Tesla Solar 1 year Review Cost and production numbers. Worth it?

[@DerekRhoads]

I just pulled the trigger on an Enphase 5P system with IQ8A and 15 REC 420W panels. If I still have to pay more than 10-20% of the bill after spending the money I did, I will come unglued. My ROI is about 8 years under NEM 3.0, which is a little higher than those under NEM 2.0.

[@ttabasso]

main calculation is how long will you stay in the home and how long will you live - w AI and other demands on grid along with gas prices for cars / inflation or God forbide hyperinflation - i think this is a great hedge for anyone in there 50s and want to stay put and age in place .... i am starting the process and this was a very helpful discussion thank you Rick

[@AZdroptop]

Thank you for your reply and I am no expert, but if you have any questions along the way I am happy to try and help. Agree with what you said here...Our main goal was the hedge against price increases and we do plan to stay in this house for the foreseeable future. I am wondering now that I have added a second Tesla if I should have added a few more panels into the design, but we shall see. Best of luck with your planning and install.

[@michaelweatherhead9470]

Thanks for the update Rick take care of yourself and family and be Blessed ❤️.

[@AZdroptop]

Thanks, you too Michael! Happy New Year.

[@weegeemike]

Great video, very descriptive. I've done the math several times over the years, and solar would coat me MORE than the average of what im paying the utility company. Even though my hone is fairly large at almost 2700sqft, i do my best to be smart and conserve energy. In the winter (Nov- March) my electric bill averages $100 or less. I can get some high bills in the summer running the AC (i live in a HOT climate in the CA San Joaquin valley) but the higheat ive ever had was $600. When i average it out my monthly electric only utility bill averages a little under $200. The cheapeat solar system contract i was offered was about $250 a month. With the rising cost of electricity from the utility, there might come a time when solar would save me money, but it hasn't gotten to that point yet.

[@AZdroptop]

It has gotten a bit better over the years as prices come down a bit, but it is still going to take me about 12 to 14 years to pay off my system. Then, I may be looking at repairs or decreased production... It is nice to have a bit of a hedge against utility prices going up but solar is still too expensive. Thanks for your post!

[@kevinmanan1304]

@@AZdroptop it’s cause they’re in California and the new net metering really screws with breakeven. When you’re producing peak energy hours PGE only gives you 1/4 the amount. Also as someone who does conserve energy my best breakeven was at 18 years UNLESS I run the math on my most expensive month x12 then it’ll still be 14 years. I’m getting solar to subsidize my current usage but to say I’ll make my money back is silly when there will be about 4 presidential elections between then and breakeven making my opportunity costs yield very low.

[@greenmeanie6161]

G’day from Australia, solar is extremely popular down here and with that we have a problem with Grid Voltage Power Reduction. Where by the inverter reduces the output to the grid because the voltage from the utility is too high usually over 250v we use 230v down under. So when it (GVPR) cuts in, which can range from seconds to hours we see the same in our bell curve. If the line voltage stays constantly high the inverter shuts down until such time as it is back in the ideal parameters. I run a Fronius inverter and PW2 and just over 5kw of solar.

[@AZdroptop]

Hello and thank you for taking the time to give such an understandable description of what may be going on with my system. I really appreciate it!

[@yro7465]

3:29

[@yro7465]

4:08 4: 4:40 4:57 24 4:08 4:08 4:08

[@yro7465]

5:26

[@yro7465]

6:06

[@whitehead1187]

It's pretty obvious energy costs are going up, especially in the UK under the new labour government. So i'm trying to figure out if solar is a worthwhile investment, it's hard to learn about it on KZbin without getting a tonne of electronic mumbo jumbo. Some of us just want to know if solar + powerwall will lower our bills and leave us with more money long term. Being powercut proof is also worth having. This video provided all of that and more. Fantastic attention to detail, delivered crystal clear. Brilliant Job Rick, thanks 👏

[@AZdroptop]

Thank you so much. Great to hear that it was helpful for you.

[@ErolEskinazi]

Thank you. I appreciate you making time to reply.

[@haroldsvoyage8912]

Thank you Rick. Your video helped especially the comparison. It would be interesting what's the effect during rainy months.

[@AZdroptop]

Thank you! I'll have to try and put something together looking at the production during our monsoon. Hard thing is even during rainy months we still get pretty good sun.

