrical grid will not be needed. Sadly for this $TRILLIONS grid infrastructure. Death by cashflow drought. Governments will fight back. Investment interests will fight back. Superannuation funds will fight back. Fossil fuels will fight back. The DARK SIDE OF SOLAR 😮😮😮😮 Selfplug-in at every building carpark space will also be an ezi pezi feature. Home robotic vacuum cleaner for example. Trickle currents all day long and all night long. 😊😊😊😊 Buildings with PV panel roof shading in a warmer climate will be a feature of all buildings. 😊😊😊😊

[@callmebigpapa]

Dont forget the they expect personal car ownership to fall by 35% due to Transport as a Service

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

@@callmebigpapa good comment. Too many do not think.

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

@callmebigpapa BVs are cheaper than grid electricity infrastructure. BVs, are big oversized batteries on wheels. My feed-in 5cents kWh, supply is 50cents kWh. Grid infrastructure makes dirt cheap electricity expensive and makes up only 15% of energy used in Australia. Australia needs more dirt cheap electricity and the grid can not do it. The Australian grid replacement value is $TRILLIONS. 7 times more grid is insane economically. With bigger customer generated dirt cheap electricity and storage, grid electricity will not be needed. Grid's death by lack of cashflow.

[@callmebigpapa]

@@stephenbrickwood1602 Been following you guys via The Electric Viking

[@mrdenson3101]

💙

[@steverturnsk6190]

The BIGGEST misinformation (lie?) in the industry is the rated watts of panels. I have pieced my own system together using flooded lead acid batteries, three different inverters (one dedicated to heat a hot water tank only), 60 or so solar panels of 8 different types and 10 individual victron charge controllers. I do not use grid tie inverters. I have tested EVERY individual solar panel on an Ecoflow battery/inverter at noon during the summer in N. CA. propped up on a sawhorse exactly 90 degrees to the sun. Not one panel has produced more than 70% of it's rated capacity, and that is only for a couple of hours a day. PG$E in CA limits the amount of solar one can have to 110% of average yearly usage and who knows what panel wattage they use for the calculations. 6 years ago I actually signed up for a grid tie system at $30K, then that night I realized that it would take me 17 years for it to pay for itself if I paid cash, with no battery backup. I cancelled the contract the next morning. In N CA we get PG$E outages averaging two weeks total a year, mostly due to snow and winds that bring trees down across power lines. Also for a few days here and there to shut down the power in order to decrease the wildfire issues during the fall. Another issue that is not spoken (it is rare) if a lithium battery goes into a thermal runaway fire state, the fire cannot be put out but must burn itself out; and your house with it. Lead acid batteries do not have thermal runaway moments. I am 90% off grid and use PG$E mainly for air conditioning from 7pm to 8:30 pm after the sun sets. I also use the PG$E grid while using my welder and air compressor. I have a bank of manual transfer switches between the grid, my inverters and the house circuits. I live on 13 acres, half of the panels are on stilts on a hill facing west for the afternoon air conditioning. CA is not humid., so the AC is run only 7 hours a day. I am a retired marine engineer and am not bothered by operating the switches.

[@callmebigpapa]

Wait....so you are saying " PG$E in CA limits the amount of solar one can have to 110% of average yearly usage" ....like if you use say 10kwh a day you cant have more than 110% of that number? If that is true that is crazy. In Florida I generate a Gigawatt in my backyard If I want and no one cares.

[@BigGuy8059]

I suspect he means the power utility limits how many watts of panels you can have grid-tied. Nobody can limit how many panels you can have not grid-tied.

[@disneymike3311]

Has anyone used this guy? solar pros? Seems very reputable.