solar Archives - Lazy Man and Money

Four Years of Solar Power Reviewed

April 22, 2019 by Lazy Man 3 Comments

Happy Earth Day! It’s hard to believe, but this month is exactly four years since we got solar panels installed and activated.

I was nervous about taking the plunge. We got a $16,000 Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) to pay for the panels. That’s a lot of money. And though I thought I understood everything about solar panels, you never truly know what you don’t know. Finally, I never know if I can trust local contractors that I’ll save money – they are interested in getting the job and it would be impossible to hold them accountable if they stretched the truth.

Fortunately, everything went according to plan and we’ve been extremely happy. (Knock on wood.)

One very important thing to note is that government funding via state grants and federal tax credits paid for another $16,000. Obviously state grants are going to depend where you live. I did very quick/rough research and it seems like the 30% federal tax credit is still around for 2019, but then it starts to become less in 2020 and 2021 before disappearing for residences/homes.

In short, if you are thinking about solar power, now may be the last chance to get the best price.

Before I get into our personal financial experience with solar power, the benefits to the environment have to be mentioned. Even if it financially break-even, why not do something that helps the environment? To date, our dashboard says that our panels have accomplished the equivalent of planting 686 trees. Using metrics from the EPA, planting one tree offsets the same amount of CO2 as 55.3 kilowatt-hours of clean energy production.

Put another way, our panels have generated the equivalent of 12,640,541 AA batteries. My math could be off, but I think that’s around 668,822 pounds of batteries. It’s a good thing our house doesn’t run on AA batteries.

Calculating the Value of our Solar Power

You can call it 686 trees or 12.6 million batteries, but scientists would say we’ve generated 37.9 megawatt-hours in 4 years. Thanks to the wonders of the metric system, we can say it’s 37,900 kilowatt-hours or kWh.

The reason why we care about the kilowatt-hours measurement is because that’s the unit your electric bill uses. In Rhode Island it costs 11 cents to create one kWh and 10 cents to deliver it. The costs are broken down into more excruciating detail, but I’ll spare you. So overall, using a kWh costs $0.21.

That’s actually the most expensive electricity in the continental United States. (For some reason their numbers are 22.67 cents, which is different than my bill, but it’s close enough.) The average bill in Rhode Island is $203.35. Ouch!

The 37,900 kWh that we’ve generated in 4 years would have cost us $7,985.53. We can round up that last nearly $15 and call it $8000… exactly half of $16,000 we financed. Roughly speaking we’ll have recouped our $16,000 in 4 more years. However to account for interest and inflation, let’s call it 5 years.

Thus after a total of 9 years, we’ll save roughly $2000 a year. (That’s based on easy math of the $8000 we saved already over 4 years.) It will be more as electricity prices rise over time due to inflation.

Our panels are guaranteed to be ~95% efficient for 25 years. It doesn’t mean that they won’t last longer, but that’s just the guarantee. By the time that guarantee is up we’ll have 16 years of free electricity. With inflation our electricity would likely cost around $3200 by the end. I’ll conservatively estimate that the savings come out to around $2500 a year over those 16 years.

That’s $40,000 in savings! If the system keeps working well, it could be more than $50,000.

For a handful of days of research and another few for doing the work, that’s quite the return on investment. It’s a year’s worth of income for many people. While your state will likely be less of a savings, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

If you are thinking about getting solar power yourself, here’s a quick guide I wrote. It’s hard to get too specific because each state has its own tax credits as well as it’s own costs of power. If energy is cheap in your state, it could be a poor financial decision to get solar power. That’s why it can still save us money even though Rhode Island is not known for being sunny.

Have you explored solar power? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Solar Power is Still Awesome (Three Years Later)

June 27, 2018 by Lazy Man 10 Comments

It’s been more than three years since we’ve paid an electric bill… and it feels every bit as good as it sounds.

Yesterday we got our bill for May. It’s amazing to look forward to getting a bill in the mail. This was our best bill yet:

No, THANK YOU for letting me use your DirectNOPay Program.

For newer readers, I wrote an article here about how and why we transitioned to solar power. Solar power worked out for us based on a confluence of three things: house orientation (facing south), state and federal subsidies, and the price of electricity in general. The last two are Rhode Island related, but it make sense for you in your state. I think the federal subsidies are still in place, but you may want to investigate this quickly. To put it mildly, I don’t think environmental causes are near the top of this administration’s priorities.

We’re currently in the “sweet spot” of solar power. In the spring, the days are long which means a lot of sun. We don’t use much electricity as we don’t need heat or (much) air conditioning. We are starting to get into air conditioning season though, which is when we’ll start drawing down on that negative balance. (Or is it drawing up, because we’re in negatives?)

I think we’ve gotten as close as a -$50 balance, but this recent -$255 bill is the biggest credit I can remember. This June has been cooler than I remember and we were on vacation for part of the month. Maybe we’ll get to -$300.

