Need Advice - First Time Buyer

[Ampster]

........

In CA, an HOA cannot ban members from adding alternate energy devices to a property.

That is all I intended to convey. I had confidence the poster or someone else could elaborate if necessary.

As for the 45 day fine, First off, that's now 60 days......

At the time of my application it was 60 days and subsequently changed to 45 days I haven't followed it in 5 years and always suggest if someone is going to exercise those rights, it is best to be informed about the latest version. I was informed when it was necessary and signed a waiver with my installer and began installation 10 days later. Within an hour of the start of the roof demo, several members knocked on my door and insisted that I stop construction. I gave them copies of the Solar Rights Act and told them to have the HOA attorney contact me if they wanted to pursue it any further.

BTW, don't know if you're aware of this or not, but if you had been willing or able to prove willful negligence on the HOA's part......Looks like you may have left $1K on the table.

Why would I want to take on my neighbors or reap financial gain at their expense? I made my point, and got my solar installed. Later, after counsel advised them of their violation, they demoted the Chair of the Architectural Committee and apologized to me. Several years later I was elected to the Board and served as President.

[Ampster]

The actual wording they use is "Visible Solar Panels". If they are visible from public streets, you get to fight city hall and the preservation district, not a HOA These are cities with designated historic districts and they are getting stricter all the time. Only white or blue paint........

Brought to you by the same folks that run the HOAs, but with grown up powers.

it starts going bad about page 200:
http://co.mendocino.ca.us/bos/meetin.../DO35432/1.PDF

In rereading the thread I realize the OP said "Victorian" but when he said architectural committee I assumed he was in an HOA. While I may be a solar fanatic I also believe in preserving historical buildings. @J.P.M clarified the rights of historic districts to impose restrictions.

My sister lives in Little River and my nephew grew up in Mendocino. I think historic preservation has been beneficial to that seacoast town. They even disguise green poly water tanks with redwood slats to make them look historic. I don't think that section of town has much insolation anyway. A mile east and the sun is often shining when Mendocino is foggy or overcast.

[J.P.M.]

That is all I intended to convey. I had confidence the poster or someone else could elaborate if necessary.

But not all that might be necessary to avoid misinformation by omission and then assuming others will clean up the mess of possible confusion to others that could have been avoided.

[dss]

FWIW - I didn't have much to offer to the original point as I am not in a HOA or restricted zone, though my city does have a high barrier for redevelopment work since we have lot of a lot of historic structures in town. I am not particularly concerned with them stopping solar installs. I just wish the local utility made the math more agreeable.

Thanks again to everyone for the insight. I did get the preferred provider to lower his project cost a little, but he is going with he uses licensed electricians, roofers, etc... to create a best in class install that will look well on my older home. Again, that might be overkill, but at around $15k (after taxes), I do wonder if I should pull the trigger on the LG 5.76 kw system. I'm still reading up and doing my homework so there is no rush but after speaking to multiple (really well reviewed) providers, this is the ballpark pricing and recommendations that I keep receiving.

[azdave]

But not all that might be necessary...

Oh please!

If someone takes action based solely upon a semi-related comment posted by a stranger in a free online forum then they are are an idiot.

[J.P.M.]

FWIW - I didn't have much to offer to the original point as I am not in a HOA or restricted zone, though my city does have a high barrier for redevelopment work since we have lot of a lot of historic structures in town. I am not particularly concerned with them stopping solar installs. I just wish the local utility made the math more agreeable.

Thanks again to everyone for the insight. I did get the preferred provider to lower his project cost a little, but he is going with he uses licensed electricians, roofers, etc... to create a best in class install that will look well on my older home. Again, that might be overkill, but at around $15k (after taxes), I do wonder if I should pull the trigger on the LG 5.76 kw system. I'm still reading up and doing my homework so there is no rush but after speaking to multiple (really well reviewed) providers, this is the ballpark pricing and recommendations that I keep receiving.

That business about the Solar Rights act was a sidebar. It comes up X/a while.

Every reputable vendor is either licensed or uses licensed subs. That's part of what makes them reputable. Using that as an excuse for higher prices is B.S. Did you share prices you received with vendors ? If so, that's one reason you're not able to get better pricing. Doing so removes any need for vendors to ,lower their prices more than $0.01. You also lose a large negotiating tool and advantage when you share prices.

FWIW, on your comment on local utility and the math, I appreciate what you write. Been there, done that a lot. While this probably isn't something you want to hear, yours is an easier to understand than most. What you have is a pretty straightforward rate structure to deal with. Do as you please and opinion only here, but spend ~ an hr. on the AMD website understanding how you're charged for power and you'll be able to see how you are billed. Then, and again only to the degree my understanding of how AMP treats residential PV generation, you will also be able to see how cost ineffective PV will be for you, particularly at the ridiculously high system prices you've been quoted and posted.

