# Thinking of installing a solar system **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222 "2016-07-06T15:06:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/21 "2016-07-07T14:54:14Z")
Be very wary of installing a solar roof at this point. Public Utility Commissions [are changing the rules on Net Metering](http://www.marketplace.org/2016/02/23/world/nevada-solar) already in some states, and [more are likely to in the near future](http://climatenexus.org/net-metering-fight-understanding-latest-issue-nation%E2%80%99s-rapidly-changing-electricity-market). Basically, buy a solar roof if you think it’s the right thing for you and you will save enough money yourself, without counting on ever selling a cent worth of that power back to the grid. If you value going off the grid enough to front the cost of that system, or decide that the ecological benefits to locally generated power are important to you, then by all means, go for it. Understand that it’s not a business model, it’s your own personal energy independence investment and you’ll have to pay for it, both initial costs and maintenance. In my area we tend to get nasty hail storms every six to eight years. I’ve only had my house 10 years, but I’ve already got a new roof. I’m not sure a solar system would survive, and there is no rules in my state to allow net metering. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/22 "2016-07-07T15:29:31Z")
We bought 36 panels two years ago and couldn’t be happier. Our bills went from $800 a month down to negative. The utility (PGE) charges a yearly fee for the ‘privilege’ of selling them our excess, but that is mostly covered by what they owe us. They only pay us one fifth of what they charge, but it’s still a pretty good deal. With the pool and a/c going full blast we put out twice what we use. I love checking the meter and seeing “-” in front of the number. We are currently looking in to the new power storage system from Tesla. Getting further off the grid keeps getting more attractive. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/23 "2016-07-07T15:47:55Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Holy shit; how are you gonna fit a star and planets and asteroids and all that in a 4000 sq ft home??? Not to mention the Kuiper Belt. You may need to move to Heinlein’s “Crooked House.” ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/24 "2016-07-08T00:15:42Z")
Locally, we still have people cruising Home Depot on weekends looking for "likely to be Home Owner"s - their pitch is “Free Solar Install!”. When I ask if their “Free!” install includes a replacing the roof before putting up the panels, they leave me alone. This is CA Central Valley - lots and lots of direct, fry-you-quick sunlight. This area has a Government-owned power supplier (the water, OTOH, is a mess of 12 or 13 tiny private companies). I don’t know how loudly they are joining PGE’s push for metering changes. When the folks quit prowling HD, I’ll know that “slap on cheap PV and bill the Electric Company” is no longer a viable business plan. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/25 "2016-07-08T00:56:16Z")
It seems that, assuming all are acting in (more-or-less) good faith: Nobody has an Electricity Generation and Distribution model which can project costs and revenues if large numbers of former buyers become “mandated to buy from” sellers. The “pay the little kid” policy of ‘100% of Retail Price’ for their scraps of power was fine when there were a few oddballs with solar panels on their roofs. If, now, when it is summer and everyone has A/C running all day, instead of buying from the Grid, your local ElCo buys from the neighborhood. Lots of sunlight means both A/C and peak PV output. There aren’t models for THAT happening. If we now say: “Pay the micro producer the same as you’d pay the grid”, that solar array on the roof now takes 40 years, not 3, to pay for the install. So much for the folks cruising HD - their business model just got blown out of the water. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/26 "2016-07-08T01:14:05Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Be very wary of installing a solar roof at this point. Public Utility Commissions [are changing the rules on Net Metering](http://www.marketplace.org/2016/02/23/world/nevada-solar) already in some states, and [more are likely to in the near future](http://climatenexus.org/net-metering-fight-understanding-latest-issue-nation%E2%80%99s-rapidly-changing-electricity-market). > > Basically, buy a solar roof if you think it’s the right thing for you and you will save enough money yourself, without counting on ever selling a cent worth of that power back to the grid. If you value going off the grid enough to front the cost of that system, or decide that the ecological benefits to locally generated power are important to you, then by all means, go for it. Understand that it’s not a business model, it’s your own personal energy independence investment and you’ll have to pay for it, both initial costs and maintenance. > > In my area we tend to get nasty hail storms every six to eight years. I’ve only had my house 10 years, but I’ve already got a new roof. I’m not sure a solar system would survive, and there is no rules in my state to allow net metering. > > Enjoy, > Steven Thanks for the link Mtgman. And those in Nevada affected by the decision have no recourse for voting the Nevada Public Utilities Commission members out of office. Something stinks about that. ---
