Solar

[Vladimir_Taltos]

Nodack:

a. Said before, highly recommend Enphase, especially given the scalability of the system and the quality.
b. Given that...try here...

Installation Partners

[AmareIsGod]

We went with Black Platinum Solar, a Platinum Certified Enphase installer.

https://blackplatinumsolar.com/

Had 6 places come give us quotes. They were by far the most responsive and educational throughout. Never tried to oversell us on the size of our system.

[Nodack]

Thanks guys. Can they oversell you? I thought there was some sort of restrictions on how much solar power you can generate.

[Nodack]

We went with Black Platinum Solar, a Platinum Certified Enphase installer.

https://blackplatinumsolar.com/

Had 6 places come give us quotes. They were by far the most responsive and educational throughout. Never tried to oversell us on the size of our system.

If you don’t mind me asking, what size system did you get, how much did they charge and what is your electric bill now monthly? They said I needed a 6.5 Kw system.

[AmareIsGod]

10.36kw. 24k. About 7 or 8k in tax rebates. So 16k. We rolled that into our home equity while refinancing to about 2.8% on our home loan. The solar loan was 6.99% over 20 or 25 years. Made sense to just roll the solar in at a lower interest rate since we intend to payoff the home in 18 years, not the 30 year term.

House is single story, 1900 sq ft. 1979 slump block. We also have a Tesla we charge which plays into it. Look at your combined use over the past year on your electric to help right size with a 10% percent system size increase over that.

We get credits during most non summer months. The bill last month was $108 but we made the mistake of charging the Tesla one day on peak. Oh and we're APS, Time of Use with Demand charge.

[Superbone]

I had to look up slump block.

[Indy]

I had to look up slump block.

That is really interesting because I feel like any house I have seen in the Phoenix area built between 1960 and 1980 was slump block. Like it has been a part of my vocabulary for as long as I can remember. Makes me think about things I take for granted and how different all of our experiences can be, despite so many similarities.

[Indy]

10.36kw.

How much do you actually generate per day this month, for example?

I use about 160 kWh per day during the week because we are on a time of use plan, and about 185-190 kWh on weekends/holidays during the peak of the summer.

[AmareIsGod]

10.36kw.

How much do you actually generate per day this month, for example?

I use about 160 kWh per day during the week because we are on a time of use plan, and about 185-190 kWh on weekends/holidays during the peak of the summer.

58 to 64 has been about the average most days this month generated (so let's say 61 for the sake of argument). For the month of July, I've consumed 2.6 MWh and produced 1.8 MWh. Average consumption most days close to 88 kWh. 123.5 on July 22nd for the high.

[Nodack]

10.36kw. 24k. About 7 or 8k in tax rebates. So 16k. We rolled that into our home equity while refinancing to about 2.8% on our home loan. The solar loan was 6.99% over 20 or 25 years. Made sense to just roll the solar in at a lower interest rate since we intend to payoff the home in 18 years, not the 30 year term.

House is single story, 1900 sq ft. 1979 slump block. We also have a Tesla we charge which plays into it. Look at your combined use over the past year on your electric to help right size with a 10% percent system size increase over that.

We get credits during most non summer months. The bill last month was $108 but we made the mistake of charging the Tesla one day on peak. Oh and we're APS, Time of Use with Demand charge.

Thanks!

We have a two story stucco 1900 sq ft house. We are with SRP. I grew up in slump block houses. (I can’t believe Superbone grew up here the same time and never heard of slump block houses.) Your system is a lot bigger than what the guy proposed for me and about 6k cheaper than him too.

[Superbone]

10.36kw. 24k. About 7 or 8k in tax rebates. So 16k. We rolled that into our home equity while refinancing to about 2.8% on our home loan. The solar loan was 6.99% over 20 or 25 years. Made sense to just roll the solar in at a lower interest rate since we intend to payoff the home in 18 years, not the 30 year term.