It’s funny (and weird) to feel as much pride in that number as I do. In the grand scheme of our net worth, $255 is a round off error. Don’t get me wrong, I still run around to several groceries stores to save a couple of dollars, but we’re in a financial place where the difference between $125 and $255 isn’t a big deal… unless you “earn” it in small increments as we have. (I put “earn” in quotes there, because so much of it is passive and has nothing to do our active involvement.)

The best thing about not paying for electricity is just that… eliminating expenses. And as much as I gloat about it here, it’s a little dishonest to say we aren’t paying for electricity. Solar panels are not cheap. We took out a HELOC to cover them. A reasonable person could make the very valid case that we’re just paying someone else (the bank, plus interest) each month and we did not eliminate an expense.

If you want to make that case, at some point, we’ll eliminate the expense. The timeline on that seems to change every few months, but we are making good headway. If not for some other unexpected expenses, we would probably have been down to zero a little back.

Or maybe we won’t truly ever eliminate our monthly electricity bill. We are a couple of months away from paying off both of our SUVs (they were on 5+ years of low/zero interest loans), so in another 8 years maybe we’ll look into an electric SUV. At that point the SUVs will be 13 years old. If we don’t have Uber gPods, we’d likely be looking for an electric SUV with 4-wheel drive (for New England snow), which is a bit of a tall order right now. If it becomes a reality, we’ll shift some of our transportation costs towards our electricity bill. I’m not sure how that will impact things, but we’ve got nothing but time to figure it out.

Have you looked into the cost of solar in your area? Let me know in the comments.

Environmentally Friendly Money Saving: Make Your Home Energy Efficient

January 25, 2018 by Lazy Man 4 Comments

Because I’ve contracted the flu that’s been passing around the family, we’re going to do a guest post. Hopefully, when PainBot is done eating my soul, I’ll have a new article. In the meantime, Kostas Chiotis is here to save the day. He is an economist and he shares the latest tips on how to save money and manage finances at FinanceBlogZone.com. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Every time we think about home improvements, the first question that comes to mind is, “ Will this save me money”? Your goal might be getting out of debt, or saving money or just keeping your budget in place, but did you know that you can save money while being kind to the planet? I will talk about how we can make our homes energy efficient without hurting the environment.

In recent years, many people have become sensitized of the need to conserve the environment and save money at the same time. The perception that eco-friendly homes must be newbuilds is misleading because you can start making small changes to your home with the few bucks that you have. Such improvements can be done with any budget, without breaking the bank. If you want to make a start, here are suggestions to reduce your energy bills and help the planet.

Top 10 Eco-friendly Home Improvements to Save you Money

1. Seal Leaks and Drafts

Sealing air leaks during winter and summer will help you save some dollars off your energy bill. Check your house for possible drafty doors and windows, that bring in cold or hot air, forcing your air HVAC system to work extra hard to maintain desirable temperatures. Overworking the air conditioners or furnace means that more energy will be used up, putting a strain on your wallet. Test for leakage in draft-prone areas such as window frames, doors, baseboards, pipes and chimney and use weather stripping or caulk to seal them.

2. Roof restoration

Investing in roof restoration will save you money in the long run, although the price for the restore services could be high. During the summer, roof restoration will prevent heated air from entering your house, thereby reducing strain on the cooling system. It also helps in keeping the house warm during winter. You can lower the cost of roof restoration by using green roofing products and hiring a local contractor.

3. Use wood-framed windows

Replacing your UPVC and metal windows with wood-framed windows will save you money and protect the environment. Wood-framed windows last a lifetime, are more insulating and less polluting than the popular UPVC windows which emit toxic compounds. Also, wood-framed windows are easy to repair.

4. Install a Programmable Thermostat

If you use an old air conditioner at home, you are likely to see inflated utility bills during the summer, since these systems have to do extra work to maintain the home temperatures. Ideally, you have to turn off the AC when there is no one at home or lower the temperatures when people are asleep. You can quickly forget such actions.

With the programmable thermostat, you can regulate your home’s temperatures depending on the settings you choose for specific times of the day. Plus, it is inexpensive to install, and it will shave off some bucks from your bill.

5. Buy Energy Efficient Electric Appliances

When purchasing new appliances or upgrading your home equipment, check if they have the Energy Star label. The label means that the devices have been certified by Energy Star and meet a high level of energy efficiency. They offer significant energy savings without compromising on the performance. Also, some electricity providers offer incentives for replacing old appliances with the energy star rated models.

6. Install Solar Energy

Solar energy power is a renewable source of energy that is provided naturally from the sun. Although solar panels are expensive to purchase and install, they can result in huge savings in the long term, making your home green.

