Question for anyone who knows the answer: when you say they warranty "everything" with respect to the roof, what happens if there's significant damage from a hurricane (or other natural disaster)? What I mean is, say the roof has been made weaker from the installation, or the panels are ripped off of the roof and significant damage ensues? Is that ensured by the company? I have a feeling that wouldn't be covered by homeowner's insurance and I could see the company similarly arguing that it's not their fault. Just curious if there's any clause.
How does it work out for you during the winter? There doesn't seem to be nearly as much solar power during the winter. Did you see a precipitous rise in your SMECO bill? Was it still lower than it otherwise would have been, or is it more of a benefit in the summer and negligible in the winter?
I've been thinking about doing this, but my understanding is the panels are supposed to face south for maximum efficiency, and my house faces south. A bunch of houses nearby have done this and the few that had the panels put on the FRONT of the house look awful. Also, I've heard emergency workers don't like solar panels because they can't break in if there's any kind of emergency. Or has that issue been mitigated somehow?
Any other testimonials about solar power (purchase or lease), as well as what company, I'd be interested in reading about them to see if it's worthwhile. Thanks
We asked the questions about the roof and damage that may occur as a result of installing the system. If anything happened as a result of the installation of the panels, they would assume responsibility. In short, here is a quote from the contract,
"SolarCity’s Promises to You:
1. SolarCity will insure, maintain, and repair the System (including the inverter) at no additional cost to you as specified in the agreement.
2. SolarCity will provide 24/7 web-enabled monitoring at no additional cost to you, as specified in the agreement.
3. SolarCity will provide a money-back production guarantee, as specified in the agreement.
4. SolarCity will warranty your roof against leaks and restore your roof at the end of the agreement as specified in the agreement."
For more detailed information on this, you would want to talk to the salesperson.
As for winter, the system obviously doesn't produce the same amount as it would in the winter, but, even so, it is less than what we were paying per month. When the energy production of the system is estimated by the company, the climate is taken into consideration. If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, the amount of energy the system produces in a year is understandably going to be less and that is factored in when you have the initial estimate of what the system will produce. Even with the snow and less direct sunlight, our SMECO bill through the winter was still less than previous years.
I don't really know about the difficulty for emergency workers. Only half of our roof is covered with the panels, so there is still quite a bit of available roof space if there is a need to break in. Even on the side where there all panels, there are areas where the roof is not entirely covered. Beyond that, I can't really comment on this area.
Finally, the placement of the panels on the house if very important. They must be placed on the roof in the place where they will have the most direct sunlight. We were fortunate that the panels could be installed on the backside of our roof and cannot be seen from the front.
The bottom line in the lease/buy decision is whether or not you have the $$$ up front to pay for the system. We did not, so we leased. As I explained in a previous post, we lost tax benefits and the monthly benefit from SMECO, but in the end, we save money each month. Hopefully, over the course of 20 years, having 70% of our electric bill remaining at the same rate it is now (the lease payment amount) seemed worth it. The savings we will realize over time will be more than what we would have saved if we had never put the system on in the first place. If we could have afforded to pay for the system up front, it would certainly have been the best way to go, but we didn't have that option.
