February 8, 20223 yr 5 hours ago, paco said: I was hoping the opposite because that would have been my argument. You can probably make that argument with this car then
February 9, 20223 yr On 2/7/2022 at 2:36 PM, paco said: Moved into our new home in mid-October and after the holidays we started shopping around. The company we think we are most likely going with are using Hanwha Q Cells Q.PEAK DUO BLK ML-G10 400w panels. Their quote is for 27 but I'll probably bug em to bump it up to 28 or 30. One thing I didn't know about before I started this was SRECs. With the quote I got we'll generate roughly $450 annually which was an unexpected perk. Another thing I didn't anticipate..... schmoopie is now interested in going all electric for our cars. Especially since she learned about the Mustang mach-e. While I know she always get what she wants, f it, @vikas83 Tell me about your Tesla. Order a Mach-E before Friday or you won’t be able to order one this year and be stuck with dealer markups for anything on the lot.
February 9, 20223 yr Author 7 hours ago, 20dawk4life said: Order a Mach-E before Friday or you won’t be able to order one this year and be stuck with dealer markups for anything on the lot. Why is that?
February 9, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, paco said: Why is that? Ford is stopping orders of the Mach E for the year Friday.
February 9, 20223 yr Author 47 minutes ago, 20dawk4life said: Ford is stopping orders of the Mach E for the year Friday. Where did you see that. I did a quick google between bottle feeds and couldn’t find that
February 9, 20223 yr 29 minutes ago, paco said: Where did you see that. I did a quick google between bottle feeds and couldn’t find that It’s what dealerships have been told. Idk if they released anything to the public.
February 9, 20223 yr Author 3 hours ago, 20dawk4life said: It’s what dealerships have been told. Idk if they released anything to the public. Good to know. Thank you! We are making a few calls today. If we do decide to pull the trigger do you have any other advice?
February 9, 20223 yr 5 minutes ago, paco said: Good to know. Thank you! We are making a few calls today. If we do decide to pull the trigger do you have any other advice? Not sure how it works with the Mach-E, but definitely worth the money to get a 240v outlet in the garage to charge.
February 9, 20223 yr Author 1 hour ago, vikas83 said: Not sure how it works with the Mach-E, but definitely worth the money to get a 240v outlet in the garage to charge. Our solar person is going to get one put in for us. 4 hours ago, 20dawk4life said: It’s what dealerships have been told. Idk if they released anything to the public. Talked to a sales person. Friday is the cut off and they start taking orders for the 2023 model, which would delay us further. Thank you for the heads up!!!
February 11, 20223 yr Author I will update the OP with these (and any future) items learned as I am going through this process. This way in case anyone else decides to take the plunge in the future, you would have some bullet points to consider. SRECs aka Solar Renewable energy credits. I had no idea this was a thing before, but apparently you can generate these and sell them on the open market if you own the panels. For our system we are estimating $400-$500 per year For most people, the two options that are most attractive are leasing them or financing them. If you lease them, you basically pay the solar company a much lower rate on electricity than what the power company offers. The companies are responsible for the life of the panels, so if one craps out, it’s all on them. If you finance, you put no money down and get everything you need installed. Panels come with warranties, but after that if one craps out, its on you. You WILL be quoted a monthly rate that is lower than your average electric bill (in most cases), HOWEVER there is some fine print you need to read (and some companies were not forthcoming about this until you go a bit further down the road). After 15 months, there is a large bubble payment due that is roughly equal to the 26% refund from the govt. If you pay it, your rate stays low, however if you do not pay it the rate will go up significantly. Roughly 40% in our case. Careful tax planning is extremely necessary to make sure you have the funds to make this payment. Either way you go, I found most companies offer apps to monitor the health of your solar system With most power companies, you can’t go and buy as many panels as you please. Why? I have no clue. For example, with PECO we are having to jump through some hoops to make a case to put more panels than what would be needed to cover our current usage by 110% (110% is the maximum amount they allow in their net metering program, so basically you can cover your electric and roll over an additional 10%). We have built into our proposal two future electric cars (which is why we are jumping on the Mustang now) as well as a tankless water heater. If you are thinking about saving a few bucks now and only getting enough to cover 100%, make sure you are aware that solar panels degrade over time (roughly 2% in efficiency the first year, 0.4% every year after that) so after 25 years they will only be operating at 86% Solar panels efficiency rating – This is one stat that’s fun to nerd out to but honestly, I believe is worthless. It’s great a more expensive panel is at 22% (which double where we were 10 years ago), but a panel that is 20% may be much more affordable and produces the same total output. Focus on the panels total output and its durability over efficiency. Shop around and don’t be afraid to look at smaller companies to do your install. I talked to about a dozen or so companies and we ended up narrowing it down to 2. One is a huge company that covers most of the US (Hint: they give you a $4000 Costco cash card if you are a Costco member) and the other is a much smaller company that only serves parts of PA, DE, MD and NJ. We haven’t signed anything yet but we are 99% going with the smaller company. They offered a better financing rate, better panels, and a better overall price. Plus I have been working with their VP directly which has been a huge advantage in terms of service and communication. Being that said, I also spoke with some mom and pop shops that were duds, so do your research.
