Sunpower system in San Diego - Good deal?

[centralCalsolar]

If you are short of space then pay the penalty in additional cost for efficiency - if not then there is no real reason to pay extra.

That is good to know, we will see what they come back with and I suppose to should check out non sunpower vendors too. Like I said, I have room from my calcs for 18 panels facing south and another 6-9 facing west

We haven't moved in so I don't even know what to guess our usage will be either but just getting a head start.

[russ]

T
At any rate after doing some research on http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov I found that sunpower seems the way to go, although I am sure you pay for it too.

If you are short of space then pay the penalty in additional cost for efficiency - if not then there is no real reason to pay extra.

[centralCalsolar]

This is really good info here. I am in the beginning stages of looking into solar for a home that will be complete at the end of this month. The builder had outrageous prices for their systems and is not a part of the programs to have the home ready for solar.

At any rate after doing some research on http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov I found that sunpower seems the way to go, although I am sure you pay for it too. I have 1 bid in with a vendor so we'll see how it goes.

I got the schematics of our roof and by my calculations I should be able to fit 18 E20 panels facing south and easily another 6 facing west which is 7.8 kW by my math but not sure if the math is that simple AC/DC etc....

Anyways thanks for all the info so far.

[bcroe]

Tax & credits

Not sure why anyone would want to increase their withholding. It's your money your just getting back anyways. But you're right, it could take my buddy years to get the total credit since he usually gets most of his withholding back anyways from his mortgage interest & property tax deductions. He probably only chips away about $1,000 to $2,000 per year. That'd be 7-15 years!

My point was that my friend who makes about $50,000 a year and his withholding from his W2 was about $7,000. He was expecting at least $15,000 back just from his solar credit, but he was shocked that it wasn't the case. The kicker is he took a big loan out to buy the system and planned to pay the principal down with the expected refund. His overall goal was to get a payment that was manageable yet still be able to pay it off in 7 years. Now his monthly payment is a few hundred bucks more a month than he had expected.

If he knew that in advance he probably would have gone the lease route or not got a system at all.

I have no argument with the above, but its not much like my situation. My point is, the amount I can
claim in a tax year is on my 1040 line 61, NOT line 72. Bruce Roe

[LukeD]

I am thinking the portion of credit taken in a tax year is limited to the TAX LIABILITY, but NOT to WITHHOLDING.
Otherwise withholding could just be adjusted up, getting a gigantic refund later.

Tax years to get back a state tax credit might exceed a lifetime. Bruce Roe

Not sure why anyone would want to increase their withholding. It's your money your just getting back anyways. But you're right, it could take my buddy years to get the total credit since he usually gets most of his withholding back anyways from his mortgage interest & property tax deductions. He probably only chips away about $1,000 to $2,000 per year. That'd be 7-15 years!

My point was that my friend who makes about $50,000 a year and his withholding from his W2 was about $7,000. He was expecting at least $15,000 back just from his solar credit, but he was shocked that it wasn't the case. The kicker is he took a big loan out to buy the system and planned to pay the principal down with the expected refund. His overall goal was to get a payment that was manageable yet still be able to pay it off in 7 years. Now his monthly payment is a few hundred bucks more a month than he had expected.

If he knew that in advance he probably would have gone the lease route or not got a system at all.

[bcroe]

Tax Credit

it's not a "rebate", it's a "credit". Boy was he surprised when he did his taxes this year. He was expecting over $15,000 back from his solar alone not including his mortgage interest deduction, property taxes and other itemized deductions. His total tax refund $7,000. You will never get back more than your withholding. Yes you can carry forward that deduction into the future until it is extinguished but that can take several years.

I am thinking the portion of credit taken in a tax year is limited to the TAX LIABILITY, but NOT to WITHHOLDING.
Otherwise withholding could just be adjusted up, getting a gigantic refund later.

Tax years to get back a state tax credit might exceed a lifetime. Bruce Roe

[LukeD]

Sunpower Lease

Hi,

I had a 21 panel system installed in November. I was just turned on in March. My average bill prior to solar was around $300 the lease payment is $161.

SDGE only sends 1 electric bill annually but sends me an update on the balance monthly. Currently it's $-24. I estimate the panels will cover a little more than 100% of our annual use so we have some room to grow into it.

I had a friend who purchased the system instead of leasing it. He said I was crazy not to get the 30+% tax rebate.

I explained to him that it's not a "rebate", it's a "credit". Boy was he surprised when he did his taxes this year. He was expecting over $15,000 back from his solar alone not including his mortgage interest deduction, property taxes and other itemized deductions. His total tax refund $7,000. You will never get back more than your withholding. Yes you can carry forward that deduction into the future until it is extinguished but that can take several years.

