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Lowe’s has generac in stock (1 Viewer)

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Stickboy97

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So, he listed his at about $10k, the setup I chose is $50k, but I make enough to take full advantage of the 26% tax credit which should get me about $13k refund on federal taxes leaving me at $37k. So, 3.7x the up front cost. However, I have solar and Reliant does solar buyback so mine will save me $ every month. How much will it save me on elec? I hope to get permission to connect and start getting real world numbers to figure that out. The Tesla installers said 1-3 weeks for permission from Centerpoint. Tesla worked out a plan with them where they take photos and do standard installs so they can submit to Centerpoint for a photo inspection and approval. If Centerpoint needed to come out in person, their inspection wait time is 6 months atm.

Next clear blue sky at noon, I plan on disconnecting from the grid for an hour or so and connecting the solar so I can see what my peak generation is. Not illegal for me to use it, just fines from Centerpoint if they detect me feeding power into the grid.
Not knocking it all, but if you get to feed $100 worth back into the grid, it'll take 30 years to recoup your initial investment. Not sure what you'll get to feed back in, but that doesn't seem very good. I just bought a house & my wife was asking about adding solar. Not so sure now.
 

Cody

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So, he listed his at about $10k, the setup I chose is $50k, but I make enough to take full advantage of the 26% tax credit which should get me about $13k refund on federal taxes leaving me at $37k. So, 3.7x the up front cost. However, I have solar and Reliant does solar buyback so mine will save me $ every month. How much will it save me on elec? I hope to get permission to connect and start getting real world numbers to figure that out. The Tesla installers said 1-3 weeks for permission from Centerpoint. Tesla worked out a plan with them where they take photos and do standard installs so they can submit to Centerpoint for a photo inspection and approval. If Centerpoint needed to come out in person, their inspection wait time is 6 months atm.

Next clear blue sky at noon, I plan on disconnecting from the grid for an hour or so and connecting the solar so I can see what my peak generation is. Not illegal for me to use it, just fines from Centerpoint if they detect me feeding power into the grid.
Do I get a discount if I am a word of mouth customer?! o_O:censored::)
 

Cody

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Not knocking it all, but if you get to feed $100 worth back into the grid, it'll take 30 years to recoup your initial investment. Not sure what you'll get to feed back in, but that doesn't seem very good. I just bought a house & my wife was asking about adding solar. Not so sure now.
I'd just be fascinated if I could generate enough electricity to run my fish room off of solar, let alone my whole house. Cost aside, it's extremely interesting.
 

foos

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Not knocking it all, but if you get to feed $100 worth back into the grid, it'll take 30 years to recoup your initial investment. Not sure what you'll get to feed back in, but that doesn't seem very good. I just bought a house & my wife was asking about adding solar. Not so sure now.
I'll do a full post, but half that cost was the power walls. I also plan on sharing real world generation numbers since theoretical on paper power generation means little to nothing to most people. That being said, estimated production in year 1 is 16,015kWh, estimated system life is 30 yrs, and estimated decrease in production is 0.5%/yr.

Reliant does a solar buyback where they buy whatever you feed into the grid at the same rate they sell you electricity at. So, system paying for itself depends on a power company keeping that policy or one like it, and rates. Technically if they do not do a buyback you can use batteries to self power as much as possible and reduce your grid usage and that can pay for the system. Since they have buyback my system is staying set to backup only to extend battery life and to ensure that I have 100% when the power goes out.
 

foos

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Do I get a discount if I am a word of mouth customer?! o_O:censored::)
I have a referal code that is honestly better for me that I will put on the thread I make when I get to it. Gives you $100 off, and if 10 people use it I get a free powerwall. Also every time someone uses it to buy a car I get entered into a drawing for a roadster.

I couldn't find any threads on this setup here or on reef2reef so figured I would do a full thread on the process, give stats, and answer questions in return for people using my code if they decide to get Tesla stuff. I'll even let locals come by and check it out in person since that is a lot of money to spend on a product you have never seen in person.
 

Stickboy97

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I'll do a full post, but half that cost was the power walls. I also plan on sharing real world generation numbers since theoretical on paper power generation means little to nothing to most people. That being said, estimated production in year 1 is 16,015kWh, estimated system life is 30 yrs, and estimated decrease in production is 0.5%/yr.

Reliant does a solar buyback where they buy whatever you feed into the grid at the same rate they sell you electricity at. So, system paying for itself depends on a power company keeping that policy or one like it, and rates. Technically if they do not do a buyback you can use batteries to self power as much as possible and reduce your grid usage and that can pay for the system. Since they have buyback my system is staying set to backup only to extend battery life and to ensure that I have 100% when the power goes out.
Cool, I'd be very interested in the real world numbers. If you get to push back as much as you traditionally use, thus basically getting electricity at no extra cost per month, it might pay for itself much faster.
 

foos

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Cool, I'd be very interested in the real world numbers. If you get to push back as much as you traditionally use, thus basically getting electricity at no extra cost per month, it might pay for itself much faster.
I have not dug into the limit of what you can feed back, but my understanding is that there is none. There is a limit to the size of the solar array you can connect though. As part of the permitting they look at the production and when your production is at peak, 100% of it feeding back cannot exceed what the grid can handle and still have a safety margin.

Centerpoint is going to limit the size of the array for grid safety, but Reliant is not going to limit what they buy from you. I guarantee that solar power they buy from you at your normal rates is being resold at a premium to someone paying higher rates for a solar generated power plan.
 

foos

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nice. thanks for the detailed explanation. what was the total panel count if you dont mind? I want to do a covered patio/walkway along the back of my house in panels....i'm sure the orientation is not "optimal"
36 panels. Roof is the best spot. If you wire in series you can get a higher voltage and better efficiency, but shading on one cuts production of all in that string.

I don't know if Tesla will do a non-roof install, but other installers probably will. You could even do it yourself so long as you do not connect it to the grid. Victron makes things you could probably use to hook it to the grid without Centerpoint knowing, but I would not risk it. There are a lot of people that do diy systems with diy battery banks.
 

Stickboy97

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big brother is always watching and listening, this popped up “randomly” today on my FB.
 

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BigRick

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big brother is always watching and listening, this popped up “randomly” today on my FB.
Sign me up for zero down !! Lol my tesla qoute.. 3 powerwalls.. solar panels... 90k... or 10k down and 900/ month.... my monthly bill is 150-350 with another 2 years locked in. I use to pay around 200-450 with reliant.
 

foos

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Sign me up for zero down !! Lol my tesla qoute.. 3 powerwalls.. solar panels... 90k... or 10k down and 900/ month.... my monthly bill is 150-350 with another 2 years locked in. I use to pay around 200-450 with reliant.
That's crazy high. Do you have one of those roofs where it looks like the roofers were paid per ridge and valley? Mine had two rather large flat areas that made the install fairly easy. I did the middle size, 12.24kW, and 3 powerwalls for $50k. Zero down $254.95 for the first 17 months, then if I do not use my tax rebate to do a bulk payment the remaining figures out to a new monthly of $345.85.
 
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