To the degree my reading of how AMP deals with customer PV generation is correct, not only is your POCO provided power relatively cheap compared to PG & E, making PV less cost effective for you, but the lack of net metering and the buyback at $0.06961/kWh will lower your system's cost effectiveness to the point where the NPV (the initial cost) of the system will be << the NPV of the savings over a longer period of time than most would consider reasonable. That will then, by a lot of definitions, make the system cost ineffective.

In other words, unless you plan on living in the same place for a very long time, and in some opinions, between the two alternatives of the PV you're considering and no PV at all, and under the current utility rules, the probability of the PV alternative being less cost effective than no PV is greater than the probability of it being more cost effective than no PV.

Educate yourself and choose wisely.

Take what you want of the above. Scrap the rest.

[Ampster]

But not all that might be necessary to avoid misinformation by omission and then assuming others will clean up the mess of possible confusion to others that could have been avoided.

Brevity is something you may not understand. My statement was correct. It was meant to inform at a high level. I do not have the need to pontificate at great detail in an initial statement about an issue. There was no mess created. But I was pretty sure you would chime in with many paragraphs of detail without determining whether any of that was relevant to the OPs question. I see he did explain he was not in an HOA so your hijack was unnecessary. azdave felt the same way.

[J.P.M.]

Brevity is something you may not understand. My statement was correct. It was meant to inform at a high level. I do not have the need to pontificate at great detail in an initial statement about an issue. There was no mess created. But I was pretty sure you would chime in with many paragraphs of detail without determining whether any of that was relevant to the OPs question. I see he did explain he was not in an HOA so your hijack was unnecessary. azdave felt the same way.

I strive for brevity but not at the expense of completeness. That can be worse than a half or incomplete explanation. As for the HOA reference, Looks to me I wasn't the one who first brought the subject up with you being the one who used the incomplete and so possibly confusing information. I therefore don't claim the hijack. I just cleaned up the incomplete hijack mess you created by filling in gaps you created. Don't like it, offer correction, explanation or ignore what I write.

[J.P.M.]

Oh please!

If someone takes action based solely upon a semi-related comment posted by a stranger in a free online forum then they are are an idiot.

I appreciate there are some folks you just can't reach. Folks who live by the new idiot's bible (u-tube) come to mind. However, what's to be done about other folks who may be reading all this stuff and may not be what you call idiots - just folks ignorant about the subject matter at hand and looking for some background ? Do you think some additional information might be helpful to such folks if for no more than the chance of saving someone else time or $$ by learning or at least reading more information ? Or, how about for the sake of simply getting a different take on a subject ?

In one way, this place is a lot like television - you can always change the channel (There are other alternate energy forums), or simply turn off the computer.

[Ampster]

I am not going to participate in further hijacking of this thread. J.P.M. if you want to discuss HOA requirements under a separate thread I would be happy to engage. Please start another thread for that subject. The OP is not in a HOA.

[J.P.M.]

I am not going to participate in further hijacking of this thread. J.P.M. if you want to discuss HOA requirements under a separate thread I would be happy to engage. Please start another thread for that subject. The OP is not in a HOA.

Nor am I.

BTW, I'd note I was the 3d poster (after you) to mention HOAs in this thread. I never took it that the OP was in an HOA in the first place. You did - as you stated.

My input was simply to clarify your incorrect and incomplete statements with respect to the Solar Rights Act you posted, and as you seemed to acknowledge in you posting of 02/20/2019 @ 10:11 P.M.

We both also related anecdotes re: solar rights and HOAs. I may have abetted the hijack, but only to clean up (or in your words "clarify") your incomplete mess that could, IMO, lead other readers to incorrect conclusions about a PV owner's rights under the Solar Rights Act by from reading your post. I would't have said anything if you had gotten it close to right.

Your post about the Solar Rights Act probably wasn't as dangerous as the one that got you a 2 week banishment a couple of months ago, but it was still misinformation by its incompleteness and inaccuracy and could lead some to incorrect inferences and perhaps problems for those reading it. Those potential problems could more easily have been avoided if you were less slipshod and more accurate with the information. That I had to clean up your mess is a minor irritant.

Did you take offense at the hijack that I didn't initiate or that I called B.S. on your post about the Solar Rights Act ?

I'm happy leaving the Solar Rights Act alone, but if you want to keep this pissing match going on this or any other topic, to the extent I believe I have some intelligent input, I'll offer comment when I disagree with your statements or believe them to be incorrect or misleading.

Don't like what I do ? Take it up with management or live with it. In the meantime, get it right or expect to be called out for errors.

I'm done with this thread.