Buyer beware when you purchase your system. I'm not saying that leasing is better than buying, that is a very individualized decision, but I think that the folks out pitching the products are not aware of the tax consequences and lead consumers to believe they will get a big rebate back on their next tax filing.

Hope this is helpful...

[infoseeker]

Looks like SunPower made changes to their prepaid Lease plan, got 2 quotes and both quotes for prepaid vs purchase were not much difference, maybe 2k difference. So, looks like for Sunpower Panels, Purchase is the better deal. Anyone out there with a difference experience. I'm in So Cal.

[TeCKis300]

Seems like I can't PM without having a minimum of 10 posts...

sduser, would you mind sending me some contact info if you recommend the person you worked with? Thanks.

-Paul

[TeCKis300]

I'm intrigued with this thread as I'm a San Diegan looking to purchase a ~6 kw array. Firstly, I've thought that to minimize ROI, that I absolutely wanted to purchase a system outright. I have been avoiding getting a Sunpower quote specifically for this reason and it seems that I may have been wrong in this thought.

I'll give this a shot and see where I land. Thank you for the firsthand info!

[sduser]

Thanks again. This helps with my research. I have a couple questions that may be off topic, but may help others in San Diego that end up here.

I'm curious about SDGE and how they handle excess production that is pushed back to the grid. I read somewhere that as a solar customer, SDGE sends one bill ANNUALLY. Does this mean that usage and excess production pushed to the grid are compared annually and they send a bill or check for the difference? I also read that SDGE buys excess at 4 cents per kwh. Trying to figure out which it is.

Once you get solar, SDGE sends two bills monthly, one for electricity and one for gas. Before, I got a single bill with both electricity and gas. The monthly bill is for the net of consumption minus production for that month. I haven't had a net production month yet, but I did have a month with an overall credit due to "reduce your use day" credits.

If you have excess production over the year, SDGE will give you a check or credit at the end of the year, but it is a pittance. I think that your 4 cent per kwh is about right. In contrast, the lowest tier for electricity you use is 15 cents and the highest is 29 cents, but that can vary by season. My goal was to generate enough electricity that I don't get above the lowest tier. So far, so good.

The thing that I'm more interested in than a rebate from SDGE is the production guarantee from Sunpoewr. If my panels don't produce the amount guaranteed to me each year, Sunpower has to send me a check for the difference. They only pay 7 cent per kwh but it's a good incentive to them to makes sure my panels are working. I can see how much they generate day by day, hour by hour, and so can they.

[bstr]

My main argument was about the lease which was a very good deal. The particular supplier I used gave me the lowest quote and did good work, but there were other companies that gave me quotes for the same lease.

I posted the results of my project here because I appreciated the helpful advice I got here while going through the decision process. Given the quick return on investment, I am surprised that more people aren't doing it, but I imagine incentives and paybacks vary greatly based on where you live.

Thanks again. This helps with my research. I have a couple questions that may be off topic, but may help others in San Diego that end up here.

I'm curious about SDGE and how they handle excess production that is pushed back to the grid. I read somewhere that as a solar customer, SDGE sends one bill ANNUALLY. Does this mean that usage and excess production pushed to the grid are compared annually and they send a bill or check for the difference? I also read that SDGE buys excess at 4 cents per kwh. Trying to figure out which it is.

I can't send personal messages yet, but if you could contact me offline (removed address), I may have a few more questions about the vendor.

[inetdog]

I understood when the links were removed. I didn't realize how much of an advertisement it looked like when I wrote and I expect there are rules on the website against posting links that I should have known about. Sorry about that.

No apology necessary. (But reading the rules and guidelines is always a good idea.)

If something like that link is done with good intentions the Mods will just fix it. On the other hand if it is part of a pattern of deliberate advertising or spamming it will get that user banned.

[sduser]

I understood when the links were removed. I didn't realize how much of an advertisement it looked like when I wrote and I expect there are rules on the website against posting links that I should have known about. Sorry about that.

My main argument was about the lease which was a very good deal. The particular supplier I used gave me the lowest quote and did good work, but there were other companies that gave me quotes for the same lease.

I posted the results of my project here because I appreciated the helpful advice I got here while going through the decision process. Given the quick return on investment, I am surprised that more people aren't doing it, but I imagine incentives and paybacks vary greatly based on where you live.

[inetdog]

I see. Well, I guess I came late after the link was removed.

Yep. You can usually identify edits made by Moderators from the fine print at the bottom. In this case:

"Last edited by russ; 09-24-2012 at 08:45 AM. Reason: removed ad"

When you edit your own posts, you should have the option of adding an explanation like that or not. (see below in this post.)