The Journey Of Putting in Photo voltaic Panels On My Townhouse With A Shared Roof

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I’ve needed to put in photo voltaic for a very long time, however there has all the time been a motive it doesn’t make sense for me.

• After I first needed to put in photo voltaic about 8 years in the past, it didn’t make sense, since my roof was 15 years previous, and it provides rather a lot to your prices (possibly $4,000 or so in my space for 22 panels) in case you set up them after which must have them taken down and reinstalled in only a few years.
• I obtained a brand new roof a number of years later, however then it didn’t make sense to get photo voltaic, since my children had all moved out and I used to be making ready to downsize. In an ideal world, having photo voltaic panels can be an important asset in promoting your own home, since you have got executed all of the work to get them put in and the brand new proprietor simply will get the advantages. However we don’t reside in an ideal world. In the actual world, photo voltaic may be very interesting to some and an obstacle to others. Many appraisers don’t know how one can correctly appraise photo voltaic. What typically occurs is the customer likes having photo voltaic, however the appraiser received’t worth it correctly, so the vendor has to take a lower cost for the house.  It shouldn’t be that method, however many occasions that’s the method it really works in Florida.  So I didn’t set up photo voltaic.
• I efficiently downsized to a smaller new townhouse and now I didn’t need to set up photo voltaic within the first 12 months, since if there was a difficulty with the brand new roof, I needed the builder to repair it and never blame the photo voltaic firm.
• I had a plan so as to add photo voltaic in 2021 after the builder guarantee was over. However there have been 2 points. First, my householders affiliation (HOA) was in opposition to it. Now, Florida state regulation is evident that the HOA can’t cease you, they will solely ask you to submit your plan they usually can ask for affordable adjustments to the plan (not a lawyer, however that’s my understanding of the regulation). I didn’t really feel like an enormous combat. Second, after I mentioned with Tesla and different installers, they weren’t focused on serving to me navigate the complexities of putting in photo voltaic on a roof that I personal, however which is maintained by the HOA.
• The whole lot modified in early 2024 after I was driving round city working some errands and drove by one other subdivision of townhomes, and I noticed photo voltaic panels on a house. I instantly stopped and knocked on the door of that home to ask them how they did it! Sadly, they didn’t reply the door. I took some photos of the inverter. I regarded up the corporate, however it appeared like they had been out of Miami, and I didn’t need work with an organization that wasn’t native to Tampa. I went to the pool within the neighborhood they usually had the telephone variety of the corporate that manages the HOA. I referred to as them in the course of the week they usually defined that they accredited it on 3 situations to guard the HOA (I’ll cowl these situations later within the article).
• So I checked with Tesla, an organization that helps you to lease the panels referred to as Terra Power, and an organization that was chosen the non-profit group referred to as Photo voltaic United Neighbors organized cooperative in 2024 referred to as Remodel Photo voltaic. When you reside in Florida and need to use them, they gave me a referral hyperlink that provides you $500 off of your photo voltaic system. Tesla nonetheless wasn’t prepared to assist me persuade the HOA to permit it they usually price a bit greater than Remodel Photo voltaic. Terra Power had an important resolution if I needed flexibility because it was solely a 3-year dedication they usually had been skilled with putting in it on townhomes. Remodel Photo voltaic had nice pricing and was additionally skilled at putting in it on townhomes and prepared to assist me work with the HOA. So I favored each Terra Power and Remodel Photo voltaic. I made a decision that Remodel Photo voltaic can be higher if I keep within the townhome for greater than 7 years, since as soon as the panels are paid off, I’d have free electrical energy. Terra Power can be a greater deal if I keep in my house lower than 7 years since I’d see instant financial savings. I don’t know what the long run holds, however went with Remodel Photo voltaic since I feel I’ll be right here some time. The after-tax price of the entire system was solely a bit over $10,000, so if I do transfer earlier than I attain breakeven, the price of the system is a rounding error on a $500,000 house anyway. So I don’t care if the appraiser provides a lot to my house worth.  Since I signed the contract, my native utility has raised their costs twice! As soon as for hurricane-related prices and as soon as for gas prices. Each time they elevate their charges, my payback interval is decreased.

House Homeowners Settlement

Fortunately for me, the members of the HOA board had modified and though I wouldn’t say they had been pro-solar, they positively weren’t anti-solar. They spoke to their lawyer and realized they will’t cease it and simply want to guard the group. They requested I signal an settlement that obligates me and all future house owners of my property to do 3 issues.

1. That I insure and preserve my photo voltaic panels. Fortunately, my insurance coverage stated they had been lined at no additional price (some insurance coverage firms usually are not so solar-friendly).
2. That if my photo voltaic panels trigger the HOA’s insurance coverage prices to extend, I’ve to must pay the rise. Proper now, their firm doesn’t cost any additional (since they’re my duty), however that would change sooner or later. That was a threat I used to be prepared to take (since I REALLY needed photo voltaic).
3. Within the occasion of roof harm, I’ve to pay to have the panels eliminated and changed if they should restore or exchange the roof. This shall be a ache when it’s wanted, however hopefully it will likely be after 7 years when the panels are simply making free electrical energy.

Set up

Set up went easily. The one difficulty was the inverter couldn’t reliably hook up with my house’s Wi-Fi. This doesn’t have an effect on the manufacturing of vitality manufacturing of the system, however I like enjoying with the applying on my telephone and monitoring each the photo voltaic manufacturing and my house’s vitality consumption, and that doesn’t work if it isn’t related to Wi-Fi. I’ve heard this can be a frequent difficulty. They solved it by putting in a Wi-Fi extender in my storage. That labored, but when the inverter had a greater antenna, it might have saved a good period of time and trouble.  My cellphone had respectable Wi-Fi in the identical location because the inverter, so I do know there may be sign there.

My First Utility Invoice

As I discussed above, it wasn’t an important month, since we had some cloudy days, days are brief in February, and consumption was greater than regular because of some unseasonably chilly and heat climate. But it surely’s a begin. I count on to provide extra energy than I exploit throughout some months after which have some energy banked for the opposite months. I get to financial institution energy for 12 months after which any extra is paid out (at full retail costs!) in utility credit that I can use to pay my mounted charges.

Conclusion

I’m very proud of the outcomes. I don’t know the way a lot cash I’ll save. It might be $64,000 or extra, or it might be rather a lot much less. It actually relies upon what number of occasions I’ve to take away and exchange the panels over the following 30 years and the way a lot utility charges go up. If electrical energy prices go up by 4% a 12 months, I count on the panels to provide about $84,000 price of electrical energy and the price of set up is about $10,000 and a pair of removals and reinstalls are additionally about $10,000, so $84,000 much less $20,000 is $64,000. However I didn’t get the panels simply to economize, I obtained them principally as a result of I just like the know-how and needed to expertise it myself. Clearly, I just like the environmental advantages of lowering fossil gas consumption (my utility is 80% pure fuel, 10% photo voltaic, and 10% bought energy at the moment), however the know-how and enjoying with the applying and know-how was a much bigger driver for me.

Disclosure: I’m a shareholder in Tesla [TSLA], BYD [BYDDY], Nio [NIO], XPeng [XPEV], NextEra Power [NEP], and several other ARK ETFs. However I provide no funding recommendation of any kind right here.