Like a lot of people, I looked into going rooftop solar, but after doing some extensive research came away with more negatives than positives.
To start with, the big fight between the solar and electric companies is their “net metering charge.” The solar companies want the electric companies to buy their electric back at “retail” prices. That would be like trying to sell Walmart milk for $3.59 a gallon or gas to a gas station for $3.40 a gallon. All companies buy wholesale in order to cover their overhead and labor. What the solar industry is really doing here is shifting the burden of cost and maintenance of the electric company’s grid to all the non-solar users, which will raise nonusers cost of electricity.
Another problem with rooftop solar is it doesn’t produce electric during peak loads when the power companies need it (5 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.), but yet the solar industry wants to rely on the commercial power and equipment during cloudy days or at night when they can’t use their solar. This doesn’t sound fair to me.
Do you really want all this solar hardware bolted to your roof? If you get a leak from where they made the attachments, who is responsible? It won’t be the solar company. Starting this year, a lot of home insurance companies are demanding that you replace your shingle roof every 10 years due to all the hailstorm claims. Now, who pays to remove and reinstall all that hardware and panels on your roof? It won’t be the solar company. If your solar company changes ownership or goes out of business in a year or two, who warranties your system? Also, from what I was quoted, the warranty on the solar system is 10 years, which is not that long and if you financed your system, it would not even be paid for yet.
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Numerous studies on this subject now claim that the money would be better spent insulating your home, replacing doors and windows and changing to LED bulbs, while improving the value of your home.
Power companies like Duke Energy are spending billions of dollars building their own solar farms and carbon free power systems in order to bring us clean reliable energy, so why not let the experts do their job.
Harry Booth
Pine Ridge