Update: Offset Solar Consultation Results
Brace yourselves for this figure...we were quoted for a system costing $65,440.
What does this include?
*41 Trina 300 watt panels (12.3kw)
*1? SolarEdge SE10000H-US Inverter
*Ground mounting, permitting, labor.
What are the terms?
*Federal Tax Credit subtracts $19,632
*Illinois SRECs subtract $15,441.30
*Offset Solar pays 1st year of loan subtracting $3,411.13
*Loan terms = 20yr fixed at 3.99%, no prepay penalty.
*Net cost if all incentives applied to loan = $26,956 + loan interest.
What are our initial thoughts/takeaways?
*The loan terms are actually better than expected, and cheaper than financing through home equity (we have a mtg in low 4%s and refinancing would raise that).
*The cost of the panels and the inverter are around $12,000 if we source them ourselves online. Which means labor, mounting and permitting come in around $53,000, which I have to image is outrageous. I would have expected a total system cost of $25k-$30k (before incentives) or so.
*The PDF proposal suggests this 12.3kw system will cover only 84% of our 16,700kwh annual electricity usage. (Our house has 4 adults, 2 kids living in it, fyi). 1390kwh/mo avg. This means our loan payment would $186/mo and we'd still have a $44/mo electricity bill. Our current average bill is $167/mo.
Conclusions:
*We were mostly interested to hear what they said and continue to believe the only way solar really makes sense is to pay cash up front and buy a system (they did offer this option, but 65k lol - not happening).
*It males sense to pay at least some premium for Solar since there are fewer social costs that I as the consumer am expecting society to cover, relative to fossil fuel-sourced electricity. This proposal's premium is unaffordable.
*The rep we spoke with was directly employed through Offset Solar, not a third party. He suggested they are employing the persons who would complete the project, and handle warranty issues, including manufacturer warranties. Their install time is presently 60 days out, so they are ready to move - I would be at that price too!
Questions/Comments:
Please let me know what you think of these details or if you have questions I didn't address. I wanted to do this writeup since there wasn't any info about Offset Solar when I was looking. Let me know if I'm way off on my conclusions/takeaways. Thanks for reading and any input offered.
edit: wording, comma
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