Sunrun/PGE Solar Panels

[NickRoseSN1985]

So I went onto the Tesla site and put in our past few month’s usage and also the highest usage month from last year. It seems like a 10.25kW 25 panels 1 power wall could work. I’ll have to give them a call and some other solar providers.

I’ll also have to look into loans. I’ve never done a loan before, so any insight into that would help.

Ones that have solar who did you go with? Also if you did a new roof who did the roof?

 

[Coral reefer]

I got a home equity line of credit with redwood credit union. Pretty easy

 

[Solitaryensis]

So I went onto the Tesla site and put in our past few month’s usage and also the highest usage month from last year. It seems like a 10.25kW 25 panels 1 power wall could work. I’ll have to give them a call and some other solar providers.

I’ll also have to look into loans. I’ve never done a loan before, so any insight into that would help.

Ones that have solar who did you go with? Also if you did a new roof who did the roof?

If you don’t mind sharing publicly (or PMing me) I’m curious what price you were quoted. I’m getting a nearly identically sized system installed next week (only difference is that I am getting two batteries) and curious if prices have come down since I locked in a few months ago. Thanks.

 

[MolaMola]

I was firm on having the same company handle overdue new roof (plus flat roof on an old addition room altered to have a slant) + solar + elec panel upgrade on 70-yr-old house + batteries so there would be no issues of who is responsible should there be a leak or something. I also wanted a company that did not have reputation of ignoring customers after install or, like 80% of recent solar-only companies, be out of business when I have future issues. Really wanted long-standing Diablo Solar partly bc one of its founders decades ago was the father of a long-term friend and they had their own financing that sounded great, but the salesperson for Diablo never followed through with firm estimate and company seemed disorganized, plus the separate roofer they referred us to was not our favorite. However, their initial layout plan of panels was pretty close to what we ended up with.
Went with Livermore-based Yorkshire Roofing/RoofMax (solar) and Yorkshire handled everything - project manager Dan is excellent. They also did some sweet price matching since roofing and solar times were lean. Main offerings last year were Enphase + Maxeon (just before they tanked with SunPower) and I'm not sure what the alternate panels would have been, or Tesla + Panasonic, which is what we selected. We had all sorts of weird issues and delays, but eventually everything worked out. If you are going for the 30% tax credit you must get started ASAP.
I have no advice on loans and need to look into that more myself for other home improvements and received conflicting info from various financial institutions. I also inherited this house and if my assessed value jumped to market rate I could not live here; I almost took out some sort of home loan/line of credit that I think would have done that. My city offers some loan options I think including PACE and HERO, but the contractor selection was very limited. This was spring 2024, though.

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

So I went onto the Tesla site and put in our past few month’s usage and also the highest usage month from last year. It seems like a 10.25kW 25 panels 1 power wall could work. I’ll have to give them a call and some other solar providers.

I’ll also have to look into loans. I’ve never done a loan before, so any insight into that would help.

Ones that have solar who did you go with? Also if you did a new roof who did the roof?

We held our nose and went with Tesla (which was prior to the recent...let's say, bad PR).

Echoing what an earlier commenter said that they handily beat the price of any competitors. Here in Roseville, our total price for a 7.695 kW system plus 2 power walls, installation and everything included (though no roof work/etc needed to be done since it was new construction) was ~$40,000. Though this was before the current tariffs/etc kicked off so that number may have changed.

Also, please keep in mind that - if you have batteries installed - you will lose power for anywhere between 2 and 8 hours. Plan accordingly for life support for your tanks.

 

[Darkxerox]

Another thing to factor in:

 

[newfly]

I am also getting quotes for solar. I’m looking at 5kw system, no battery. Tesla pricing isn’t the best but they claim they can price match. I got a few very competitive quote from local installers through energysage.com . I suggest you check them out .

One possibility is to get Tesla to price match the lowest quote.

 

[newfly]

We held our nose and went with Tesla (which was prior to the recent...let's say, bad PR).

