Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: coopns
In MA. Considering solar panels from Solar City on garage and back of the house (can't do the front - Cape and my lord it would cover the entire front roof).
After doing the numbers, looks like it would be a bill swap with National Grid.
Solar City deal: 20 years and would not increase monthly -lock in at this rate. 20 Year loan bugs me a bit but again, even swap and ...well be nice in 20 years! They would be paid off and no electric bill. 99% sure will be her in 20. My concern a bit is will they come up with something more attractive/efficient and a better deal...I think yes but again, my panels will be on back of house which no one can see and small garage that is set back in yard.
Anyone have them, pros / cons.
There are now solar roof tiles that look like a tile roof that would probably be allowed on your house.
https://www.tesla.com/solarroof
The Solar Sales guys also don't talk about the loss of the efficiency of the panels as the years pile on. Is your existing roof good for 20 years? If not-the panels would need to be removed for your residence to have a new roof installed. If you went with the tiles-assuming the tiles stopped producing electricity at all-you would still have a viable roof!
Finally-we have found in Utah buyers do not wish to assume a solar loan/lease deal if the home is resold prior to the lease terms ending. We have also found the the solar panel values are NOT PERCEIVED by potential buyers as it is by a bank's appraiser-leading to issues.
The roofing tiles require an upfront cost of north of $50K for the average American home (more for Canadians). So either you have a ton of capital that you for some reason don't have tied up in investments or you are willing to carry a note on them for a set duration in hopes that the generation and eventual profit outdoes what you've paid in interest.
Without checking your figures-If you need a new (conventional) roof at 20 Grand-then the difference would be the cost of solar panels-might as well go with the tiles.
The figure is directly
from Tesla:
Originally Posted By: Tesla
When you include the benefits of the solar production, Solar Roof will cost less than a regular roof. In fact it may earn you money – as an example, the out-of-pocket cost of a Solar Roof for a typical home in Maryland will be around $52,000, but after considering the tax credit and the value of energy it generates, the roof will actually pay for itself and earn you about $8,000 over 30 years.
Note that this does NOT include the cost of the Powerwall battery.
BTW, where did you get a $20K figure for an asphalt shingle roof? The average would be around $6K. And yes, if you don't need your roof done in the immediate future, it would seem to be incurring excessive cost for very little if any benefit. Keep in mind, Tesla's "profit" calculator assumes an annual price of electricity increase of ~2% every year for 30 years, I'm not sure if it accounts for panel degradation or not either.