Anyone have a net connected solar panel system?

[Caleb]

I would really be interested in helping whoever buys and decides to install this themselves... I am trying to buy a house and would love to install this on it when its finally mine so by helping you I can make a better decision on how to install it on my house....

I had a license as an electrician but I changed jobs recently and will be letting my license lapse.

I may take you up on that. I'll probably be doing mine early next year since the lottery isn't until January, I'd like to see if I can get selected in that. Wether I get selected or not, I'll still be doing it, but will be doing it sooner if I do get selected How long is your license good for? I was actually hoping to have you come do the licensed stuff if you were interested.

 

[gijohn40]

my license will expire at the end of this month...

 

[rockdog]

I hope when you get this done Caleb, you will keep us updated. This really interests me. I plan on dying in the house we are in now. (Hopefully not too soon) Our house faces South. So it would be a good fit for solar.

 

[UFAB]

To bad Utah does not let you sell power back to the grid like other states. What you don't use for power goes into a credit.

Coal and oil make some a whole lot of monies.

Check this site out..

http://www.bluegen.info/

 

[glockman]

Caleb, I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I've read that solar panel prices are going to drop drastically in the next year. I was aware of the RMP lottery. UT it's really limited. I am going to do exactly like you, apply for the lottery in January and if I don't get drawn I'll most likely buy a system in the late spring.

 

[rockdog]

To bad Utah does not let you sell power back to the grid like other states. What you don't use for power goes into a credit.

Coal and oil make some a whole lot of monies.

Check this site out..

http://www.bluegen.info/

There was a company in Cali that has the same system a few years ago. Hyped the hell out of it. Hooked them up to googles headquarters. I tried and tried to get them to talk to me about them. They made a lot of hoopla about there cells. But didn't want to sell them to anybody. Just like the link you posted. They seem to have disappeared now. I don't know if it was bs or someone bought them off?

 

[nnnnnate]

I'll bump this thread for any updates from Glockman or Caleb. Seems like 1Solar stopped by the house while I was away and set up an consult on the 12th. My wife and I have talked about solar in the past and are intrigued about it all. My younger brother is also going through the Civil Engineering program at BYU and scored a sweet job doing the engineering work for vivent after they sell a solar system in CA, NV, or AZ.

I'd be really interested in knowing what the install was like and how DIY it was/is as I'd like to save as much money as possible if we did it.

 

[Caleb]

I was about a day away from signing on the dotted line to have a system installed for me. Got cold feet at the last minute. I'm pretty frugal when it come to money so spending $40-$50k on a system was really tough for me to swallow. As much as I hate paying someone else. Give it another year or two and I'll probably do it. The other thing I found, everything I had researched matched exactly to what the "pros" were recommending so I'm quite confident I could do it myself. I'd just need an electrician for the hookups.

 

[nnnnnate]

I just calculated out our electrical use for the past two years, averaged at 700 kw hours per month. Thats with both my wife and I working and without kids to leave the lights on all the time. I would guess with the wee one on the way we would want to adjust that up a little for the coming lifestyle changes we're facing.

The back of our house faces directly south and has a pretty high roof without any blockage, seems to be perfect for solar panels.

I'll be interested in seeing where Glockman is in the process.

 

[Brad J]

We were about ready to pull the trigger a couple weeks ago with http://www.intermtnwindandsolar.com/ that are up by us in Woods Cross. They installed the system on our neighbors house in December. He said that his Rocky Mountain Power Bill went down from over $100/ month to $40 & then $12 last month. It is pretty neat to see the arrow on his meter turn backwards during the day. He has nothing but good to say about them & the system. We need to get our roof replaced so that has stopped us for now. They mentioned to roll that into the cost for the 30% rebate on all of it. I would rather save the money & re-shingle myself (If I am up to it) to keep the cost down. Our Home faces South so we are set that way. We used 8783 KwH in 2014 & got a quote for 23 - 255 W panels (5865 KwH) for $18,837. After the 30% Federal Rebate of $5651 & $2,000 State Rebate it would be $11,186 if we went in & got the bulk order discount. I have always wanted a Solar Panel System & it seems like now its getting to be very cost affective. Hopefully we'll be getting it soon.

 

[Caleb]

Intermountain was one of the companies we got a bid through as well. We also spoke with Alpenglow and Solartek. Imo, I liked Alpenglow the best.

 

[nnnnnate]

So how does it work with the rebates? I front the whole cost then apply for them and wait months? Is it a tax time thing?

 

[Caleb]

Yes, tax time thing. Also from my research, you are limited in federal per year, so even though you qualify for 30% at say $6k, you only get a couple thousand per year and the rest rolls over to the following year(s). When I get back in town, I can share my spreadsheet I used that does the ROI for you based on the numbers you plug in for your current monthly costs and the cost of your system. I'll also post up the sites I used where you can buy everything and do it yourself and save a significant amount of money. For example, DIY for me was right around $16k out of pocket, then I qualify for the rebates on top of that. As I mentioned above, my bids to have a company come and do it came in at $35k-$50k (I always add about 10% to their bids as I know they will have unexpected expenses not covered).

Edit, I think the federal rebate was something like it can offset your tax obligation up to 100% of your tax liability but can't be a credit (or something like that, I don't remember exactly).

 

[glockman]

I missed the Rocky Mountain Power lottery and my wife lost a sizeable portion of her income. I'm out for this year.
I pretty much echo Caleb though. I had two bids for around $30k before rebates. I found the same systems on wholesalesolar.com for around $15k. I have a 2 year old roof, a North facing house with clear South exposure and a really good friend with a journeyman license so I'm just in a holding pattern.
My best friend had solartek install a system and he loves it. He is paying less than $20 a month for power but paid a ton for the installed system. I'm sold on the benefits and on doing it myself, just need the finances to line up.

 

[jackjoh]

If I am reading this correctly it will take 15 to 30 years to pay for itself. Will the systems last that long?

 

[rholbrook]

There is a house close to me that had it done, it faces east and the south side faces the road coming in and you have a nice clear view of it on the roof. Its an eye sore. Another house close it has one on a pole in the back yard and it rotates with the sun but its on the back part of his 1/2 acre lot and not visible from the road. Looks pretty slick though

 

[Caleb]

If I am reading this correctly it will take 15 to 30 years to pay for itself. Will the systems last that long?

That's correct, most of the time it will take around 10-15 years to pay-off but the panels should have at minimum 20 year warranty and I would actually say I wouldn't get any without a 25 year warranty. That warranties their efficiency too, I believe down to 80%.