Solar is complete

[techman]

SRECs have been around since 2010 or earlier. I signed up in 2011. I get about $35-45 per MWH. A co-worker got in earlier and was able to sign up to Washington DC and he gets $ 300 per MWH. I use srectrade.com, who is a broker. States pay SRECs to suppliers to help meet renewable energy requirements. The payments vary between states and are auction based. A few states will accept from out-of-state suppliers, but most only accept them from in-state producers. You can go monthly or there may be a yearly contract you can take, which seems to be an average of the market price. It's not a lot of money, but steady payments as a solar benefit. If you have solar you should check what your state might have to offer. srectrade.com can help in this information.

paul

 

[newbury]

I would have thought one of them would have tried to sell me something. But I have a full whole house of sensitive electronics. Tvs, computers, projectors. Hell even washers dryers, stoves, fridges, etc all have electronics. Not like they get replaced frequently.

Makes one question the effective or necessity of such devices.

I had a $500 dishwasher get the circuit board fried twice by electric problems. That was years ago and our son put in a whole house surge suppressor.

 

[LD1]

I guess what i'm getting at is my standrd reduction 24k will outweigh any credit I would get. yes?

Its a credit. Not a deduction.

So if you pay federal taxes at all....you will get the credit.

But its what they call a "non refundable" credit. Meaning it cannot make your taxes go BELOW $0 whereas you get back more than you pay in.

For example....you work all year and pay in $10k

But with deductions and whatnot....you "should have" only paid $6k

That means you get a $4k refund BUT you still paid $6k in taxes.

If your 30% solar credit equals $12k.....you WONT get it ALL back the first year. You will get $6k back bringing your TOTAL taxes down to $0....but not below. The other $6k of your 30% credit will be gotten back in following years.

So long as you pay federal taxes once its all said and done....you will get the credit. Just might take a few years depending on what your yearly tax liability is and what the amount of your credit is.

Some people pay damn near 6 figures for a solar install if hiring it done.....which means $25-$30k credit coming back to them. If they only pay $6-$8k a year in taxes due to deductions and other credits (like child tax credit)....it may take 4 or 5 years to get the full amount

 

[gsganzer]

I've been starting to do some research on solar PV options for when we build our retirement house. One of my thoughts is to double duty the PV panels by mounting them high enough to serv as a lean-to carport for parking things underneath. Where we're considering moving to, lightning storms and hailstorms can be pretty frequent in the spring. So, lightning protection is a necessity. How well do the PV panels handle hail?

How much efficiency do you gain by the seasonal tilt being adjusted?

 

[LD1]

I've been starting to do some research on solar PV options for when we build our retirement house. One of my thoughts is to double duty the PV panels by mounting them high enough to serv as a lean-to carport for parking things underneath. Where we're considering moving to, lightning storms and hailstorms can be pretty frequent in the spring. So, lightning protection is a necessity. How well do the PV panels handle hail?

How much efficiency do you gain by the seasonal tilt being adjusted?

Some of your questions I honestly cannot answer. No idea how they fair in hail.

Regarding mounting high to use as a semi-carport.....there is a gap between panels. So if your idea is to shade whatever is under it should work. But to keep rain off....that wont be ideal.

The issue with a solar mount that you can buy...they arent designed to be mounted that high with wind loads. In your case...you would probably be better off actually building a carport, and simply mounting the panels on the roof of the carport.

Regarding the seasonal tilt....I played around with PVwatts solar calculator. I kept going back and forth and changing the angle and seeing what the estimated production is per month....to see what would be the ideal angles for each and every month.

The sinclair racking goes from 15 degrees to 55 degrees. So I looked at every month between those two in 5 degree increments.

Lets take the extremes for example.....

In july.....at 15* tilt I can produce 2661kwh. At 55* it would drop to 2092kwh

In december at 15* I can make 950kwh....but at 55* its up to 1187kwh

If I had a "fixed" angle....the max that it shows would be 22,103kwh at 30* tilt.

By finding the best angle every month I can get ~22,900kwh.

So seasonal tilt gains me about 900kwh annually. OR about $90/year. The season adjust feature added $625 to to bill. Take off 30% fed credit...season adjust cost me $438. So just shy of a 5 year return on that added investment.