House is single story, 1900 sq ft. 1979 slump block. We also have a Tesla we charge which plays into it. Look at your combined use over the past year on your electric to help right size with a 10% percent system size increase over that.

We get credits during most non summer months. The bill last month was $108 but we made the mistake of charging the Tesla one day on peak. Oh and we're APS, Time of Use with Demand charge.

Thanks!

We have a two story stucco 1900 sq ft house. We are with SRP. I grew up in slump block houses. (I can’t believe Superbone grew up here the same time and never heard of slump block houses.) Your system is a lot bigger than what the guy proposed for me and about 6k cheaper than him too.

I think my first house might have been a slump block house but I was too young to remember.

[AmareIsGod]

10.36kw. 24k. About 7 or 8k in tax rebates. So 16k. We rolled that into our home equity while refinancing to about 2.8% on our home loan. The solar loan was 6.99% over 20 or 25 years. Made sense to just roll the solar in at a lower interest rate since we intend to payoff the home in 18 years, not the 30 year term.

House is single story, 1900 sq ft. 1979 slump block. We also have a Tesla we charge which plays into it. Look at your combined use over the past year on your electric to help right size with a 10% percent system size increase over that.

We get credits during most non summer months. The bill last month was $108 but we made the mistake of charging the Tesla one day on peak. Oh and we're APS, Time of Use with Demand charge.

Thanks!

We have a two story stucco 1900 sq ft house. We are with SRP. I grew up in slump block houses. (I can’t believe Superbone grew up here the same time and never heard of slump block houses.) Your system is a lot bigger than what the guy proposed for me and about 6k cheaper than him too.

Black Platinum is very fair with great reputable work. John Jr and John Sr, family owned for like 20 years. Great warranty as well. John will talk your ear off. We had a few hour long conversations about life as well as educating me on all things solar.

[Nodack]

The talked to Black Platinum and they were great. I talked to a David guy who was very knowledgeable and down to earth. I asked about BU batteries and he actually advised against it right now because he is sold on Solid State batteries that are set to make a huge impact in the near future in solar BU and EV vehicles.

[Nodack]

I have had solar for about 4 months now from Black Platinum thanks to Amareisgod. It has pretty much halved my bill. I have found I make a lot of excess power that SRP buys back from me during peak sunny times.

I buy power from them right now at
7.90¢ from 11 pm to 5 am
9.46¢ from 5 to 2 pm
25.85¢ from 2-8 pm

SRP buys my excess power at
2.81¢

So why I am selling them power at 2pm for 2.81¢, then they turn around and sell it to me for 25.85¢ a few hours later? They also charge $30 a month just for owning solar. Doesn’t sound very pro Solar to me. My wife and I thought it would be smart to buy a solar backup battery and use the excess to charge that and then when the sun goes down that kicks in and at least gets us past the 8 o’clock.

We make on average about 20kWh a day extra power that is sold back to SRP. I call that free electricity for SRP. It makes my wife angry. She wants a solar backup battery even if it doesn’t save any money just to stick it to SRP. I called my solar guy and he’s not thrilled about solar battery prices. They are freaking high. He quoted me $22k for a system of two batteries that holds 10 kWh worth of power. I generate twice that much excess. A panel of 4 batteries would be ridiculous and certainly not save me any money in the long run. There is a 30% tax credit, which is nothing to sneeze about.

I have been pouring over the news about batteries and prices and it looks like prices of batteries has fallen and will continue to fall considerably as this tech becomes standard and the mass amount of R&D bears fruit. In the meantime I have focused on using as much of the power we produce as possible during the day. Run the pool during the day instead of night like usual. Run anything 220 during peak solar times like the laundry or charge the car between 11am and 3 pm. It almost makes it a game trying to use every bit of power during the day and then conserving at night. One plus is that I run the AC as cold as I like during the day and not worry about it.

My plan is to wait a year and see if solar battery prices make a move.

[In2ition]

Can't wait for those energon cubes.