Your solar questions, answered.

I recently spoke with a past client about their experience installing solar panels at their Margaretville home. Clients always ask me about the viability of solar in the northeast, as well as “is it really worth it?” There are plenty of factors and unknowns, but here’s how it went according to a real person!

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What made you decide to go solar? Bills too high, or more of a sustainability rationale?
It was to be more sustainable and I knew it would pay for itself eventually.  It was reassuring when electric rates jumped and we weren’t hit as badly as we could have been!

Which company did you work with?
Sunpower by New York State Solar farm out of Modena.

Did they do some kind of viability assessment?
Yes! They bring out a drone to take a 3D model of your house! They mix that with weather and geo data to see how much sun you get based on the location and sq ft of your roof.  They gather data on tree shade, angle of roof, how close it gets to point south to obtain max daylight hours - everything that goes into the equation.

Can you share more about the process of hiring this out, and working with the local power company on credits?
The solar company worked with NYSEG for permits and getting them to install the new meter box.  As for the credits, that’s something on the NYSEG side and it takes time as you progress throughout the year and start generating solar.  Mind you, winter you will produce less but when summer hits, it really starts to take off! So after a year we noticed we make over 75% of the energy we consume!

How long did the install take?
One day for panels and the electrical work!

Would you mind sharing what you paid for this install?
Sure, there’s a NYSERDA grant that lowers the upfront cost. Then, there are tax credits to lower it from there, so you go from roughly $29k to about $15k after grants and tax credits. But that has changed since the Biden administration increased the tax write off portion. Of course everyone’s situation can differ depending on their tax situation, so something to talk to your accountant about. Our numbers were based on the amount of panels we could install on our roof based on the sq ft available.

Do you have just panels on the roof? Battery?
Just panels, battery is phase 2 of our plan. We’re waiting for next generation batteries and the lower price that should be coming with those! EV charging is phase 3 with additional panels on a garage or carport to charge the car.

Eventually when you add batteries, will you be able to store what you generate for off-peak hours?
Not in New York, unfortunately.  We don’t have that off-peak-use-your-own-battery option. That’s only in California I believe for the moment. We can only use the battery as a back up when the power goes out, so it acts as a generator… a pricey one!

What is your electric bill now?
About 30 bucks, which is really just service charge and the evening usage of which NYSEG doesn’t allow you to dip in your “rollover credits” for off peak usage.  That was something we learned later.  Winter will be higher since we are using more power to heat the basement utility room and of course the main area when we aren’t leveraging the wood stove.

There’s an app where you can track the electricity you are generating. Can you tell me about that?
Yes, Sunpower has an app that tracks usage and production. It’s a nice guide to see what your daily/monthly/yearly numbers look like. I think there’s some DC to AC loss that’s not accounted for… but that’s above my head!

Any annoyances with the system?
I’m looking forward to when we have smart meters that report back to NYSEG our production and consumption on a monthly basis. Currently a person has to come out to the house to read the meter. As you can imagine, in winter they come out less. Smart meters are coming, but in 2024-2025. I also wish we could use our roll over credits for off peak use, but that’s a NYSEG thing.  We aren’t as progressive as California when it comes to solar ;)

Any surprise benefits you wouldn’t think of?
It kinda keeps our south facing roof cooler! The solar rays hit the panels and not the asphalt roof. I really noticed our attic crawl space on the south side isn’t has hot during the summer months, which of course saves on AC.

Ready to buy a home and install your own solar?