This is part of an ongoing essay detailing my experiences with solar energy. To see if solar is right for you, visit SunPower.
The bottom line is an ongoing and ever-evolving thing. Money will likely continue to go out to pay for electricity, although hopefully at reduced amounts. After all the one-time incentives are received, money should come in periodically from SREC sales.
The system, in a nutshell:
The system is designed to produce 114,400 kWh over its 25-year service lifetime.
All in, the system cost was $16,965. That includes panels, inverter, materials, permits, labor, monitoring, service, postage for grant applications, etc.
To date, I've received $12,718 back from numerous sources:
That makes my out-of-pocket cost $4,246.
I'm still expecting the following credits:
At install time, my out-of-pocket cost after all government incentives was estimated to be $5,335.
After receiving a smaller property tax credit than expected (due to vagaries of how the credit is calculated), my out-of-pocket cost was recalculated to be $6,552. In practice, income from SREC sales varies depending on market conditions, and the ongoing utility bill reductions continue to chip away at that outlay.
To date the IRS hasn't allowed for any exceptions to be made for SREC payments. Although I've yet to receive a 1099 from Sol Systems, I still report the payments as income on my tax return (and pay tax on them accordingly).
Since installation and activation (about 72 months ago), my solar PV system has generated about 23,000 kWh.
In the first billing month, the system generated a mere 10% of my electrical needs, in part due to a end-of-cycle install in the middle of winter. We had some particularly snowy days where it took a day or two for the snow to melt and slide off the panels.
In the second month, the system generated 45% and then in the third month produced 79% of my needs. As the days grow longer and grey skies begin to clear, production will continue to increase.
In the third month, the system generated 143% resulting in a zeroed bill and nice credit from my utility company. BGE does a true-up at the end of April, and I received a check for the accrued generation.
After six months the system continues to generate a steady stream of electricity, usually more than I need on a daily basis. I expect the accrued credit balance with the utility should help even out the high-usage over the summer and the upcoming slowing production of fall and winter.
Since installation, the system has generated more than 86% of my electrical needs.
Electrical production increased considerably throughout the summer, resulting in several negative "credit" bills from BGE. The accrued credit balance was consumed once the air conditioning was turned on, but the longer summer days still ended up producing 71-82% of my need.
Between incentives, reduction of utility payments, and the income from SREC sales, I have have recouped more than 50% of my investment. With no additional large incentives due, the pay-down process will slow considerably. I still expect SREC sales and monthly utility reductions.
My thoughts after two years with solar panels have been moved to a dedicated Two Years with Solar page.
My thoughts after six years with solar panels have been moved to a dedicated Six Years with Solar page.
In winter 2015 I experienced an odd hardware failure after a particularly cold and nasty ice storm, where the inverter wouldn't sync for a few days. Solar Energy World came out to troubleshoot, got in touch with SunPower, and replaced the inverter a few days later. Sometimes motherboards go bad or get confused, I guess.
I've seen the monitoring adapter stop reporting to SunPower. While it doesn't affect generation, the monitoring pages/apps are blank until I reboot the adapter (by unplugging it and plugging it back in again). The inverter appears to retain data from the previous day and the monitoring pages get filled in with the "missing" data. It's only happened twice.
In winter of 2016 a blizzard dropped more than 30 inches of snow in an afternoon. While the panels and roof stood up to the additional weight, an ice dam formed on the rear of the house, in part due to the displacement of blown-in insulation during the installation process. As the ice melted it pushed the gutters away from the fascia board; after the ice dam was broken up the gutters and fascia receded, but needed to be repaired.
Sometime in 2020 started losing data about previous years production. The monitoring console suggested it was a temporary display problem and that data was still being collected and stored, however the problem still persists. It's an mild inconvenience, but the production meter is still the source of truth for SREC production figures.
Last Modified: 2021-01-17
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