Solar Panels - what to expect

Total: 35 BP 175 watt panels

In July 2004, I wanted to get solar panels installed on my new
house that was being built by Denova homes in Brentwood.
Unfortunately, the fascists decided that I couldn't have
anyone install anything on the house before I took possesion of it
which sucked for inside wiring, etc. - but I digress.

I had two objectives for installing the panels:
- to be more environmentally conscious
- to reduce the amount I spend each month on electricity

So, I contacted several places that I found on the Internet and
asked them for a quote. Borrego solar was pretty much the only
one that returned my call. Anyway, they came out to look at the
house, and contacted me the next week saying that my house was
too far out from where they normally work (Oakland area), and that
they had too much business, and so I should find someone else.

In November 2005, I was walking into the local home depot and I
noticed that they were offering solar panel installation.
I picked up the pamphlet and called. As it turns out the sub-contractor
was Power Independence Electric (Now known as 1st Light Energy Inc.).
A guy named Joe Fairbanks came to my house to give me a
quote. He asked that I have all my PGE bills for the last year ready.

My average usage was 850 kilowatts a month. I thought my choices were to
simply offset the top part of my bill or eliminate
the bill completely by generating 100% of the power that I needed.
But that turned out not to be the whole story.
Because my system has no electrical storage (batteries),I need to be connected
to the grid in order to have power at night, and in the winter when I am not
generating as much as I use. 

Joe explained to me that I didn't actually need to generate 100% of
the electicity that I consume in order to break even. This works
because the any electrical power generated by the panels in excess of
what is being used is being pushed back into the grid and the meter
actually runs backwards. Initially, I seemed skeptical, but he
explained it like this.

I switch to E-6net metering which means that I pay more during
"peak" periods. Those peak periods occur during the day which happens
to co-incide with the time when the solar panels are shoving electricity
back into the grid. PGE pays me at the higher rate for that electricity.
Essentially, as long as I use electricity mostly off-peak, and generate
excess during peak periods, I can get by with generating less than I use
and still breaking even. The number that Joe came up with was a 700 kilowatt
system with 21 panels.

The gross cost of the system was $40,000. There were rebates in the amount
of $14,000 and a California tax credit in the amount of $2,000. Its also
possible that if you count the savings as income, you could write off
the rest - but I decided not to do that.

Everyone keeps asking me about the payback time. Most detractors say
that the payback is too long. Remember my objectives, however. For me
the primary purpose was to be more environmentally responsible. If
I come close to breaking even, then I feel its a success. Lets look
at the numbers (I'm not an accountant, so I'm sure they'll be people
who find my math flawed, but it works for me).

Lets use a 1 year timeframe.
My electrical bill used to average about $200 per month. Thats $2400 per year.

The system cost me $24,000 paid out of my line of credit. The interest
on that is about $1920 per year, but its tax deductible, so I get
about 1/3 of that back. That reduces my cost to $1280 per year.
Of course its not going to last forever, so I'm saving about $1200 per year
which means the system has to last 20 years in order for me to break even
(paying for the system).

Bad assumptions about this "plan":
- Does not take into account "cost of money"
- Electrical rates will increase over time
- I'm assuming a fixed rate on my line of 8%. This varies.
-This is not a great investment (but I feel pretty good about using
net zero electricity.)

I've now been on the system for 1 full year. My "true-up" bill was for
$142.00. I'm ok with that. I'm still considering adding a few more panels.
If a car manufacturer would release a pluggable electric or hybrid, I'd
add more panels and charge it from there.

Note: I did end up adding 14 more panels for an additional $6000, however
I received a tax credit of 30% of that back so my net cost was $4000.

One of my friends asked me if I had to change my lifestyle in order to
have these results. Its a little different. I try not to run the A/C
during the day, but there are some days when I just have to. Also,
its best if you can do laundry and run the dish washer in the
evening (partial peak) or at night (off peak). 

FAQ
====
Some mis-conceptions about the solar panels - Even though people talk about
PGE paying you for the excess power you generate, they never actually
send a check. With the E6Net metering, I'm using the option where
I only pay my electical bill once per year. In the winter, I don't generate
as much electicity as I use, and in the summer I generate more than I use.
The hope is that at the end of the year, I owe exactly 0. 

"Solar panels are ugly!"
First, I don't think they are that ugly - also, in order to see my panels,
you either need to fly over (I'm a pilot - its easy to spot my house)
or you need to walk across the street and down about 50' in either
direction, but you can't walk more than 100' or the adjacent houses
block the view of the solar panels.
Here are some pictures:
West View of the panels from street-level
East View of the panels from street-level
What does the house look like from the front?
"you need a southern exposure"
I don't have one. It gets a little tricky, because I need to generate
most of my electricity "on peak", so I have a lot more panels on
my West side.

Is there a lot of maintenance?
I have to wash them about twice per year. I use a squeegee on a long pole
but I do have to get up on the roof to do it.

How many panels do you have?
I have 21 on the West side and 7 on the East side

Where are the inverters?
Ah, good point. The panels generate DC, but my house consumes AC.
I have two inverters in my system. They are mounted on the outside, East
wall of my house. You can see them in the east side picture (link above).
They are at the bottom of the picture and partially cut off in the photo.