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Who's gone Solar

Bay Arean said:
I think that all of us should sober up about the fake adjusted price. That credit amount reduces your taxable income by the amount then your actual taxes paid are somewhat less, but nothing close to the stated difference.
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I believe your statement is incorrect. The 30% solar tax benefit is a tax credit, not a tax deduction. The 30% discount is real money you do not have to pay as tax (assuming your tax credit does not exceed your entire tax bill).

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/tax-credit-vs-tax-deduction
 
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Word, just like EV rebates, you need to plan accordingly by adjusting your deductions..?
 
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byke said:
Word, just like EV rebates, you need to plan accordingly by adjusting your deductions.
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Adjusting deductions has no bearing on your ability to take the full 30% credit or not. The calculated amount of owed tax on April15 is not important for this credit. The only thing that matters is if you paid, over the course of the tax year, a large enough amount that exceeds the 30% credit amount...if so, you will receive the entire 30% solar tax credit. I think.
 
Oh I see. Think I misinterpreted what I had heard about needing to have paid a large enough amount. You're saying that as long as you earn enough to pay, say, $7500 in federal income tax, then you're eligible for a tax credit up to that amount, assuming that's within the rebate cap. And, you'd file your taxes as normal, with the exception that regardless of what the +/- refund/debt difference is, there'd be $7500 on top of that..?
 
I know byke answered this once in a different thread but I'm lazy to search the KS.

I currently have 11 of these panels on my roof: Sharp NE165U1 165W https://www.solarelectricsupply.com...ne-165u1-for-home-grid-tied-solar-systems-561

The inverter on the side of the house is a Sunny Boy SWR 2500U: https://www.solarelectricsupply.com/Inverters/sunny_boy/sunnyboy-2500.html

That site is not where I got them from, it was just google search results for model numbers

Using round numbers and 100% efficiency, if the panels are 165W, that means 1815W total with 11 of them. If the inverter can take up to 3000W that means I could potentially find 250W panels if they're even a thing?

Next question - do panels have a universally agreed upon standard for mounting style and/or dimensions? I already have the feeling that if I reach out to a solar company I'll just get the used car salesmen tactic of YOU NEED TO JUST TEAR IT ALL OUT AND PUT IN NEW SHIT

Also the system is 20ish years old. Prolly due to update.

Thoughts from people smarter than me. Ready go.
 
byke said:
Oh I see. Think I misinterpreted what I had heard about needing to have paid a large enough amount. You're saying that as long as you earn enough to pay, say, $7500 in federal income tax, then you're eligible for a tax credit up to that amount, assuming that's within the rebate cap. And, you'd file your taxes as normal, with the exception that regardless of what the +/- refund/debt difference is, there'd be $7500 on top of that..?
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Yes, this is correct. And if your total taxes withheld during the year is less than your credit amount, any excess credit will be credited to next year's taxes. (Don't confuse withholding with final tax owed!). Which means if you're worried about getting the full amount of the credit in the current year, a possible hack is to increase your withholding on your W4 or quarterly payments so you deliberately pay too much in income tax during the year in order to get the full credit back in the year you claim it instead of spreading it out across multiple years. (People sometimes also do this in order to max out the amount of their refund or even so they can get a refund which they can then apply to iBonds).

Here's the whole skinny on DOE website: https://www.energy.gov/sites/defaul...ax Credit for Residential Solar PV - 2021.pdf
 
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mikev said:
I know byke answered this once in a different thread but I'm lazy to search the KS.

I currently have 11 of these panels on my roof: Sharp NE165U1 165W https://www.solarelectricsupply.com...ne-165u1-for-home-grid-tied-solar-systems-561

The inverter on the side of the house is a Sunny Boy SWR 2500U: https://www.solarelectricsupply.com/Inverters/sunny_boy/sunnyboy-2500.html

That site is not where I got them from, it was just google search results for model numbers

Using round numbers and 100% efficiency, if the panels are 165W, that means 1815W total with 11 of them. If the inverter can take up to 3000W that means I could potentially find 250W panels if they're even a thing?

Next question - do panels have a universally agreed upon standard for mounting style and/or dimensions? I already have the feeling that if I reach out to a solar company I'll just get the used car salesmen tactic of YOU NEED TO JUST TEAR IT ALL OUT AND PUT IN NEW SHIT

Also the system is 20ish years old. Prolly due to update.

Thoughts from people smarter than me. Ready go.
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1st off if it ain't broke don't fix it!
If you have space, leave alone what you have and add another system (panels, mount, inverter). You should not combine panels of different specs. You will be extremely hard pressed to locate more of the Sharp 165's. Perhaps used somewhere.

No, panels do not all have universal physical dimensions but many are the same.

You are very close to end of life for your inverter, but again if it ain't broke....
 
