GOOD MORNING CALIFORNIA! What a gorgeous day for a walk. I turned on the fans to get some cool into the house while I sipped my phony coffee. The only thing that could make it better would be rain. People seem to forget this part of California really was (and still is) a desert. The only thing that made it green was agriculture getting water from the high mountains to the valley.
Cooper is so funny ... as soon as I start putting on shoes, he comes unglued, barking and jumping around. He LOVES checking out all the smells. He's such a good boy, he even watered all those little plants on the left to be sure they lived!!
On this day the garbage truck came by, giving him a little scare as it banged and clanged before the driver got out of the truck. That brought about quite the interest as he opened some doors and climbed inside the back. Who knew they had to unstick things inside by hand before it could compact itself.
That's when I found it. Well really, Cooper found it, picked it up and walked off down the street. I'm guessing it's a peacock feather? It's huge ... about 18 inches long! I considered it good luck as we headed back to the house.
It's time my brain said. Time to check out solar for the house, just for giggles. Rather than complaining about it, DO something about it. I mean really, I can't use any less electricity than I am now, and it sure would be nice to have air conditioning!!
I called Costco's contractor SunRun for an estimate. Who knew they could do it all over the phone. They have a google earth picture of my house. Hey Dan ... there's your truck and trailer!! As you can see, I wasn't watering my lawn much back then either!!!
I was even more fascinated when the guy I spoke to was in Phoenix. What a hair pulling experience. How many panels? How much do they put out? How do you install them? How much is the tax credit? How much will it cost? How much electricity can I use? I mean really, it just goes on and on. I'm too old for this!!!
It was also interesting to find out each panel has it's own mini-invertor so when I sell the house, the new owners can add on without purchasing another big invertor. This 6.4 kW proposal will give me 125% of my current usage, but of course that raises the price to $23,000. I'm buying it outright ... no leasing and all that stuff. This has a 25 year warranty and they will come whenever necessary and upgrade all the parts and pieces. The caveat is they keep the federal tax credit. Otherwise it costs $28,800.
So that tax credit ... does that come off the amount I OWE in taxes or off the total income???
It SHOULD pay for itself in 8 years, but I'm counting on just adding it to the sale of the house. So many questions and so little hair left on my head!!! Today I'll call another local company and see what they say. Of course every single one says something different!!! Anyone have any suggestions for me?
this!! Of course she didn't get any sashing, so I had to use some black leftovers I had. Too bad she didn't have one more orange piece for the bottom center, but it is what it is. It actually looks pretty nice in person.
Here's the border piece. It's very pretty, but all a little too busy for my taste. Hey .... it's free, so she can't complain. In the top left corner is another one I just started. I'll show it later. You know what, if I wasn't doing so much sewing, I could probably turn the AC on!!!!
I felt bad, but I still said NO!!! Surprised?? Me too!!!!!
Today I'll pull out what little hair I have left by contacting another solar contractor. If nothing else, I'm learning a lot ... including the fact that California ... liberal leader in conservation ... GIVES NO TAX CREDIT FOR SOLAR INSTALLATION, in spite of brown outs and black outs, while telling everyone to conserve because they can't make enough electricity to go around. Yessirree ... that's California for ya!
That would be an impressive amount of Solar but would that be sharing it with the Grid or for self usage. If it's the later you'll need a huge Battery Bank which would help you get through the Brown Outs. Then you will need possibly a number of Area Inverters. Those will keep the Phantom Draw low and save your power.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy reattaching your hair.
It's about time.
I'm using solar for myself. I'm old and need air conditioning!!!!
DeleteOwning the panels is really the way to go. We got 30 panels in 2015 (our location was not optimum, so more panels) and with the way PG&E does it, when we are making more power than we are using it, we push it back into the system and the meter runs backwards, so we are helping out in the daytime but we use that "credit" when it gets dark and we are on the "PG&E Battery".
ReplyDeleteOnce a year they do a "true up" and if you have used more juice than you produced, you get a bill. We sized our system to be as close to break even as we could, as they don't pay much for any excess you might produce. We have gone from a small excess to a bill last year for $450 for the whole year. We used our old inefficient AC a lot more last year than in the past. The older we get, the less we can stand the heat like we used to be able to, so the AC runs more.
We got the Federal tax rebate ourselves, I guess it varies who you go thru. We went with a little local company who was somewhat less expensive than Sunrun, who we also got an estimate from.
When interest rates were down around 2% we refinanced the house and added our $20,000 share of the system into that, and even then our monthly payment went down some. As the system is part of the property, it might as well be added into the house cost.
I don't know how Arizona handles it, but we have some friends there who have looked into solar, and it doesn't see to work the same way as it does with PG&E, so you would need to check that part of it out. I would not trust Sunrun with out checking for myself.
You are right about Arizona. The number of panels allowed is determined by the amount of electricity you use. Here, I can get as big a system as I want, but you are right, they don't pay for any extra. I'm looking for 150% of what I used before so I can run the AC at least during the summer. Thank you SO much for the info.
DeletePlease consider a different vendor, I would run from Sun Run. Feel free to DM me if you have questions.
ReplyDeleteI will for sure ... it's on today's blog!
DeletePlease don’t pull your hair out you may get sunburn on top of your head! 😄
ReplyDeleteRight? Although I think that's already happening!!! LOL
DeleteWhat are the dark looking panels on the house roof in the picture in your blog? Did they say anything about having to keep the panel clean or how that would be done? I see a few panels going up in my neighbor hood but don't know the people , so would feel odd asking them how it's paying out. Good luck. Vern in Boise
ReplyDeleteThat's what the guy drew on the picture to show me where the panels would be placed. I have news on the blog this morning.
DeleteSeems to me that RVs are very livable using 12v, so why do home use so much 110v? I understand that110v is needed for some things...but why not 12v lights, tv, furnace, etc? Four batteries with inverter to boost for some of the 110v...and enough solar the charge batteries and sell the rest to electric company. New homes should be built this way.
ReplyDeleteI agree .... it seems up until lately, no one really used that much power. Now everything requires major volts .. like ovens, air fryers ... we are spoiled!!
DeleteNo input to the solar panels, other than good luck with it all. It can only be an improvement, right?
ReplyDeleteBUT, I do want to comment on little Cooper. Gibbs gets excited too but no barking. That picture of him up on your legs looks like a small child!! So adorable! He's a good boy watering all those plants. They're sure to live now! ♥
PS. You said NO!?? Yay, it's about time my dear! ♥
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