As you noted, from the initial price of $17,580 I would have the federal tax credit of 30%, then the annual utility bill savings of about $1,450, PEC (Production Utility Credits) payments (same as SRECS or RECS in other states) of about $500 a year. Add in inflation factors and it comes out to about the 5 year point.
Another thing that happened here in Nevada is that Nevada Power was approved by the state legislature to shut down all coal power generation plants and replace them with gas and renewable source generation plants. This is going to increase rates to (1) pay to close the coal plants, and (2) pay to build the new plants. And we better hope that natural gas prices don't head back up again as Nevada is now going to have most of its eggs in one basket (gas power generation). And to make it even better - Warren Buffett is buying Nevada Power under his Mid American brand. I think it is a good thing to get as close to 100% away from Nevada Power as I can! Makes those inflation factors above look very favorable.
And we are looking at our first day at 110 degrees. Makes that A/C work even harder.
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Doesn't sound like too bad a deal. How did you calculate 5 years as break even point? That's nearly $2500/year in savings assuming only incentive is 30% federal tax credit. Also, I'm surprised there isn't a string inverter available that would suit the installation. Of, course, if there is any shading, then micros are probably your best bet. Maybe a slight downsize is in order to use a string inverter because as I understand it, any kWh excess is carried forward indefinitely so it may never be of any value. Plus, you said you have already reduced your energy usage. Remember, the idea is to get the most bang for your buck and excess generation over what you actually use rarely, if ever, meets that test.Leave a comment:
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Advice on proposed equipment
I have received a bid that I believe that I am ready to accept and would like everyones opinion on it: Location is North Las Vegas, Nevada. No Blockage. String Inverters have been looked at and the ones quoted to me were either undersized or oversized except for the sunpower system which I couldn't afford.
19 Mage Solar USA Powertec Plus 250/6 ML
19 Power-One Aurora Micro-0.25-I Micro-Inverters
Power-One CDD Monitoring System
Roof Mounting
All Interconnections and wiring
All Permits, paperwork (HOA, PUC, Utility)
4.75KW
8433 Kwh
$17,580
$3.70 per watt
Gives me 91% of last years usage but that was before I upgraded the attic to R-50 and radiant barrier. May already showed a drop in usage. Nevada is a Net Metering State so I don't want to go too much over my usage. Estimated break-even is 5 years.
My thought process - I am aware that the Power-One micro-inverters only have a 10 year warranty and accept that. I have a hard time believing that anyone is going to be able to support a 25 year warranty anyway. I rather believe in a bigger company like Power-One now that they are being bought out by ABB will be around in five or ten years. I was also offered the Enphase micro-inverters at the same cost with nearly the same performance. Believe it or not, I liked the monitoring system with the Power-One better than the Enphase Envoy.
So let me know what you think. Give me the bad, the good, the "are you crazy!".
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