We’ve finally added solar panels and battery storage at our home after several years of evaluating the marketplace! Three years ago, I wrote about our process of Going Solar. Subsequently, I learned that the most important step in purchasing solar power is choosing the right company that will provide the best advice, price and customer service. At that time, I selected a company with a strong national reputation. However, as we worked through the approvals process, it became apparent working with people in Texas became very difficult as they did not know the local requirements and caused some problems with my neighbors who served on the architectural committee. We terminated that agreement which allowed us more time to get a better deal.
Prices and panels vary widely among installers so it’s important to evaluate the options carefully. We found great support from Energy Sage which assists the process in comparing companies, bids and designs.
With the 30% tax break ending this year while energy prices are rising, we felt the urgency more than ever for going solar. We learned the best offer and continued customer service came from a local company 8M Solar that several of our neighbors previously chose as well as winning bids from our local municipal government and regional airport. We considered options of paying cash or financing to install 29 panels and a Tesla Powerwall 3 battery system.
Who knows what will happen to the solar marketplace in the future as we’re already seeing layoffs at Blue Ridge Solar? Hopefully, the solar industry will survive and we will be able to maintain the system for 20+ years. Here are some very helpful production discussions I had with 8M Solar so far:
“I can confirm that it has been producing as expected. In fact, it has been showing around 10 kW of power output in the afternoons, which aligns with the panel orientation at your site. Regarding your observation of kW on the Tesla app, I’d like to highlight that it’s best to focus on kWh (energy produced over time) rather than kW (instantaneous power output). kW values fluctuate throughout the day depending on sunlight, weather, panels' orientation, and time of year. For example, summer months provide longer daylight hours and higher production, while production naturally decreases in the winter.”
”To better understand system performance, I recommend comparing your monthly and yearly kWh production against your estimated values. I’ve shared the estimated production chart below for your reference. Once you have 2–3 months of actual data, you’ll be able to compare it with the estimates to get a clearer picture of performance. Each Powerwall 3 has a total usable capacity of 11.5 kWh. The maximum continuous discharge rate is 11.5 kW, which means that if the battery were to supply power at its full output capacity, it could theoretically discharge from 100% to 0% in about one hour. In practice, the actual discharge rate depends on your home’s electricity consumption at any given time.”
So I’m keeping track of home energy consumption from our appliances and considering how much to use the backup reserve battery on a daily basis.