If you installed solar +/or wind, what do you wish you had known? If you're thinking, what questions

[mahina]

Do you have? How did you select your installer? Did the outcome meet your expectations? What would you have done differently, knowing what you learned in the process? (Your state would be handy as well as state rebates or tax credits, mahalo.)

I'm hoping to build and share a free database of lessons learned as well as examples of decision making processes for adaptation of renewables in home and work environments. We'll have a small one here.

Thanks very much in advance! Looking forward to learning! Aloha all.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. I talked with someone about solar a year or so ago.

And it actually wouldn't pay for me to do so because my monthly electric bill only runs about $50-$60 per month. My little home only has about 900 square feet, and I don't have a/c, which would boost my bill considerably in the summer and perhaps make solar worthwhile.

However, if solar panels get vastly more efficient and perhaps cheaper to install, I might do it someday.

[still_one]

2. Shop around. Determine the actual savings, and determine the tax credit

What some may not be aware of is if you need a new roof at the same time, the roof potion that is covered by the solar panels, that portion of the roof install can be added to the solar panel work

[Pachamama]

3. That I wish I had not bought them but rather leased them from a company like Sunrun.

Although the Sunpower brand panels are working great after 7 years, I would rather have had the option of a lease plan like what is now available.

[ret5hd]

5. Question:

Are you a renter? If not, why would you rather lease? Just wondering.

[Pachamama]

6. No - an owner - but it has to do with the aging of the equipment and the costs and the ROI

…even including the tax benefit. If the option had existed then, I would have done it instead.

[TXCritter]

7. This is an option I want

I want a lease option because leasing can include and/or minimize support/maintenance costs. Overall it makes it more predictable and frees me of the obligation to have to fix things.

I also want it because I believe that if local electrical providers (most of whom are NOT generators) would start providing this option they would see that there is a vast new market for them to tap into that closes the loop with their customers and cuts the cord on their suppliers. A lot of co-ops are nothing but electrical brokers - they buy electricity and maintain the infrastructure but they don't generate the electricity. By leasing to their customers these small providers become generators reducing demand and lowering their own costs.

If I install my own system it will be because I want to play with it. But if I just want a system to work for me and provide a benefit to the environment, I would be thrilled with a lease option.

[WhiteTara]

4. I wish I had installed more batteries.

I had plenty of electricity, but couldn't access it because of insufficient battery storage.

[OnlinePoker]

8. I'm going to wait to see if the Tesla/Solar City roof and powerwall work

I need to replace my roof in about 5 years and this might be a more economical way to go with solar than separate panels on top of new asphalt shingles.

[progressoid]

9. Research the company you want to use.

I know a guy who had a small wind generator put on his property. He had nothing but problems. They did return a couple times to try to fix it but never got it right. Eventually they went out of business and he's got an expensive lawn ornament.

Conversely, I also know a farmer who put one up for his farming operation (much larger than you would need for a home). He did lots of research on different types and companies. And he asked other farmers about their experiences - good and bad. What he settled with has been working great for him for 4+ years now.

[Alex4Martinez]

10. Home storage will be critical for future installations. Time of Use billing.

Elon Musk is brilliant with the Powerwall, can't wait for more deployment and lower prices.

People should be on the lookout for TOU or time of use pricing, typically reserved for businesses but coming to a residential meter near you.

In Northern CA and most of the rest of the state homes are on a tiered rate plan that keeps kWh prices low up to a point, that's tier 1. Go into tier 2 and you get a price bump. Beware tiers 3 and 4. This applies to your monthly usage and incentivizes overall conservation and efficiency but does little more to green our generation mix.

During peak hours of the day, all resources need to be put to work and that means more fossil fuels and more purchased energy and this is dirty and expensive and why utility companies encourage using energy during off hours.

Tier 1, 2, 3 used to be like 17¢, 20¢, 25¢ but I think they've gone up to 18-23-31 cents.

So, they are in the process of shifting everyone over to time of use so that we are incentivized to use less over all still, but especially incentivized to NOT use energy during peak.

It's a complex pricing scheme, and it's modified for different subclimates (I'm in zone Q- coastal).

SO... home storage will be REALLY important when we go to TOU pricing because we can bank our energy during the cheapest times to use later during peak.

We win, the utilities win, and the environment wins!