[@gerharddohne2518]

Great cost analysis - thank you! We just got a similar system installed this week. Two additional considerations of owning the Power Walls, which have some monetary impact are backup and UPS functionality. If I set myself up with a typically gas-powered backup system (e.g. Generac), it'll cost me at least $ 10K for a minimalist system (some outlets), and more like 20K for a whole house system. I would deduct that from the net cost at least if you live in an area where that is useful to necessary. Another advantage of the Powerwall is that it seamlessly goes into standby. This is a smaller saving, but not having your computer or networking equipment go out during an outage or even a brief "blip" typically requires the installation of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs). Decent consumer-grade ones are typically $100-200/PC or network location, or where you need it.

[@AZdroptop]

Thank you very much and good insight on the powerwalls. We do have minor outages during our monsoon season, but thankfully nothing long-term. To round off the year of production we system produced 867.8kWh in January, fairly cloudy around here, and 806.6kWh through February 24.

[@southbayproducts5371]

Great stuff Thank you Sir.

[@AZdroptop]

Thank you very much, great to hear that the info was helpful.

[@bladerunner1458]

My barn is metal and I’m wondering why they don’t like to put solar collectors on the metal building. I’ve decided to put my collectors in an open field underground, and I can crank the angle according to the seasons. Thanks for sharing.

[@AZdroptop]

I'm not really sure. I would have liked to put them on mine as well. Must just be the way they like to mount their panels I suppose. Good luck with your system.

[@hectorarcelus6602]

I am considering using Tesla Solar with two Powerwall 3. I look forward to your content to see how my system performance compared to yours. My home is in the Rio Rico area.

[@AZdroptop]

Very good. I hope it works well for you.

[@thekippers-r3c]

Electric cost will always be going ip😮

[@KevinWPruitt]

Hi Rick, and thanks for the update! Hope all has been well with you - have you done the math on the savings with charging your vehicles from solar (vs the cost of gas in an ICE vehicle)? Here in Ireland it is a HUGE savings...we have access to home chargers that take excess energy from solar and pump them into the ev (after our batteries are filled). Take good care!

[@AZdroptop]

Hi Kevin, thank you for watching along. We are doing great so far in 2024. :). Hope you are well also. Ireland is a place I would like to visit one day. I have not tried the "charge on solar" feature as of yet, but will play around with it one of these days soon. I do really like the powerwalls!

[@KevinWPruitt]

@@AZdroptop thanks for your reply! We have a charger called a Zappi - they are super popular here and in the UK and they have been a game changer for the market over here. In the summer we do not pay to charge our car at all, which is super nice. Petrol here is about 1.70 per liter so owning an ICE can be pretty expensive if you drive alot (which we do!). Keep up the great work, I was a huge Subaru fan until we relocate here from Austin...the Subaru market is pretty slim in Ireland as the pricing is NUTS. And that's a shame as an AWD Subaru is made for these Irish roads. My fingers are crossed that Subaru will release an all electric Outback someday... thanks again!

[@AZdroptop]

Wow, that is quite the change from Austin! Very cool though. Thank you for the info on the charging system, always interesting to learn about what other countries are doing. Crazy to hear Subaru is so pricey over there. They are such good vehicles. Subaru's venture into electric has not been impressive so far. :). The most recent one is quite expensive for the range it delivers. Take care and thank you again for watching and commenting.

[@EthnosSynergyEnergy]

Overtime I would anticipate that the system will become less efficient, particularly the batteries. You have to also factor in direct and indirect repair and maintenance costs. 14 year upfront cost recoup is optimistic at best. I would anticipate a lot longer

[@AZdroptop]

That is a good point for sure. Everything becomes less efficient with age. I do have the feeling TEP will continue to raise prices so they may help in softening the upfront cost.

[@shiverrmetimberss]

Thanks! Definitely going to install myself. Hopefully that doesn’t void warranty

[@AZdroptop]

You are going to install your own system?

[@shiverrmetimberss]

@@AZdroptop yeah 100% think I’ll just get the Tesla wall. I’m in the south so need ones that track the sun.

[@AZdroptop]

Very cool. I do like have the power walls for sure.

