My utility does an energy sharing agreement, where they "bank" every kilowatt your system produces for the grid, and you get them back at 1/1 during the time your system isn't producing energy, like at night, or not producing enough for your usage, like in the shorter winter days. Every years end, any power still in your "account" is kept by the utility, and you begin again.
There are a LOT of things to consider before buying anything.
Most systems won't produce anything you will be able to use in the event of a power outage. This is because some poor guy downstream (electrically) from your home working on downed power lines could be electrocuted from the power your system is still generating. Therefore, in order to have emergency power in a power outage, you must buy an "islanded" system that includes a storage battery(s) and an inverter that senses the grid tie is down and shuts off any power from your system to the grid. Batteries are expensive, but a large enough bank could power your home for weeks of power outage, even allowing you to live off grid if you chose, though you might need to conserve more.
If you have suitable land, a ground mount rack system for your panels is a great alternative to roof mounting, but again the racks are more expensive than roof racks. The benefits are no damage to your roof, and the ability to easily clean them for maximum efficiency. Any maintenance is also greatly simplified.
I priced just such a system, 17.6KW with 4 x 5KW batteries and ground mounting. 44 x 400 watt panels.
The price included help with grant writing, installation, and any required maintenance or replacement (both parts and labor) for the full 25 year life expectancy of the system. Also remote monitoring by the company, as the equipment uses individual micro inverters for each panel (44 total) that can be checked and monitored by them, and you, using smart phone apps. If any part starts to show a loss of output, the system reads it, isolates it, and identifies the part needing service or replacement. Theoretically it will produce 105% of my electrical consumption based on a year's worth of bills from the power company. The cost? ONLY $ 74,200 dollars.
So, is it worth it? Depends. I plan on living here for the next 25 years. Hopefully. ;)
There is a 30% federal tax credit - a dollar for dollar credit - off the top of the system. You can use it over the course of five years.
On top of that, since I own a rural small business, I can apply for a federal REAP grant. If approved, it pays for 25% of the cost of the system, paid to me in cash. Only drawback is that it counts as income on your income tax.
Also, again because of my small rural business, I can use accelerated depreciation over 5 years, very useful for minimizing property tax adjustments to the property, which don't kick in for the first five years after the system is installed anyway.
So, 30% off in tax incentive = $22,260.00
A 25% grant could equal another 18,550.00
That's $40,810.00 off the cost of $74,200.00, making the net price of $33,390.00.
And that's before counting the savings on accelerated depreciation.
So, what's the ROI? I pay about 3K a year for power now. At current rates, something to think hard about.
If the left stays in power, and everything goes electric using alternative energy sources, electricity rates are bound to skyrocket. But right now, presuming I could get the grant, I'd be looking at a little over 11 years for ROI.
If I didn't get the grant, I would be looking at a net cost of $51,940.00. At current rates, it would be 17.3 years for ROI. But, both of those numbers are based on current rates. As rates go up, ROI happens faster - maybe much faster. Or slower, depending on whether the system provides the energy as advertised/quoted.
I don't need a loan, and this was the cash price quoted to me. I wouldn't consider doing this with a loan.
I look at it as paying for my electricity bill up front for the next many years, with the peace of mind that I will have power even when none of my neighbors do, and will have the ability to disconnect from the grid entirely should I so choose. And it won't be dependent on a fuel supply. I'm seriously thinking about it...