**Author:** ![joemama24\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@joemama24\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joemama24_98)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/27 "2016-07-09T13:49:32Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Or do you mean the **gable ends** face East and West? Yes, gable ends. ---
**Author:** ![joemama24\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@joemama24\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joemama24_98)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/28 "2016-07-09T14:00:25Z")
This is all good info - thanks all. Project Sunroof (cool link!) says I can expect 1804 hrs of usable sunlight per year and need 10.5 KW of capacity to meet my needs 99%. Curious how that compares to those of you who have put in a system and a happy with the decision. Unfortunately there is a ballot initiative here which may limit the benefits if it gets on and is passed in November. Of course, its sponsored by the power companies, and worded to sound like it would only benefit consumers. [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/consumer/fl-nsf-solar-ballot-proposal-20160331-story.html](http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/consumer/fl-nsf-solar-ballot-proposal-20160331-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/29 "2016-07-09T22:56:57Z")
I spent a lifetime in Florida one year. This proposition - a friggin’ _Constitutional Amendment_ at that - follows in the illustrious footsteps of General Development\* and a dozen other frauds. It enshrines the “Right to have Rooftop Solar” (gee, thanks!) while specifying that any “sell-back” to the grid would not burden neighbors who _didn’t_ have rooftop solar. For those who don’t see it: under this Constitutional mandate, if the Utility can show (smoke and mirrors welcome!) that requiring the Utility to pay for the power would cost the non-solar customers money, it would be Unconstitutional! (hint: since the only money the Utility has is from rate-payers, ANY payment to one customer would come at the expense of other customers.) - - who slapped cheap asphalt on swamp land and called the resulting swamp-with-asphalt “Residential Developments” and sold “building lots” to suckers who had never seen Florida ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/30 "2016-07-11T16:12:57Z")
My brother-in-law considered a PV system for an agricultural barn with a huge roof surface. One of the things he was told by a potential vendor was that in very hot climates PV panels were not as efficient as they might be in cooler climates. I suspect that might be because electrical resistance goes up in relation to temperature. Anyway, **joemama24\_98** , since you live in Florida I thought I’d pass along that bit of unconfirmed and possibly specious information in the event you proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/31 "2016-07-12T06:00:54Z")
> [@ASGuy](#): > > . I suspect that might be because electrical resistance goes up in relation to temperature. . Actually, a lot more complicated than that… “might be because of quantum-mechanics and semiconductor physics” But true in any case. Better efficiency on cold crisp days. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/32 "2016-07-12T12:07:25Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Holy shit; how are you gonna fit a star and planets and asteroids and all that in a 4000 sq ft home??? “OK, bad news… that’s a load bearing wall, so your Kuiper Belt has to go around it, not through it. You’ll have seven full planets up and running by the end of the day and that’s another thing, your Special Sub Contractor hasn’t called the GC yet.” “What Sub Contractor?” “The one for the eight planet? Your paperwork plainly says you have to find your own sub contractor to handle the eight planet.” “WHY!?” “Well, there’s a detailed explanation in your paperwork, but the long-story-short is that none of my crew is touching Uranus…” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/33 "2016-07-12T12:29:24Z")
Men are from Mars, women are from…Goofy? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/34 "2016-07-13T00:08:09Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Actually, a lot more complicated than that… > > “might be because of quantum-mechanics and semiconductor physics” > > But true in any case. Better efficiency on cold crisp days. OK: For reference, until I actually looked it up, my last I heard, PV efficiency was quoted at 2-3%. So it is now 22.5% - which explains why people are looking for roofs to cover. I am in CA Central Valley - lots and lots of bright sunlight - with temps in the 90-100F. Just how much will heat degrade PV? I was expecting gradual deterioration of output due to “Sun Rot” (UV). How much loss am I looking at - 3%? 10%. Those huge arrays out in the desert made me think heat was a non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/35 "2016-07-13T00:17:29Z")
Did I miss it or did we skip the obvious Uranus comments? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/36 "2016-07-13T02:09:29Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Did I miss it or did we skip the obvious Uranus comments? Post #32 it was tiny ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222/37 "2016-07-13T04:28:35Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > How much loss am I looking at - 3%? 10%. > > Those huge arrays out in the desert made me think heat was a non-issue. The important number is how much power you get per dollar, not how much efficiency you get. The problem is if it runs cold, you don’t want it to overload your system. Around here, I wouldn’t expect a solar system to be quoted at freezing point efficiency. But it’s Florida right? I always heard Florida was the natural home of dodgy development 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-installing-a-solar-system/759222.md?page=1)