[@brandonkwong07]

Great update! I want solar, but my electricity is so cheap that the loan would cost more even with the tax credits. Therefore, holding off for now. It would be nice to have power walls, but pricey. I can’t justify the cost and have it charged by the grid.

[@AZdroptop]

Hey Brandon, totally understand that! Hope all else is going well these days. Happy New Year.

[@brandonkwong07]

@@AZdroptop Happy New Year too!

[@wesa665]

I was quoted $50,000 for 11kWh and battery backup. I would save about $130 a month. $50,000 in a decent 401k would return $4000.00 per year or $330 per month in 401k gains.

[@AZdroptop]

That's crazy. Honestly I'm looking at 12 to 14 years before I "pay mine off", so at this point it is just a hedge against higher prices vs really saving money.

[@RetireesHelpingRetirees]

Have a certified electrician a master go through your system.. you may have some poor connection points.. even the manner in which a wire is prepped can cause issues.. over all.

[@michaelcharach]

If you saved $100 a month for 12 years and got a 7 percent return with the power rates going up 5 percent a year you would make about $3,400 in interest. After 15 years you are at $5,800.00

[@AZdroptop]

That sounds about right.

[@VinhNguyen-fb9lk]

I live in Northern California.My average electric bill is 500 per month…peak summer will cost me up to 900 ..I narrow down to either Costco Sunrun and Tesla…in terms of customer service what would you recommend? Thanks

[@AZdroptop]

I don’t honestly know anything about Costco solar, but overall I am pleased with Tesla. It can be hit or miss when contacting service at times. However, the buying process was easy and they arrived for install when they said they would and the system is producing what they promised. I really like the app for monitoring production etc.

[@notsecure]

Solar Panels getting too hot can cause "inefficiency"

[@AZdroptop]

Thank you! It definitely seems to be heat related.

[@tigertoo01]

That sounds pretty expensive. In Ireland the same system except for 2 powerwalls and just a 5 kWh battery was only 11,300 euro in Ireland 9100 with grant . What’s happening in the us that it costs so much for installation

[@AZdroptop]

Not sure really. Like everything it is all about the money I guess. :). With out the powerwalls and with the tax credit my system would have been 12,000 US so I guess it is close in price. And it is a 9.6 kW system.

[@tigertoo01]

@@AZdroptop yeah I guess you are buying the best also which does come with a premium. My system is 9.6kw also but fairly oversized for the inverter which is only 5kw which is max for Ireland. But oversized to get most of miserable weather 😂. I’d say yours is not a bad investment because Tesla will continue to improve software and features to make the most of your system such as virtual grid which you may be able to earn more from with the large battery. Good luck and I hope all goes well with the setup.

[@AZdroptop]

Thank you so much! Best to you as well and thank you for watching and commenting.

[@scotthall1381]

Do you have electric heat? If so winter 2023 increase was most likely due to that as it was cold and rainy in Jan and Feb

[@AZdroptop]

We have natural gas heat at our current home.

[@gardenstatehydroponics5556]

Worst customer service ever. It is hard to get in touch with anyone and when you do, it is months before you get anyone out if they actually make it without rescheduling.

[@AZdroptop]

My experience hasn't been too bad, not perfect, but not horrible. Some of the Solar people are clueless that is for sure.

[@RetireesHelpingRetirees]

Photovoltaic [panels like cool to cold days with clear sunny skies.. temps matter,,,, cool panels produce more .,

[@AZdroptop]

That is for sure. Thank you for your replies and suggestions! Much appreciated.

[@obic5538]

Rick, assuming you took out a loan for your power wall, does the savings outweigh the loan payment?

[@AZdroptop]

Hi, we actually paid up front and we are looking at 12 to 14 years for the savings to ‘cover the cost’ of the whole system. If rates go up it will be a bit faster.

[@KieranMullen]

Can you just post the numbers? thank you

[@AZdroptop]

I have the chart with the numbers in the video? Did they not come through? I can send it to your email if you want to send me a quick message to [e-mail].

[@w.alexedmonds8287]

What about maintenance of the system… cost? And is that something you can do yourself?

[@AZdroptop]

The only maintenance I am doing these days is keeping the panels clean. I think my biggest concern is the inverter going out after the warranty, but hopefully by then they will be cheaper. The whole system is covered for 10 years and has the following as well: Your solar panels are guaranteed by their manufacturer to at least 80% of nameplate power capacity for at least 25 years

[@TrueAmericanaheart]

Don’t buy battery backup just buy a Tesla and use the battery as you home backup. Cyber truck is like 8 x or more power packs.