Bay Arean said:
But I have been Googling today trying to find out if anybody LIKES their installation and service. No luck yet. A reasonable person wonders if this shit even works. I mean, it must, right?
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We had our system installed back in 2016 by Solar City - they have since been absorbed by Tesla. We actually had 2 systems installed: one on our residence and one on the house we inherited from my wife's parents - our son is currently living there. We had to have their system R&R'ed 2 years ago to replace the roof, and we're doing the same on ours this year. Tesla charges us $500 for the R&R per our contract.

So far, we're happy with the performance of the systems, and with the service we get from Tesla.

As an aside: both houses will be up for sale next year!
 
Starpower said:
1st off if it ain't broke don't fix it!
If you have space, leave alone what you have and add another system (panels, mount, inverter). You should not combine panels of different specs. You will be extremely hard pressed to locate more of the Sharp 165's. Perhaps used somewhere.

No, panels do not all have universal physical dimensions but many are the same.

You are very close to end of life for your inverter, but again if it ain't broke....
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Wouldn't call it "broke" but it's nowhere near offsetting electricity use anymore.
 
Plus the cost difference. You could spend a bunch for a new system, or take what's probably a 130w panel after 20 years and replace it with 250w for like $2k. Just need to find the right panel that drops in.
 
Alan_Hepburn said:
We had our system installed back in 2016 by Solar City - they have since been absorbed by Tesla. We actually had 2 systems installed: one on our residence and one on the house we inherited from my wife's parents - our son is currently living there. We had to have their system R&R'ed 2 years ago to replace the roof, and we're doing the same on ours this year. Tesla charges us $500 for the R&R per our contract.

So far, we're happy with the performance of the systems, and with the service we get from Tesla.

As an aside: both houses will be up for sale next year!
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Is R&R repair and replace? The first offer said it was $100 per panel to take off, store then put back on.
 
TwistedGRAY said:
Hmmmmmmmmmm I like!
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Here's the one we have in our spare bathroom which is cold in the winter and is now only for guests so remains off for now.
 

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ThinkFast said:
Happy to help you out with a referral to the same guy I used at SunPower Direct. You'll get $1000 bonus in the price they quote you if you use my referral.

They seem to be able to accommodate the NEM2 timeline.

EDIT: I just checked out SunPower's BBB listing. They have a 4.29/5 star rating across over 1000 customer reviews, and an A+ BBB rating. They've been in business 31 years. Reading a few of the complaints makes me laugh sometimes, because people are complaining about things SPD can't control. One was about a micro-inverter that failed a couple years after install and the customer was complaining about how long it took SPD to arrange a replacement even after SPD explained that like a lot of electronics, supply chain issues reduced their ability to meet demand.

As for people complaining about not getting what they thought they would at true-up, I wonder how many of them realize that if they greatly oversize their system they aren't going to get $0.30/kwh for any excess they produce. That's all made clear in PG&E's NEM2 agreement fine print. The CPUC sets this at $0.02-0.04/kwh. Not going to go into the reasons for all this, but it's exactly what you should expect will happen if you oversize your system expecting to turn a little profit by becoming a micro-generation site. Ain't gonna happen.
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I read every complaint and review for ESP and Sun Power, at least deep into the latter as they have hundreds of complaints. I find the rating and the stars incongruent with the actual posted complaints and reviews. I have become a BBB skeptic, frankly after this.

It is more than laughable, so I disagree. It appears that slapping the panels on is the priority, seeing if they work later is the question. Look at the reviews too. Everyonce in a while, there will be a positive two line review that seems fake. When people take the time to sit down and write long and elaborate descriptions, this is life-changing. It isn’t just nuts, it’s normal people who are paying a ton of money for what amounts to a one-day installation, often on long-term loans and not actually getting service or having it fail after a relatively short time. Even allowing for the usual Yelp-type idiocy of ignoring a percentage of complaints, it’s troubling to me what is described.

Like I said, beyond the one response (thanks Alan), I am truly interested how many people are getting years of reliable service for their trouble. Maybe it;s most, I truly am not sure. I am a frightened consumer on a limited budget because of retirement. I put off solar for all these years because I figured it would continually get better, cheaper and more sensible. It sort of has, but it seems like human error and our capitalist system has resulted in a mostly sales-oriented business. Look at the business model itself. This big company we signed up initially doesn’t even have its own sales people. It depends on independent brokers of varying abilities to refer business to them. The guy who sold us was a broker and like I said, after steering us toward ESP (he thought it was the best choice and may well be for all I know), he suddenly found another when we refused. His recommended panels were THE best, as well as inverter, but many others of you believe the same about your other models. It just seems like a huge sales experience, followed by a troubling aftermath.

It’s just hard to get a grasp on this business to me but I obviously have my own limitations.
 
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Bay Arean said:
I am truly interested how many people are getting years of reliable service for their trouble. Maybe it;s most, I truly am not sure.
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Lance, you should start a parallel thread as perhaps those with solar have not bothered to post in this thread.
 
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