JoshPlumSE
Structural
- Aug 15, 2008
- 9,694
So, I was recently informed by my homeowner's insurance that our insurance would not be renewed next year unless we replaced our existing roof.
That put me down a fairly "deep dive" on energy efficiency related to roofs and also the idea of installing solar on our roof. Eventually deciding to go full solar. There were a few things that I learned as part of this process that I though I would share:
a) The price for solar for our roof (2 story house with less than 2000sf) is approximately $35k. That includes materials, construction and everything. No discounts from the government that I know of in that cost.
b) When the solar panels are switched on (probably 2023 for me), we will get a $11k tax rebate when we file our taxes. Essentially 33% of the cost of the solar project. Which is the big "incentive" to go green.
c) We chose not to do the "battery backup" type of thing. Which would have added 10 to 20 thousand to the project. Therefore, if the grid goes down in the summer, we still won't have any power to our house (because of how the system works).
d) Because of the high cost of the "battery walls", one of the guys was talking about how it sounds like the "future" is to include the ability to use an electric car's battery as the battery backup. So, no "battery wall" would have to be purchased. But, we would have to redo the panel or such before we could do that. But, it would be much cheaper than the battery wall.
e) Electric companies are considering a "grid connection" fee for houses to recoup some of the loses they are incurring from all these homeowners who now have solar.
That put me down a fairly "deep dive" on energy efficiency related to roofs and also the idea of installing solar on our roof. Eventually deciding to go full solar. There were a few things that I learned as part of this process that I though I would share:
a) The price for solar for our roof (2 story house with less than 2000sf) is approximately $35k. That includes materials, construction and everything. No discounts from the government that I know of in that cost.
b) When the solar panels are switched on (probably 2023 for me), we will get a $11k tax rebate when we file our taxes. Essentially 33% of the cost of the solar project. Which is the big "incentive" to go green.
c) We chose not to do the "battery backup" type of thing. Which would have added 10 to 20 thousand to the project. Therefore, if the grid goes down in the summer, we still won't have any power to our house (because of how the system works).
d) Because of the high cost of the "battery walls", one of the guys was talking about how it sounds like the "future" is to include the ability to use an electric car's battery as the battery backup. So, no "battery wall" would have to be purchased. But, we would have to redo the panel or such before we could do that. But, it would be much cheaper than the battery wall.
e) Electric companies are considering a "grid connection" fee for houses to recoup some of the loses they are incurring from all these homeowners who now have solar.