To take advantage of solar power, make sure you locate it in a place where it can collect as much energy as possible. Hire a local contractor to advise you on the best location for the solar panels. Also, you can benefit from tax breaks, grants, and incentives from the government, as they continue to encourage the public to utilize the natural power around us and bring down electricity consumption. If you are in debt, getting advice on how to manage debt and taking advantage of such government grants and incentives is good for your wallet.

7. Use Sustainable Building Materials

Did you know that you can use eco-friendly materials when building every part of your home? Using materials such as recycled plastics, recycled glass, reclaimed lumber, bamboo, and cork will help reduce the impact of the construction on the surrounding. They can be used as building materials, roofing materials, floor insulation and sealing air leaks in your home.

In addition, insist that your contractor recycles old wood floors, doors, and windows instead of sending them to the landfill.

8. Eco-friendly Lighting

Replacing your old bulbs with compact fluorescents lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs) will lower your electricity bills over time. CFLs and LEDs have a longer lifespan than the traditional bulbs, even though they are pricey. They are an ideal option for eco-friendly home improvements.

9. Add heavy curtains over windows and doors

Although they may seem cumbersome, heavy curtains or drapes will help conserve energy by trapping warm air inside during cold weather. Also, the curtains will keep the sun’s heat out during the summer, thus reducing an overwork on the air conditioner. This helps to reduce energy bills in the long term.

10. Water Saving Improvements

Moving from high flow to low flow faucets and showerheads will contribute to water conservation and cutting down your water bills. Also, you can help the environment by taking a shower rather than a bath that requires a lot of water.

Collect rain water by installing a water harvesting system and storing it in a tank. Use the rainwater for household activities such as watering your landscaping and flushing the toilet. Also, using tankless water heaters instead of hot water tanks will help save space and energy, since it heats only water that is passed through the electric coil. The extra space can be used for holding the rain barrels that store rainwater.

No matter how limited your budget is, you can make your home energy efficient and save the planet. The best part is, you do not have to make complete upgrades to be eco-friendly. Instead, start making small improvements, and your home will be green. In the course of the year, plan to make small improvements such as replacing your old bulbs with LEDs or CFLs, upgrading your electrical appliances to Energy Star rated models and sealing the air leaks around your window frames and doors.

Solar Panels: One Year Later

April 22, 2016 by Lazy Man 4 Comments

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Two years I underwent an adventure to Explore the Savings of Solar Power. We turned out to be perfect candidates and we moved forward. It took a few months to research. Then it took some time to find the right installer. After the winter was done, the installation could begin, and it was completed just around Earth Day last year.

I’ve written a number of posts on solar power overall. They may be worth reviewing if you think solar power might be right for you.

Conveniently this Earth Day gives me the perfect opportunity to write about what it’s like having solar panels for one year.

As a review, in Rhode Island there’s something called “net metering.” Rather than being off the grid or storing power in a battery, our electricity meter turns backwards as we produce power to give the grid and forward during the night (or cloudy days) as we use power. The plan is to move that meter backward. We can’t control the sunlight, but we can control how much energy we use.

Fortunately, there were really no significant surprises. The most eventful thing that occurred was a very little bit of snow where I thought, “Should I buy a telescoping broom to clean off the snow on the panels?” Fortunately, the weather turned better and it melted in a day or two.

The other big thing was that we actually produced more power in the summer than we used. That may sound like common sense since it’s the longest days of the year with the most powerful sunlight. However, air conditioning takes a lot of power, so usually the meter moves back the most in the spring and fall.

I was just looking at my National Grid bill and they do a good job of giving you an Electric Usage History over the last year. It’s particularly great if you happen to be a blogger writing about electric usage over the last year.

April 2015 – We used 387 kWh. I think that during this billing period we just starting to get online with the solar power.
May 2015 – November 2015 – We used 0 kWh. Unfortunately National Grid doesn’t report negatives here. However, this means that we paid $0 for electricity. In reality we were actually receiving credits that carry over to future months.
December 2015 – We used 59 kWh. The shorter days combined with the cold meant more heat and energy usage. This cut into our credit by a few dollars.
January 2016 – February 2016. Each month we used ~240 kWh. This is the first significant use that cut into credits by a good deal. I think they were like $20 or $30. So we didn’t need to send a check, we just watched the credits slip some.
March 2016 – April 2016 – We are back to using 0 kWh as we produce more power with the longer days. This last month, April, we built up $73 in credits as we were on vacation.

Our credit balance today is ~$270… and May should be another credit building month. It’s nice to not have an electric bill, but it’s worth remembering that we have a HELOC bill that replaces it. We won’t really break even on this for another 6 years and then we’ll start to see the financial benefits. I know that some think that’s too far in the future to plan, but we have no problem with planning for college or retirement, right?