Most people compensate for lack of ideal angle or azimuth by adding panels. Sure I could have added a panel or two, racking would cost more, and more wiring/inverters. Cost would have probably been similar. But even if I went with a 30 panel array....the season adjust jacks still would have made sense. And honestly, I just had to draw the line somewhere

 

[murphy1244]

Its a credit. Not a deduction.

So if you pay federal taxes at all....you will get the credit.

But its what they call a "non refundable" credit. Meaning it cannot make your taxes go BELOW $0 whereas you get back more than you pay in.

For example....you work all year and pay in $10k

But with deductions and whatnot....you "should have" only paid $6k

That means you get a $4k refund BUT you still paid $6k in taxes.

If your 30% solar credit equals $12k.....you WONT get it ALL back the first year. You will get $6k back bringing your TOTAL taxes down to $0....but not below. The other $6k of your 30% credit will be gotten back in following years.

So long as you pay federal taxes once its all said and done....you will get the credit. Just might take a few years depending on what your yearly tax liability is and what the amount of your credit is.

Some people pay damn near 6 figures for a solar install if hiring it done.....which means $25-$30k credit coming back to them. If they only pay $6-$8k a year in taxes due to deductions and other credits (like child tax credit)....it may take 4 or 5 years to get the full amount

Thank you very much for that explanation.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I've been starting to do some research on solar PV options for when we build our retirement house. One of my thoughts is to double duty the PV panels by mounting them high enough to serv as a lean-to carport for parking things underneath. Where we're considering moving to, lightning storms and hailstorms can be pretty frequent in the spring. So, lightning protection is a necessity. How well do the PV panels handle hail?

How much efficiency do you gain by the seasonal tilt being adjusted?

The higher you mount them, (the elevation above the ground) the more wind loading potential you will have.
Company I was working for mounted solar panels on the carports at a VA Hospital. There was extra foundation work required. Its time to pull out the engineer and install something that won't tip over in the wind.
PV panels are subjected to a UL test that shoots 1 inch ice balls at them at a speed of around 50 MPH. Simple pass fail test. Tennis ball size hail will damage the panels.

And lightining protection, there is no such thing in the real world. A direct hit is a direct hit.

 

[ponytug]

I've been starting to do some research on solar PV options for when we build our retirement house. One of my thoughts is to double duty the PV panels by mounting them high enough to serv as a lean-to carport for parking things underneath. Where we're considering moving to, lightning storms and hailstorms can be pretty frequent in the spring. So, lightning protection is a necessity. How well do the PV panels handle hail?

How much efficiency do you gain by the seasonal tilt being adjusted?

If you want a carport solar array, they sell kits, but as @MAX-24-Dean points out, taller arrays need more of a foundation, so the overall cost is higher. A three sided carport may be a lower cost option. Many solar companies will not install solar panels on two sided carports. Tesla used to want some walls on all four sides, I.e. a garage.

If lightning is common, definitely add a whole house surge protector, but again, as @MAX-24-Dean points out, a direct hit is a direct hit, and nothing much survives a direct hit. Surge protectors will only help you when the hit is some distance away.

Oversize the array that you are putting in; pretty much everyone that I know has put in an array and then in a few years wants to upsize it.

All the best,

Peter

 

[gsganzer]

If you want a carport solar array, they sell kits, but as @MAX-24-Dean points out, taller arrays need more of a foundation, so the overall cost is higher. A three sided carport may be a lower cost option. Many solar companies will not install solar panels on two sided carports. Tesla used to want some walls on all four sides, I.e. a garage.

If lightning is common, definitely add a whole house surge protector, but again, as @MAX-24-Dean points out, a direct hit is a direct hit, and nothing much survives a direct hit. Surge protectors will only help you when the hit is some distance away.

Oversize the array that you are putting in; pretty much everyone that I know has put in an array and then in a few years wants to upsize it.

All the best,

Peter

Thanks for the responses. Yes, my idea is to probably build a 2 or 3 sided metal carport like structure (or equipment shed) and put the panels on the top. Either as a shade type roof (not expected to be fully water proof) or as an overlay over a true water proof metal roof. The main idea is not to mount them on the house roof, and not have a stand-alone eyesore of a solar PV array.

Metal equipment shed type buildings are common and relatively cheap in TX.

 

[ponytug]

@gsganzer my $0.02 would also be to check the metal building's wind speed ratings for the metal buildings, as I believe tropical storms and hurricanes aren't uncommon in your neck of the woods. A few extra bits of reinforcement might go a long way to preserving your investment...

All the best,

Peter