[@Mistermackey]

You can’t charge while using the CT as a backup yet

[@danparish1344]

My Tesla can’t be used that way. What Tesla do you have that can be used as a two way battery?

[@TrueAmericanaheart]

@@danparish1344 currently only the Cybertruck is able to do that right now, but I believe that they are all capable of doing that and it might just be a software fix but if it’s a hardware fix and obviously that would be way more involved . I have a cyber truck, and it Has 123 kWh, whereas battery packs are around 10 to 15 KW. Installation is required ,If you go on the Tesla website it’s a $2500 for the unit, this will be needed In order for the truck to be able to do so which is included in the truck purchase .

[@JonathanGurgul]

@@danparish1344cybertruck is the only one right now

[@andyfidram6721]

Did you finance it through Tesla and if so what length of loan did they offer

[@AZdroptop]

HI, no, we paid for it up front.

[@kgsantos12]

Was 2 power walls enough to cover your TOU peak hours?

[@AZdroptop]

Yes. They have worked out very well and we have whole home backup including the AC. The Model Y does not charge off of the powerwalls, but we charge it during non peak hours.

[@DiegoSanchez12]

Gee... Me trying to get 10.3kW Tesla Roof system today is $150k Just a regular Maryland Home.

[@AZdroptop]

Seriously!!! Wow. That is crazy. I guess inflation is hitting everything hard these days.

[@JD-in7zh]

How much is the connection fee each month for your electric company? I hear people still pay a connection fee

[@AZdroptop]

Just looked over the bill. There is a "basic service and connection fee" of $12.00. A "renewable energy standard tariff" charge of $6.47. Those are the only relatable charges that I see.

[@offgridtx3043]

15,000 u can diy a system whay bigger and no bill.

[@AZdroptop]

Good to know thank you.

[@ErolEskinazi]

Rick, what is the brand of the solar panels they installed? Do you happen to know?

[@AZdroptop]

I looked all over my purchase paperwork and could not find anything specific about brand. I did find online that they use Q cells as its panel brand but I can't say if that is still the case. Sorry I can not be more helpful.

[@leonardforrest8302]

Tesla uses Hanwah panels with 405w.

[@ErolEskinazi]

Thank you both

[@jessefig5281]

How many fuses were used to install your system? Thank you

[@AZdroptop]

I am not entirely sure. Do you mean in the electrical panel?

[@jessefig5281]

Yes sir

[@AZdroptop]

They put in a 50 amp and a 30 amp. One is for the solar part, the other for the powerwalls.

[@viperbite8930]

Square feet of home? Powerwall 2?

[@AZdroptop]

About 2500 and Yes, powerwall 2's.

[@viperbite8930]

@@AZdroptop thank you

[@jonnyportillo8949]

Are you in AZ?

[@AZdroptop]

Yes I am.

250 bucks... my bill is 500 to 700

[@AZdroptop]

Yikes! Where do you live? Our most expensive over the summer would be around 400.

[@peteraq2364]

your approach , to explain this was confusing...not the best job at doing this

[@AZdroptop]

What are you confused about?

[@peteraq2364]

@@AZdroptop WELL , i though the approach was all over the place . Its just a comment , i just sent you a note from one point of view . I compared yours to other and that's where my comment came from.

[@javierarizola13]

CANNOT STAND the way he stops talking to swallow! So irritating!

[@AZdroptop]

Thanks.

[@metrotrujillo]

why dont you install more panels? double them, you have a lot of room on the roof and the savings too.

[@AZdroptop]

I went with what Tesla recommended and as it stands now I am looking at 12 to 14 years to cover the cost of the system unless utility costs skyrocket. Adding more panels would cost a significant amount of money especially with the current inflation from the last couple of years. Sell back in AZ is almost nothing so it doesn't really make sense at this point.

[@metrotrujillo]

@@AZdroptop would you be able to set none tesla panels into your system? meaning cheaper? would they let you or voids the warranty?

[@AZdroptop]

I am honestly not sure if they would allow that or not. If I went through them I imagine they would be willing to do it.