Echoing what an earlier commenter said that they handily beat the price of any competitors. Here in Roseville, our total price for a 7.695 kW system plus 2 power walls, installation and everything included (though no roof work/etc needed to be done since it was new construction) was ~$40,000. Though this was before the current tariffs/etc kicked off so that number may have changed.

Also, please keep in mind that - if you have batteries installed - you will lose power for anywhere between 2 and 8 hours. Plan accordingly for life support for your tanks.

Why do you lose power for 2-8hours if you have batteries? It’s counter intuitive.

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Why do you lose power for 2-8hours if you have batteries? It’s counter intuitive.

You lose power for 2-8 hours during the installation. Sorry for the confusion. It's a seamless transition between house and battery power otherwise.

 

[Darkxerox]

You lose power for 2-8 hours during the installation. Sorry for the confusion. It's a seamless transition between house and battery power otherwise.

This is a good point, depending on how much of a mess your electrical panel is and how good their electricians are. Mine was a total rats nest but the guy still got it done in about 5 hours. My parents' however took two days of ~8h shutdown due to the upgrade from a 100amp to 200 amp panel.

Another thing to factor in is that some systems can't charge the battery when the grid power is out, and can only deplete the battery. If that's important to you, make sure that you clarify it upfront.

 

[glee]

Ask the rep what is their partnership with PGE and how does this partnership help you. Ask them if they are participating in any PGE specific program. What benefit are you receiving as a CARE customer from their proposal.

Read Residential Solar and Storage Equity Rebate:

Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP)

Learn about the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) financial rebate for residential and business customers installing battery storage systems.

www.pge.com

Do you meet all of these requirements?

Eligible customers may receive up to 100 percent funding, combined with Federal tax credits. The funding is for installing battery storage, or solar and battery storage.

• Residential customers who live in a PG&E service area including Publicly-owned Utilities (e.g., Sacramento Municipal Utility District) and Community Choice Aggregator customers.
• Residential customers who meet 80 percent or lower of the area median income. Check the HUD calculator to see if you qualify.
• Residential customers with verified income who participate in one of the following programs:
  • California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE)
  • Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA)
  • Energy Saving Assistance (ESA)
• Renters are eligible for this program. Renters must obtain approval from their landlord before installation.
• The financial incentives that pay for your battery do not count as income. It will not affect your eligibility for MediCAL/Medicare benefits.
• The application information is used only to validate eligibility. The information will not impact your immigration status.

Next steps


You

• Find a contractor with certification. for this rebate program. First, visit How to Find a Contractor to get tips before hiring a contractor. If you need help finding contractors in your area, visit www.EnergySage.com.
• Sign agreement with the contractor.

Lease

• Pay a monthly fee to the contractor after the system is installed

Buy

• Pay the contractor after the system is installed and turned on
• Receive the incentive and 30 percent tax credit on IRS taxes after the system installation is complete.
• Maintain the system

 

[richiev]

Solar is awesome, as is free stuff. Really interesting situation you may be eligible for. That being said, solar sales people can be scummy, particularly anyone going door to door selling. Even more so if someone's offering a bunch of things under auspices of "it'll be free; we'll even give you a free roof!". I would be extremely extremely suspicious of this.

Roofs are very expensive. Solar is very expensive. Batteries are very expensive. Expensive + expensive + expensive = Free should trigger major red flags that someone may be not giving you all the real information.

• Are they going to guarantee everything makes it through various programs and file all the paperwork, or are they going to tell you you qualify and you have to submit all the stuff after they do all this work? Which in practice may mean they get you to do all the work you have to cover the expense and then file paperwork to get reimbursed, which also means you can get rejected later at which point they say it's between you & PGE or you & CA.
• Are they guaranteeing the roof, or are you finding a contractor? What type of roofing material? Your choice of shingles or the cheapest version they can find in surplus? Does it include removing existing shingles and doing replacement on any areas of the roof that need new sheathing?
• Are they baking the cost of the roof & solar & battery & ... into the lease? If so, is it cheaper than the loan route if you can get one?
• When you decide to save cash and ditch the expensive AF reef tanks, will you be stuck paying high lease costs for electric you don't use?

