We were interested in getting solar as we knew the benefits of reducing our carbon footprint and getting free electricity. When we started looking it was right at the beginning of COVID (May 2020)! It’s a bit of a process, first we started talking to the providers and getting basic consultations which typically include what are your coverage goals (50%, 80%, or 100% as examples), understand what is your current usage is by examining past electric bills. We also had to understanding our local electric companies requirements and regulations regarding solar.
Understanding Past Usage
Our solar provider requested the last 12 months of electric bills to analyze our total electricity consumption. Everyone’s usage varies, but ours totaled around 15.5 MWh annually. After talking to my neighbors, I found that our consumption was much higher than theirs. After discussing we realized that our appliances and having electric oven, dryer, and water heater, was contributing to higher usage, while our neighbors normally had at least one more gas appliance, such as water heater, dryer, or stovetop.
Here is our 2019 actual usage, as you can see throughout the fall and winter months we are pretty consistent, but spring we like to open the windows and get fresh air, then summer comes and we use our air conditioner a decent amount.
Total Coverage (Offset)
As I mentioned earlier, solar systems can be designed to offset a percentage of your electricity usage. Since solar production fluctuates throughout the year, providers estimate your potential production based on panel output, the direction they face, possible obstructions (like trees or buildings), the inverter type, and whether or not you add a battery storage solution.
We decided to go for 100% coverage of our electricity usage, meaning we needed a fairly large system. We installed 39 panels (330W each), micro-inverters for each panel, and a 10,000-watt inverter.
Here is the estimated solar offset in green, overlayed with our month usage in blue as seen above. If you took the sum of each month of actuals vs estimated they would be equal.
Note: We didn’t opt for a battery, so I don’t have much experience with that process.
Installation & Approval Process
The solar company then installed them for us and ran all the electrical, which took about a day and a half for the physical install. Next was submitting the paperwork to the electric company. The city did their typical inspection on the work as well. From the installation to our authorization to operate was about two months.
Purchasing and Financing Options
I wont get into to many specifics here, but these are the three most popular ways to purchase or finance solar.
- Cash purchase – Highest upfront cost but provides the best long-term savings.
- Solar loan – Spreads out the cost over time while still allowing you to own the system.
- Lease/PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) – Lower upfront cost, but you don’t own the system and may save less in the long run.
My suggestion is if you can afford cash purchase, do that, then solar loan as a second option. I am personally not a fan of the lease/PPA option, however at the end of the day, need to evaluate the options for yourself.
Looking back (Four Years Later)
Honestly its been kind of boring in a good way, it’s been low maintenance over the last 4 years. We did have a micro-inverter go bad, the solar company detected it and replaced it under warranty.
The most exciting aspect has been keeping statistics month to month on how it’s preforming and then post them annually here.
- All solar post – https://akschaefer.com/category/projects/solar/
- 2024 Statistics
Hope you found this useful, let me know what questions or comments you have!