Posted on 11/25/2021 12:45:48 PM PST by Captain Peter Blood
I have been researching putting Solar Panels on my home and would like to know out there who has done this. How did it work out and what suggestions or opinions do you have.
I live in Arkansas and my home seems to be a good candidate for Solar Panels, it is finding the right company and getting the price that makes sense.
So far on Monday I dealt with a company here in Arkansas and I received a estimate for $35,000, without a battery backup system. That would cost and extra $25,000. Well I can't make those numbers work even without the battery backup system.
The recommendation was for about a 9.62 KW system.
The plusses on any Solar System are a 26% Tax Credit on the cost of the system, plus my energy provider, Entergy, would buy my excess electricity and run that as a credit on my monthly Bill.
After talking to this first company I decided to see what Tesla had to offer just as a comparison. Their bid was about $21,000 including the Backup Battery System. Huge difference here and I can make those numbers work for me.
So now I have something to compare to and will look at other installers in my area to see what the average deals are. Not sure Tesla even has a company they affiliate with in my state. Will find out.
I sent the Tesla bid to the first company I talked to and told them if they could match this we might be able to do business. Of course I have yet to hear back and probably will not.
Thanks! Appreciate the update and information.
Fascinating. I did not know this. I appreciate the info!
Talk to your insurance company before you do this. Many of them will NOT insure solar panels, so any damage from hail, hurricanes, storms, baseballs, is all on you. Also, you might VOID YOUR ROOF COVERAGE installing them also - talk to your insurance company.
I wouldn’t mind getting some, if they were near free, even just to block sunlight and cool the house that way in the summer. But the massive cost just isn’t worth it.
I do have a buddy that got some installed, and he likes them, but I have no idea how it helped his monthly finances / what total cost was. He did have some power from them during the TX snowstorm this year, so that can be a big bonus if you don’t have a generator and are in a high-risk area for power outages.
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