About to jump

[J.P.M.]

It's actually more like $700/month when taking into account oil for heat. And that is for living in an uncomfortable house. If I wanted to be comfortable you are probably talking closer to $1500 month.

That's cost of living in a big old house facing the hudson River. The solar and high efficiency heat pump system should help.

I am against using shutters on the window because I like an open bright house . I think the next step for me would be to add more insulation to the attic.

The first, probably one of the most effective in terms of comfort level, and far and away the most cost effective measure to be effected in an older home in a cold, cloudy climate is to button it up and reduce the amount of air exchanged between inside and outside the dwelling, followed by careful insulation of the building envelope.

Most folks attack a high electric bill the way you've done it - and that's entirely backwards if cost effectiveness and common sense have any bearing on the exercise - by doing the most expensive way to reduce an electric bill first, that is, by throwing expensive solar at a high bill.

As for living in an old house in a cold climate, I lived in and retrofitted a home built in Buffalo in 1928 and reduced the gas and electric bills by ~ 2/3 without any active solar energy measures. I added a passive sunspace and only knocked off ~ 15-20 % of the remaining (and lower) bill. I got the total annual energy usage down to ~ 9,000 kWh/yr. equivalent for space heat, water heating, light, cooking, clothes drying and other electricity use.

BTW, one measure that was quite effective was thermal shutters that were used at night.

Suggestion: download and read a free PDF of "Solar Power Your Home for Dummies". Or, spring for ~ $25 and get a revised version at Amazon or book stores.
You need an education. Pay particular attention to the chapter dealing with conservation measures.

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

[khanh dam]

shutters are only used at night when it's dark out. if the windows are leaky, more insulation won't do much.

[Cshama]

It's actually more like $700/month when taking into account oil for heat. And that is for living in an uncomfortable house. If I wanted to be comfortable you are probably talking closer to $1500 month.

That's cost of living in a big old house facing the hudson River. The solar and high efficiency heat pump system should help.

I am against using shutters on the window because I like an open bright house . I think the next step for me would be to add more insulation to the attic.

[khanh dam]

insulated shutters for your 14' long windows. Energy Efficiency at Birken Forest Monastery 2017 - YouTube

[khanh dam]

how are you being vigilant if your bill is +$400? do you use electric heat in your home right now? genuinely curious how people with that high of a bill are being vigilant?

[oregon_phil]

I'm getting an 18.36kwh system and I think my main concern is it won't be big enough.

I googled your approximate location and guessed your power company is Con Ed. I did a little digging in their brochures and found that residential systems 25kW and under will have little push back from the company. While I'm not an electrical person, I believe your biggest problem will be getting all that power (18.36kw ) from your house to the grid. It is my understanding that in general, each 200 amp service is limited to a 7.7kW inverter due to various deratings etc. So you would need a 400 amp service or three phase power to push 15.4 kw back to the grid because your are net metering. I'm not sure too many homes have 400 amp or 3 phase power. You could use panel orientation and/or battery storage to help resolve this situation, but you mentioned that you weren't using a battery and had single SW panel orientation. I said I wasn't an electrical person and am open to discussion/opinions on this.

I want my house to be comfortable instead of always too hot or cold.

You could invest in $250 in a seek thermal heat camera for your phone to help with heat loss detection. You feel too hot or too cold because the thermal profile of your home varies too much from room to room and within a roof. Those windows that you don't want to replace are a huge thermal heatsink in the winter and heat source in the summer.

[Cshama]

I'm in luck. The part of my roof getting the panels is not visible from the ground. I would be fine with unmatched panels going on. One less thing to worry
about.

I'm getting an 18.36kwh system and I think my main concern is it won't be big enough. I have been very vigilant about my electricity use and want to relax on that significantly. I want my house to be comfortable instead of always too hot or cold.

I'm getting a new high efficiency hearing and cooling system so hopefully that helps.

The system covers 113% of my current usage. And I believe I am limited to that in terms of what the utility will allow.

[peakbagger]

IMHO , big brands come and go. When they lose interest they rarely retain any responsibility. They just sell the business to some other firm and let the other firm go out of business. Most panels are only in production for a couple of years, few if any firms are going to stick old models of their panels. The dimensions and color will not match. At most if one of 20 or 30 panels on the roof do fail you might get a prorated check to cover part of the cost of that one panel. Unless you search Ebay for used panels of that particular model you either try to match it with something close and guaranteed if will stick out like a missing tooth. Otherwise you leave the dead panel in place and live with the lower output. Lot to be said to buy a spare panel or two and putting them someplace safe.

