What is the current thought on solar arrays right now?
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Megunticook
Member
I did rooftop solar with battery backup on my home (Maine) in 2017 so I'll add my two cents.
Got quotes from Revision plus a couple other local installers. Revision has a good reputation, although we got the distinct impression that the sales guy we dealt with had some gaps in his technical knowledge. But they were growing very quickly at the time so he may have been new/undertrained.
We were going to go with another local company but everyone was booked out through the end of the year and Maine's net metering policy was set to be downgraded at the end of the year, so I ended up designing and installing the system myself in order to get it done that fall (it went well, learned a ton, lots of challenging work, but not sure I would recommend that route!).
For the battery bank I went old-school and installed flooded lead-acid batteries, which saved a lot of money. Figured battery technology is changing/improving quickly while prices keep dropping, so decided to go with FLA for the first decade then upgrade. So far so good.
Installed a 8K Outback inverter which has been very reliable. Pretty much runs itself once you get the settings dialed in. Did 21 305W panels for a 6.4K array (later added another string of 3 so we're up over 7).
Figured a 10-12 year ROI based on 2017 electricity prices, but of course with energy costs rising it looks like it will be more like 8-9 years.
To be frank, my incentive was as much about reducing carbon and enjoying energy independence/self-sufficiency as it was about ROI.
I'd recommend battery backup if you can manage it. Personally I don't see the point of having rooftop solar if you can't use it when the grid is down, but that's just my perspective.
As far as choosing an installer, I'd agree with others who recommend a local company over a national one. Revision has a good reputation (we used them to install a heat pump and that went well), although word on the street is that they're more expensive than some of the reputable local outfits. But bottom line they do good work and stand behind it.
Got quotes from Revision plus a couple other local installers. Revision has a good reputation, although we got the distinct impression that the sales guy we dealt with had some gaps in his technical knowledge. But they were growing very quickly at the time so he may have been new/undertrained.
We were going to go with another local company but everyone was booked out through the end of the year and Maine's net metering policy was set to be downgraded at the end of the year, so I ended up designing and installing the system myself in order to get it done that fall (it went well, learned a ton, lots of challenging work, but not sure I would recommend that route!).
For the battery bank I went old-school and installed flooded lead-acid batteries, which saved a lot of money. Figured battery technology is changing/improving quickly while prices keep dropping, so decided to go with FLA for the first decade then upgrade. So far so good.
Installed a 8K Outback inverter which has been very reliable. Pretty much runs itself once you get the settings dialed in. Did 21 305W panels for a 6.4K array (later added another string of 3 so we're up over 7).
Figured a 10-12 year ROI based on 2017 electricity prices, but of course with energy costs rising it looks like it will be more like 8-9 years.
To be frank, my incentive was as much about reducing carbon and enjoying energy independence/self-sufficiency as it was about ROI.
I'd recommend battery backup if you can manage it. Personally I don't see the point of having rooftop solar if you can't use it when the grid is down, but that's just my perspective.
As far as choosing an installer, I'd agree with others who recommend a local company over a national one. Revision has a good reputation (we used them to install a heat pump and that went well), although word on the street is that they're more expensive than some of the reputable local outfits. But bottom line they do good work and stand behind it.
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