Going Solar! Part 1

Well, I've finally done it!  I swear, I have wanted to add rooftop solar since I found out the technology existed when I was a kid.  Probably from watching Bill Nye or The Magic School Bus.  Either way, it's been on the list of things I wanted to do for right around thirty years, and we finally got there.  Even just going back to our old books about how electricity is made reinforced the idea that what we were doing back in the 80s and 90s couldn't last forever.  

Going solar isn't without its troubles though; I want to start by writing that even being able to do so comes with a huge dose of economic and financial privilege.  It's almost impossible to get solar on a home that isn't owner-occupied in our state.  Each company that we talked to asked multiple times if we owned or were renting and if we planned to stay here long-term.  Since both are true, getting set up was a much easier process.  I'm not sure an installer would have approved our project with financing if we didn't meet those conditions.  And financing a project this big -even with the IRA tax credit- is definitely necessary.  Full financial break down is in this post!

​Site Considerations

There was a lot to consider in planning this project!  With a new roof, removed chimney, and added bathroom vent, none of the satellite images were accurate for planning.  This was probably the toughest part of getting things set:  since we had a new roof that wasn't the standard asphalt and couldn't be quickly pulled up in an online search, we had a lot of back-and-forth to confirm the changes, make sure the equipment ordered was compatible with the new roof, and move around where the panels should go since the penetrations shifted.  

Since our house faces North, the slopes of our roof lie toward the East and to the West.  This made the entirety of our roof a good spot to hang solar panels.  We also don't have a lot of tree coverage directly adjacent to our house (RIP trees), so there wasn't any worry about not having sun exposure.  With the close proximity of one neighbor and an alley directly on the other side, we'll have a good portion wide open in the summer no matter what.  The location of our electric meter also made it easy to add the equipment, since there was ample wall space and access clearance where the A/C used to be. 

The Panels

Ultimately, we decided to go big and fit as many panels as we could onto the roof.  The initial design called for a few more than we have, but with how they wound up sitting on the roof, I'm not sure we could have fit another and kept the fire inspectors happy. We wound up with 42 panels for 17 kilowatts (kw).  The most a residential system is allowed to have is 20kw, and the only other place I've seen this size is on a farm in Southern MN.  Above 20kw, the regulations change.  

The amount of energy we use is much less than what we will produce the majority of the year, so our system is connected to our local power grid.  There are some issues with this infrastructure, though, and it's further squeezing small producers out of the market.  The NY Times had an article that outlines a lot of these issues.  What that means for us is that they will pay us back for any energy we don't use.  The current rate for that is about 20 cents/KWh.  This will also cover all of our energy needs for the vast majority of the year, eliminating most of our energy payment and helping us pay off our panels.

The Money

Financing a project this big -even with the IRA tax credit- is definitely necessary.  A lot of the cost projections for solar miss a lot of the items on the project, I think, to not scare people out of pursuing solar.  I've seen "It should cost around X without installation after the 30% tax credit," to "It's an average of X for this many Kwh" without stipulating what is included at all in the "X."  Without installation costs or permitting costs in a lot of these ads, the true cost is withheld. So, I'll break it down.

Our system -fully installed and permitted- cost $82,568.  After the 30% tax credit from the IRA, it'll cost $57,798. With using the tax credit toward our solar system, we'll have a monthly payment of $313 on the system for 25 years (annual APR of 3.99%).  We do have the option of using the tax credit elsewhere and having a higher payment after the first year and a half -the grace period for the taxes to come back.  The entire time the system is also fully warrantied until after the end of the loan. Keep in mind, that the average system in MN is 6Kw, ours is nearly 3x the average at 17Kw. 

Overall, we looked at how much energy costs have increased in the last 15 years, and we were able to determine that the fixed payment here along with making some other energy-conscious choices will do more than save us money in the long run.  And if anything terrible happens, the loan is transferrable.  With the new roof, this was one of the things that was doable for us and still made sense.

With the panels on, there is a whole lot more equipment that goes into making this system operate and integrate into the house, the power grid, and a future whole-house battery.  I will break that down in Part 2!  And just like with the HVAC system, I'll bring some data comparing our energy systems year-over-year in 2024.