Inverters on the other hand tend to have a ten year life, usually you can buy an extended warranty which is roughly the wholesale cost of new inverter. so you are paying someone to keep a spare on the shelf for ten years. Most commercial arrays plan on one inverter replacement during the 20 year life. The systems are depreciated to zero value at 20 years. They may still be functional but usually there is another round of inverters replacements and the original investor usually moves on.Mot commercial arrays are less than 20 years old so what really happens in 20 years is a big unknown. Many are installed on leased land and the field reverts to the landowner at the end of the 10 year lease. Take a look on Ebay and there are several firms selling large blocks of used panels from out of service arrays and my guess is many are nearing 20 years.. They are usually pretty careful not to zoom in on the data plate enough to see the manufacture date. .

[bob-n]

I'm with Ampster on this one. Hanwha is going to be around.

It doesn't assure that they will support you or that they will have identical replacement panels if one fails 10 years out, but that wouldn't worry me.

Based on the little data we have, it is unlikely that most of your panels will be dead in 2031. There is a chance that one or three will fail between now and then. It's open for discussion whether that's a 5% chance or a 50% chance.

It's also possible that an inverter will fail. Again, we don't know the odds.

If three panels fail in 10 years and you have to buy and have installed replacements on your own money, it may look slightly strange, but not ugly. I good installer can match color and come close on size. Only you will notice the difference.

At today's prices, panels are under $200 each and labor is comparable, so having a $1200 maintenance bill after 10 years should be reasonable. We'd love it to be $0, but if everything lands "jelly-side down", it's still not too bad.

[Ampster]

hanwha looks to be 5 years old according to their website. Chances of them being around in 6 years I'd say are 50/50
................

This website?
https://m.hanwha.com/en.html?amc=cmp...saAgpHEALw_wcB
According to my research, their parent is Hanwha Group, a diversified company who has been in business 67 years. What in particular about their financial position caused you to reach that conclusion? Sales of over 60 billion in USD. It is hard to find any Korean companies older than that since they were a colony of Japan from 1900 to the end of WW2.
Before Hanwha purchased Q cells in 2012 from their German owners Q cells had some history that is worth noting. My installer used them on my install and I have no concerns. They were also used on a 50 kW system 4 years ago in a municipal installation I was involved in the decision making and recommendation to that City Council.

[khanh dam]

hanwha looks to be 5 years old according to their website. (EDITED TO ADD, I READ THE MERGER DETAILS WRONG)
panel manufactures come and go all the time. There are a dozen solar panel manufacturers that have been around for over 10 years and then there are solar manufacturers that only seems to be around for several years, and the names contstantly change, hard to keep up.
come back in several years and report if there are any issues

congrats on the solar install!

[Cshama]

Yes it's a purchase. I actually just signed and feel confident I did the right thing. My payback is about 5 years and I've added 13% greater capacity then I'm currently using. I am also buying a new hvac system in the hope I can finally end up in a comfortable house.

[J.P.M.]

It looks like one way or another I am getting a 18.36kw system for around $20k net from either a local company or Tesla. Hopefully the local company.

The pvwatts calculator says I will save $5k a year and it should take care of all my electrical needs. Every solar company analysis I have seen backs this up. My roof faces SW and it has no obstructions so hopefully these numbers are accurate.

In any case it looks like a 4 year payoff. Hanwha panels now have a 25 year warranty so I feel fairly comfortable about that although I know they are not the best.

I am definitely staying in my house for at least that long maybe triple that.

Is there anything I am missing before signing,?

Just read ALL the fine print, TWICE, and don't sign anything unless you understand ALL the terms used and their consequences. Remember: If it ain't in writing, it don't exist. Ignore verbal representations from peddlers.

Remember "Caveat Emptor".

As for Tesla, you've been warned.

Just to confirm: This is a purchase, not a prepaid lease, right ?

Good luck.

[Cshama]

It looks like one way or another I am getting a 18.36kw system for around $20k net from either a local company or Tesla. Hopefully the local company.

The pvwatts calculator says I will save $5k a year and it should take care of all my electrical needs. Every solar company analysis I have seen backs this up. My roof faces SW and it has no obstructions so hopefully these numbers are accurate.

In any case it looks like a 4 year payoff. Hanwha panels now have a 25 year warranty so I feel fairly comfortable about that although I know they are not the best.

I am definitely staying in my house for at least that long maybe triple that.

Is there anything I am missing before signing,?

[khanh dam]

sorry do not have real data, but google solar failed, or solar needs fixed, or common solar mistakes and/or call a big solar installer like Titan, and talk to one of thier techs that do nothing but chase ground faults all day. Another big one is leaking roofs, but, that is not really a solar issue, more of a dumb mistake. Which is why I recommended metal seam roof with no penetrations using s5! connectors to rack.