OT: Solar Panels in Mississippi

[bulldogcountry1]

Does anyone here have solar panels? I've been interested in them for for my home for years, but the incentives haven't gotten any better. The prices and/or efficiency of panels haven't improved much, either. I've run the numbers, but I can't seem to make it appealing enough. You are looking at 10-15 years to pay off a system, but there are a lot of variables. For me, it's not 100% about saving money. I like the idea of less dependence on the power company, but it still has to make financial sense.

There is currently a 30% federal tax credit, but I don't see any sort of state incentives.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

Not MS, but I did a good bit of research last year, and did not get them

For me it came out to about 8 years until they broke even, which isn't that bad but I still didn't want to drop 10-15K up front. I'm concerned that as more people get panels, the power companies will stop paying as much for the power you generate, which will alter the payback timeline. The lease plans are mostly a ripoff, you're basically buying your own power from the company that puts the panels on your roof, at a fixed rate for a fixed time. I want to say I was looking at a 5Mw system? I've still got the info somewhere, I got quotes from a few companies.

One other concern which may or may not be valid, a friend of mine actually sold panels for a while, and he said don't ever plan on using a warranty, as it's a gamble whether the company you buy from will still be around in five years.

 

[coach66]

It's a little like buying a PC in the early days. The advancements in efficency

took a while but they are now starting to take hold and make it more feasible than ever but probably still not there yet unless you have the state subsidies and net metering. There are going to be rapid advancements over the next 20 years in the efficiency of the panels and the ability to store the energy in batteries on the side of your house (Tesla). We are still in the very early stages. As OP4 said many of these Solar Companies are in the Wild Wild west stage right now so warranties and such is iffy.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

Thanks for the info. The installation is one thing I am having to guess at. I'm confident I could install the system myself, but one of the stipulations of the tax credit and the warranty is that it has to be installed by a certified installer. So, the tax credit essentially covers installation...maybe.

At this rate, I don't see any big change in the number of people with panels in MS, but I am concerned about the power company changing rules on feeding power back into the grid.

 

[johnson86-1]

Thanks for the info. The installation is one thing I am having to guess at. I'm confident I could install the system myself, but one of the stipulations of the tax credit and the warranty is that it has to be installed by a certified installer. So, the tax credit essentially covers installation...maybe.

At this rate, I don't see any big change in the number of people with panels in MS, but I am concerned about the power company changing rules on feeding power back into the grid.

Right now the only subsidies available in MS are the 30% federal tax credit. TVA has subsidies if you are served by them, but I think they limit how many people can get them. If a state tax credit is added on top of the federal one, or net metering is adopted, that will probably be enough of a subsidy to make solar economic or close to it if you are just liking the idea of solar. Usually after net metering is adopted and solar takes off, there is a lot of pressure to roll back the net metering subsidy because it drives everybody else's rates up. So far, that mostly hasn't happened, but if I were going to drop money on it, I'd be concerned about it. Once a few states do it, it might happen more quickly in states that adopted the subsidy later.

Also, as far as being independent from the power company, you're not really going to be more independent without some type of back-up generator or battery storage. Usually, you won't lose power unless there is a storm, in which case there's probably enough cloud cover that you're not producing a lot of solar.

 

[MarkDallas]

Louisiana is way ahead of us in this area. We live close enough to New Orleans to get their TV stations and they are full of companies advertising solar systems. I called because some of the deals sounded amazing. Turns out the reason they can offer the things that they do is Louisiana is subsidizing a lot of the costs. So it doesn't work in Mississippi.

A lot of the companies in LA have started offering a lease agreement. Some of them even guarantee that your electric bill will go down by more than the cost of your lease every month. Another advantage to this setup is that you don't own the panels. So the company does the maintenance.

If you drive into New Orleans, check out the roofs and see how many are covered with solar panels.

 

[kired]

I don't know anything about the subject but spoke with an electric engineer two years ago that seemed to really know his stuff. I've forgotten most of what we talked about, but long story short --- the state of MS has done absolutely nothing to promote it, and without new incentives it wouldn't make sense to switch.

He was a huge proponent of solar - and said MS receives plenty of sunshine - but he couldn't justify the cost in our state. Supposedly we're one of the least "solar friendly" states in the US.

 

[coach66]

I'm giving up my job as HOA Covenants enforcer, this is going to be too much**

nm

 

[FQDawg]

As a Louisiana resident, I can tell you...

that many of the people who have solar panels in New Orleans aren't necessarily thrilled with them.

One, as one poster said, a lot of the companies come in, sell solar panels for a while and then sort of disappear. Many of the panels on homes in New Orleans East were done this way. Even a few of the companies that are still around have been investigated for basically lying to customers. Which brings me to point 2...

Often, the savings from solar panels aren't as high as advertised. Louisiana isn't necessarily very high on the solar rating scale so many people aren't generating the electricity from their panels that their installer said they would. I read about one lady who had a power bill of about $150 a month. She decided to lease solar panels for about $50 a month, but her set up didn't generate enough electricity to really reduce her bill much. It went from $150 to about $120. So, when you add up what she pays to the solar company and what she pays to the power company, she was worse off.

At some point, solar is going to be a great deal for people. But it's not there yet and won't be until the systems become more efficient and battery storage is better. For now, it's not really worth it.

 

[patdog]

At some point, solar is going to be a great deal for people. But it's not there yet and won't be until the systems become more efficient and battery storage is better. For now, it's not really worth it.

THIS. I do think there are probably some people it would be worth it for, but not for most. Your example of the lady with the $150 electric bill is a perfect example. She saved 20% on her electric bill, which is significant. But she would have had to save almost twice that much to make it worth it. Google Earth is coming out with a new app that will estimate the energy savings house by house based on average sunlight, roof size, shading, etc. It's only in a 4 cities initially, but they're planning to make it nation-wide. I suspect my house will be very much not worth it with my large trees to the south of the house and the significant cloud cover in Mississippi. Put my house in Arizona and it would probably be well worth it.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

Here is a spreadsheet I did, and I just guessed at installation costs. A grid tie system is the most basic that ties into your power supply and has no batteries. Obviously, it is the cheapest. Add batteries, and the price shoots up. I can't see getting a system without battery backup.
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