Going Solar!

[moneymaker]

We’re doing solar this year. Was told by one company that upgrading the electrical breaker box could be included and would be part of 30% rebate, does anybody know if re-roofing could also be rolled into the solar install and hence rebateable as well?

[Hobie]

Are you in San Diego? Are you confusing rebate with tax credit? California Solar Inititave rebates $.20/watt. Doubt the new roof would work for fed tax credit.

[moneymaker]

Yes when I wrote rebate, I meant tax credit. With a single layer of 10 year old composite shingles, i figure my options are 1)Remove the current shingles and put new ones on 2)Shingle over the current ones (which will also add additional weight to roof) 3)Put the solar panels up now and hope the previous owners bought really good shingles, if not may have to re-roof in next 10 years which would mean removing solar panels temporarily to do that.

[Hobie]

Removing panels to reroof if under a solar lease might be very expensive as it it under their terms.

Composite roofing is not all that much to replace. Easier now than later.

Also, if the roof is already worn the guys walking on it to install solar might cause it to leak.

Be sure the installers have the proper roofer license as they will be drilling into the roof and again, you don’t want leaks.

guess it really depends on how long you plan to live there.

What brand/watt panels are you looking at? How many panels?

[moneymaker]

Wife wants Solarworld as they are American made, I am not as particular as I doubt many panels have been up for 25 years yet to prove their durability. Definitely want micro-inverters, leaning toward the Grape systems that Costco sells, but there are no reviews which I find strange. I know they will custom design a system for a good price. I’m thinking 5-5.5 KW should keep us out of tiers 3 and 4. Never even considered the roof because it looks good, but was up there last week measuring pitch and noticed the composite shingles are definitly harder that I thought they should be.

[UCGal]

Solar is on our project list. But behind a few other projects.

DH has decided to replace the section of roof that will be under the panels with a metal roof. (Won’t be able to see it – and it solves the problem of needing to remove panels to re-roof.)

He’s also adding a skylight to our master bath that will provide roof access for maintenance.

Since our master bath is our next big project… we’re getting closer to solar.

[CA renter]

[quote=UCGal]Solar is on our project list. But behind a few other projects.

DH has decided to replace the section of roof that will be under the panels with a metal roof. (Won’t be able to see it – and it solves the problem of needing to remove panels to re-roof.)

He’s also adding a skylight to our master bath that will provide roof access for maintenance.

Since our master bath is our next big project… we’re getting closer to solar.[/quote]

Nice! Copper roof, or?

[UCGal]

Stainless is what my hubster is saying.

[CA renter]

Interesting. I’ve never heard of SS roofing for houses. Is he choosing it for the durability and low maintenance, assuming you (and your kids) will never have to deal with it again? Won’t it be crazy expensive?

[moneymaker]

I’ve seen flat roofs with 18″ tile and after walking on it I thought it was a great idea. I think the family was from Russia or Ukrainian.
Topped off some trees in the neighbors yard today, after getting their permission (was partly shading the garage roof). It is really pretty easy to do if you make the cuts in the right place. I’ve trimmed trees before, but now I know the secret to make it easy. Every time I try something new I consider changing careers, but only for a few minutes.
To get the state rebate I think one has to prove shading is not an issue, at least to get the full credit.

[patb]

a good panel is environmentally tested. they run it through accelerated aging

[moneymaker]

Has anyone that has installed solar regretted it? I think it takes a full year to really know how a system performs, maybe I’m putting too much thought into this and should just pull the trigger. Still no reviews on Costco’s site, if it shows up at GTM I might even install it myself.

[an]

I don’t regret it one bit. I have it for about 1.5 years now and the number is what I thought it would be. My electricity bill now range between $5-90, while the year before that, it was ranging between $150-450. So, at this rate, I’m looking to break even in about 4.5 years and after that, it’ll be all gravy.

[biggoldbear]

I am also looking into this, but hate having to deal with all the sales pitches just to get pricing info. What are some estimates for the cost/size of the solar projects people have done recently?

[CA renter]

I’ve probably over-thinking it, too. We really, really want to install solar panels (we’re well into Tier 4, especially in the summer), but are worried it won’t turn out as well as they say it will.

[Author]

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