If credits continue to build like they have, maybe we’ll look into getting an electric car someday. I’m putting that idea on the back-burner for now as I haven’t had a chance review electric SUVs with 4-wheel drive and other things that we want in a car. Also, our cars are just a couple years old, so I won’t mind if we drove them for another decade.

Nevada PUC Should Bloody Get Stuffed

February 22, 2016 by Lazy Man 6 Comments

If the title wasn’t clear enough, I’m feeling surly today. A couple of years ago, I talked with a couple of British personal finance bloggers and I loved the way they casually would say sentences like in title and make it seem normal. This is a family blog, so for today, I’m going to borrow some British language to express how I feel.

[Yes, part of the reason why I’m surly is that Le-Vel is suing me for this review. I go out of my way to help consumers make informed choices and they through a frivolous lawsuit at me. That’s a topic for another day.]

I’ve been saving this article for a couple of months now.

There’s a battle going on in the world of solar energy. Even if you don’t have a dog in this fight, I think it is a very interesting debate. Let me set the table so we can get started.

When you have solar panels installed they produce power during the day when the sun is out and not at night. (Yes, this is really basic stuff.) People, however, use power round the clock. You can buy a battery to store the excess energy during the day to use at night. Unfortunately these are expensive and still not very efficient.

The solution to the problem has been something called “net metering.” This means that as your panels produce power it moves the electricity meter backwards as you “sell” power back to the grid. At night, the meter moves forward as you use electricity. So you only pay the electric company for the “net” amount that you use when the production is subtracted.

And this “net metering” solution made everyone happy… until it didn’t.

It turns out that the electric company can’t easily take this produced power and just move it to the next house. There’s a some grid infrastructure stuff that needs to happen. It wasn’t a big deal for a long time because few people had solar. Now that more and more people are getting solar power, include families like ours (read our solar journey), it becomes a big deal.

It’s become enough of a big deal in Nevada, that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), changed the net metering rules. Instead of being able to “sell” back excess power at an equivalent rate, they’re only going to buy it back for 25 cents on the dollar.

The economics of going solar are fairly straight-forward. People put up an initial investment of tens of thousands of dollars based on analysis that it will save them money in the long run while helping the environment. When we bought our solar panels the math was pretty clear that they’d pay for themselves in year 7 or 8 and after that we’d be saving money.

The federal government encourages people to switch to solar by offering them a 30% tax credit. My state had grants to further lower the cost. The message that I was being sent by both levels of government was pretty clear, “We want consumers to adopt this technology so much we are going to cover half the cost ourselves.”

If my state were to institute the same net metering math of Nevada the panels we bought would break even probably sometime after their 25-year life expectancy passed. We, like most people, made the buying decision based on a hundred factors (such as location of roof, trees blocking the roof, typical sun, cost of local energy, etc.) none of which anticipated a net metering change.

In order to qualify for the state grant, the power company had to tour my home and make sure that we weren’t going to waste the power by using our energy inefficiently (old light bulbs, refrigerators, etc.). I don’t know if Nevada offers (or offered) state grants. At a minimum they should have had a similar process of meeting with the customer and telling them the risk of changing the net metering agreement. As best I can tell this never happened.

Maybe the power companies were blindsided by the problem, but now they are passing it onto consumers. As SolarCity said in the article above, “The Nevada government encouraged these people to go solar, and now the government is putting them at great financial risk.”

That article makes the point that, “The PUC staff has said customers generally understand that utility rates are subject to change, and the state never promised unchanging prices, even if solar companies did during the sales process.”

This is why the Nevada PUC should get stuffed. Everyone expects prices of electricity to change. That’s one of the main reasons why people choose solar. By producing electricity through solar, the cost is zero due to the initial outlay. When the cost of electricity goes up, the value of the power by the solar panels should go up too. This isn’t Nevada changing utility rates. This is changing a core policy. I wonder if the Nevada PUC highlighted this risk when the net metering was entered into. If it was, you’d think they would have said, “We informed all customers entering a net metering agreement that the rates at which you ‘sell’ energy back to us can change to whatever we see fit.”

Imagine if the government next year passes some kind of legislation that amounts to them saying, “We are going to tax all Roth IRA withdrawals at 75%. We don’t expect this to be an issue because the American public generally understands that tax rates change.”

Assuming that the typical Lazy Man and Money reader has been putting money in Roth IRAs for years, I think we’d be pretty upset. I think that’s probably what the solar customers of Nevada must be feeling right now.

And while this article has focused on Nevada, it isn’t just happening in Nevada. Many states have this issue of infrastructure expenses. The result of Nevada’s action has lead to a potential federal law to protect those who have already bought from such changes.

The other hope is that the batteries get better. Tesla has introduced a product it calls the Tesla Powerwall, which has a lot of potential.

I don’t know where all this is going to end up, but as Terrell Owens used to say, “Getcha popcorn, ready!”