February 11, 20223 yr Author Just got a text from our solar supplier..... we are getting a 0% financing on the panels AND battery backup
February 11, 20223 yr Someone in NC that I know has solar and the company has different packages and if you get the biggest package but still want more panels then you'll have to get a waiver from the state to add more. Not sure if it's like that for the rest of the states
February 11, 20223 yr I actually just texted him to ask how many panels he has and was it worth it because he's had them for over a year now. He has 61 panels and it's not worth it to him lol
February 11, 20223 yr Author 24 minutes ago, Mike030270 said: Someone in NC that I know has solar and the company has different packages and if you get the biggest package but still want more panels then you'll have to get a waiver from the state to add more. Not sure if it's like that for the rest of the states We just spoke to PECO and got the approval for the extra panel. They tend to cap but we are laying out a future state. Looks like our output is up to 14,809 kWH with the extra panel 16 minutes ago, Mike030270 said: I actually just texted him to ask how many panels he has and was it worth it because he's had them for over a year now. He has 61 panels and it's not worth it to him lol I'm curious why he has that opinion. Did he Lease or Buy? Did they under or overestimate the # of panels needed? Is he leveraging SRECs or did he over estimate how many he would generate?
February 11, 20223 yr 39 minutes ago, paco said: We just spoke to PECO and got the approval for the extra panel. They tend to cap but we are laying out a future state. Looks like our output is up to 14,809 kWH with the extra panel I'm curious why he has that opinion. Did he Lease or Buy? Did they under or overestimate the # of panels needed? Is he leveraging SRECs or did he over estimate how many he would generate? He had them come out and figure out how many panels he'd need. They checked out the angle of the roofs and what areas got the best sunlight. He bought the biggest package the company had to offer because his electric bill was so high. He only got solar to lower his electric bill because they had made promises that he would only be paying a certain amount for electric with the solar. One company was offering a house battery but he could get one cheaper just buying elsewhere so he just stuck with the panels Just an fyi his house is electric
February 11, 20223 yr Author 30 minutes ago, Mike030270 said: He had them come out and figure out how many panels he'd need. They checked out the angle of the roofs and what areas got the best sunlight. He bought the biggest package the company had to offer because his electric bill was so high. He only got solar to lower his electric bill because they had made promises that he would only be paying a certain amount for electric with the solar. One company was offering a house battery but he could get one cheaper just buying elsewhere so he just stuck with the panels Just an fyi his house is electric It almost sounds like this company goes with the Poppa bear, mamma bear, baby bear model. I'm shocked they didn't do a calculator looking at his home's appliances, ac, tvs, etc to come up with a ballpark of his actual usage. Is he over producing?
February 11, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, paco said: It almost sounds like this company goes with the Poppa bear, mamma bear, baby bear model. I'm shocked they didn't do a calculator looking at his home's appliances, ac, tvs, etc to come up with a ballpark of his actual usage. Is he over producing? I'm not sure what all they did. I know they came to his house to go on the roof and take measurements. They also showed him some satellite imaging for his roof to see where the best places to put the panels for sunlight. I think they knew what his house was using because he went through his power company to find solar companies and get quotes I don't think he's producing enough to cover the electric use in his house. He's kind of given up on it and considered it a loss lol Pretty sure he said his value at least increased for whenever he plans to sell the house
February 11, 20223 yr Author 24 minutes ago, Mike030270 said: I'm not sure what all they did. I know they came to his house to go on the roof and take measurements. They also showed him some satellite imaging for his roof to see where the best places to put the panels for sunlight. I think they knew what his house was using because he went through his power company to find solar companies and get quotes I don't think he's producing enough to cover the electric use in his house. He's kind of given up on it and considered it a loss lol Pretty sure he said his value at least increased for whenever he plans to sell the house A rough estimate I saw is it can increase the home value by 4.5%
February 14, 20223 yr 27 minutes ago, binkybink77 said: We are getting the ice white edition of the Mach E Did you get to test drive it? The acceleration and instant power in an electric car is fun. And there's nothing better than never going to a gas station again.
February 14, 20223 yr 29 minutes ago, vikas83 said: Did you get to test drive it? The acceleration and instant power in an electric car is fun. And there's nothing better than never going to a gas station again. Unfortunately no - they aren’t in dealerships long enough to even see one in person. It’s kind of weird that we ordered a car we’ve never seen. I’ve always been a Mustang GT 5 speed manual kind of girl - so I guess this is the adulting version.
February 14, 20223 yr 1 minute ago, binkybink77 said: Unfortunately no - they aren’t in dealerships long enough to even see one in person. It’s kind of weird that we ordered a car we’ve never seen. I’ve always been a Mustang GT 5 speed manual kind of girl - so I guess this is the adulting version. I ordered my car before they had come out, so never got to test drive one either. They basically promised it would drive like a mix between a Panamera and a 911. They weren't lying. Hope you get it soon and enjoy!
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