I have done two solar panel installations. In one the solar company under calculated our historical usage used in the modeling so that it appeared that the panels would cover more of our usage than they actually did once installed. The panels did produce the amount of electricity they were supposed to, but did not cover our usage. I don't know if it would have made a difference, although we could have added some more panels to get closer to covering our annual usage, obviously with more cost. This installation was marginal from a financial standpoint, and my suspicion is that the solar company calculations were done to show we could cover our electricity needs at a dollar amount that was although not good, somewhat reasonable. If they had recommended the number of panels that were actually needed it would have made a marginal installation potentially not make sense from a pure financial payback viewpoint. I'm sure there are those here who will say well you should have known what your historical usage was - yes, true, although it was our first time through this and I relied on the solar company since I had given them our electrical bills for the past year. Anyway, that is one thing to keep an eye on - I'd go for a good overage on the total production, that is exceed what you think you will need, by perhaps 10-15%, if it fits within the project and your budget.
Statistics: Posted by CloseEnough — Fri Aug 02, 2024 1:45 pm — Replies 47 — Views 3103