I wonder how Jodi and her husband fared on their solar power installation in Washington state?

My sister in Ohio has solar power and geothermal heating of her farmhouse. The savings are pretty impressive. The key, I think, is to have a very good understanding of the economics involved and, if possible, the alternative of self-financing any capital installation you choose. The alternative return on your investment is going to be less than the cost of finance every time and deals like that described in the story cited depend on the property owner's inability to finance the capital improvements on their own.

Similar propositions are widely available in my region for other energy-saving deals. Third parties will install energy saving lighting systems for no cost to the building owner based on sharing the energy cost saving that will be achieved over the life of the replacements. It's attractive to school districts and similar entities who don't have capital reserves to finance such installations on their own.

In a nutshell, the devil is in the details. I'm currently using all-renewable energy, mostly provided by wind, because that's an attractive alternative in my region, but everyone needs to look at the possibilities as well as they can and the comparative costs of all the alternatives can be extremely hard to compare, especially when they're so sensitive to long term factors such as escalation of utility rates.

Big Al

quote:

Originally posted by big al:
I'm currently using all-renewable energy, mostly provided by wind, because that's an attractive alternative in my region,
Big Al

Interesting. How does that work? Do you get to choose from different providers?

How it works in Illinois:

https://www.citizensutilityboa...y-certificates-recs/

https://citizensutilityboard.o...ectricChoiceLong.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by big al:
I'm currently using all-renewable energy, mostly provided by wind, because that's an attractive alternative in my region,
Big Al

Interesting. How does that work? Do you get to choose from different providers?

There are several providers in my market area who provide renewable power to the grid. Basically, you contract with one to deliver power in the amount of your consumption as an alternative to your utility company. Various alternatives exist for both the mix of renewables (wind, water, solar) and the sources (within your state, regional) at various price points. Rate choices are variable or fixed for some contract term. Alternative suppliers also exist for energy from conventional (coal, natural gas, nuclear). The utility companies themselves now procure some or all of their power from alternative suppliers because deregulation led to the sell-off of generating capacity by the utility companies to independent operators.

Electric Choice is what choice of energy suppliers is called in Pennsylvania and is the result of the deregulation of electric (and gas) supply to consumers that was enacted a number of years ago. You can select an alternative supplier of the energy that is delivered to your home or business. You're still served by the same utility and charged for distribution by them. They also handle the billing for your supply and handle the supply charges as a pass-through from the supplier to the customer on the same bill, at least for residential customers. There are other arrangements possible for large commercial and industrial customers.

Big Al

Hmmm. We've had solar panels on 2 houses, for 15 years. That's a really bad solar deal. In the arrangements we've had, we paid outright for our first installation (in Arizona), but had a significant federal kickback. I don't remember what % of the installation was paid by us vs the feds, but it wasn't trivial. We owned the panels, and our power company (Salt River, for those who care) paid to add a solar-compatible meter and an emergency shut-off valve. Our system penciled in for payback in 8 years, but we were in the black right before we moved (of course!) at almost 7 years to the week. More importantly, we generated enough solar to run a credit in the winter, and that credit along with the solar power generated kept our summer bill well below the average of $200/month for houses of our size, with swimming pools. I think our largest power bill was around $180.

Here in the PNW, we did a lease arrangement with Solar City. We paid a flat rate up front, they did whatever they did with tax incentives, and we also received a bunch of tax incentives. Our total installation cost was around $900. Here, our results are opposite: we generate credit in the summer, and use it in the winter. Our power bill is higher in the winter (around $200/mo) but that's primarily because I'm a wimp and hate the cold.

So I guess my takeaway: there will be a payoff period, and there are people who set up their business models to take advantage of federal and state incentives. Some of those models are better than others. Let the buyer beware.

My experience has been completely positive.