I love free and discounted stuff, and using whatever rebate programs are available. Definitely do if you can. Just be careful.

edit: also minor note, looking at the design they sent you, that looks very suspicious too. It looks like they're putting panels over venting you currently have in your roof. You can't do that, unless you have the vents moved which may or may not be possible, but would be additional costs too. Suspicious for someone to right from the get go be suggesting that, unless they discussed it with you.

I also would take this for advice somewhere besides BAR. Lots of informed people here, but there's solar-specific reddits and forums who will likely have a lot more direct knowledge.

 

[NickRoseSN1985]

I have a virtual consultation with Tesla this Saturday. Is there anything specific I should ask?

Also what is better a solar loan or Home Equity? I was just looking at Provident Credit Union I’m with and there Solar loan is 7.875.

 

[Darkxerox]

I have a virtual consultation with Tesla this Saturday. Is there anything specific I should ask?

Also what is better a solar loan or Home Equity? I was just looking at Provident Credit Union I’m with and there Solar loan is 7.875.

Basically ask about everything above, most importantly the interest rate, who gets the IRA 30% tax write off, whether the system (panels, inverters, etc.) is covered by any warranty, what PG&E discounted programs you're eligible for, if your electrical panel needs to be upgraded, what isn't covered by their bid, etc.

Also ask about whether your system will function (and generate power) during a blackout or off grid situation.

 

[newfly]

Tesla quoted me 13.5k for 5kw system, no battery. Cheapest so far. It will be ard 10k if you include the tax incentive.

 

[L/B Block]

Tesla quoted me 13.5k for 5kw system, no battery. Cheapest so far. It will be ard 10k if you include the tax incentive.

I would not do this without the battery. If power goes out at night? Plus you can use the battery during the day if you use more than what panels are providing as an offset against the grid.

For us -unfortunately we are underpowered (won’t get into this but can’t add any new panels due to pge) by using the battery down to 15% we are now only using 30% from the grid on daily basis -sometimes less -but also we can use the battery against peak hours as well.

 

[Fish Boss]

Just wanted to throw in my 2¢, i worked for a couple dudes years ago who started their own solar company, but I only worked for them for a short period of time.

I think having solar is a great idea, but you should definitely look to own your own system, not lease.

We always tried to create systems that would cover 90-95% of customers needs, because paying $0-$20 a month to PGE was a lot cheaper than getting pennies back from PGE and paying more per month for a larger system. Things have changed a lot since then, mainly electric cars, so I would lean more towards a bigger system being better in case you get an EV or something in the future.

It really matters how the panels are placed on your roof, its been a long time, I forgot the exact ratios but you want a configuration where your panels have the most sunlight throughout the day. Looks like most of you panels are probably on the most efficient side, but it looks like they also placed some panels on the least efficient side

 

[newfly]

I would not do this without the battery. If power goes out at night? Plus you can use the battery during the day if you use more than what panels are providing as an offset against the grid.

For us -unfortunately we are underpowered (won’t get into this but can’t add any new panels due to pge) by using the battery down to 15% we are now only using 30% from the grid on daily basis -sometimes less -but also we can use the battery against peak hours as well.

I’m not getting solar for blackout. I’m with Silicon Valley power not pge. As far as I know, they have generous net metering. The meter runs backward if you produce more than you used. At the end of the year, you get a summary of total used vs total produced .. its defeat the purpose of battery ( besides backup for blackout).

 

[L/B Block]

I’m not getting solar for blackout. I’m with Silicon Valley power not pge. As far as I know, they have generous net metering. The meter runs backward if you produce more than you used. At the end of the year, you get a summary of total used vs total produced .. its defeat the purpose of battery ( besides backup for blackout).

In that case..if true..score!

 

[divewsharks]

I’m not getting solar for blackout. I’m with Silicon Valley power not pge. As far as I know, they have generous net metering. The meter runs backward if you produce more than you used. At the end of the year, you get a summary of total used vs total produced .. its defeat the purpose of battery ( besides backup for blackout).

what they give per watt in return is a fraction of what they charge, it is not a profit generator in any way. Having a battery can save you money in that you can charge it all day and use it at night; not just for outage scenarios.