10 Mistakes First-Time Solar Homeowners Make

What are the 10 Mistakes that First-Time Solar Homeowners make when purchasing Solar Panels for their home? In this video, I cover this and much more.

▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

0:00 - Intro
0:27 - Not Owning Solar System
2:05 - Under/Overestimating Power Consumption
3:02 - Need a quote?
3:17 - Not picking the right panel
4:26 - Not Understanding Net Metering
5:33 - Not investing Into a Good Inverter
6:24 - Not Understanding Federal Tax Credit
7:56 - Working with the wrong installer
8:59 - Falling for Marketing
9:31 - Installing panels on an inadequate roof
10:17 - Not installing proper battery backup
10:56 - Outro

[solarprosteam]

**Correction** Tax Credit will apply to Tesla Shingle Roofs, to claim tax credit for new roof, not a new asphalt shingle roof that you purchased with Solar.

[MarkoVukovic]

Excellent video! Here in South Africa, our corrupt government has broken the state utility company beyond repair, so we suffer up to 3 power cuts daily, lasting 2-4h each, so having a grid-tied or off-grid system is now more of a necessity than a nice-to-have. Content like this is invaluable, so thank you!

[hartleyhubbard]

yes - this video did better position my thinking processes. I learn more from presentations that explain "mistakes" than from a presentation where the presenter is the hero of his/her story: "commonly, people learn from their mistakes - wise people learn from the mistakes of others. And fools don't learn from either of them." Greg (garden grove, CA usa)

[generalnerds]

A friend of mine made up a solar trailer on his back yard.
A large tandem wheel unit that has an inverter and a switchboard and battery pack, plus fold out arms for the solar array and it sits in his yard facing the sun. The local city had a fit when they saw it and asked him to remove it --he counted the argument by saying what about the person next door with his big motor home.
Then they countered and said the trailer had no road permits.
They lost the case as the city would have had to take every truck and car and trailer that is off the and road, and remove them from everyone's home in that city.
He is considering making hot houses made aluminum frame with solar panels batteries and inverter for the home gardener-- Ha Ha Ha.
Tied into the home via a light activated change over relay switch in the fuse box in the home for nighttime use.
Build a workshop then line the roof with panels/ Pergola roof with panels/

A brilliant system to bypass the bullshit.

[ardchoke]

Thanks for the info. Came here expecting to find I had made huge mistakes when going solar nearly two years ago, relieved to find that I didn't actually make any of the mistakes you listed.

[onezeroone]

Thank you! Very clear and practical info!

[johnzinkowski]

Excellent presentation. Thank you for all the detail.

[MrGeno]

Thanks for the good advice- I subscribed and look forward to learning more from you.

[donkristyreid]

just watched all your videos to date. Very good info in all and it's nice to get info from someone who is not a salesman or sponsored by the industry. Curious what your feelings and/or recommendations are about DIY. I am leaning that direction for a rack mount system

[daichimax]

Thank You for Sharing your Knowledge!!!

[jimturpin]

Hi Jack, great video, and you make very good points regarding things to do or consider. If I could add one more item to your list. Before considering a new solar system, optimize your home, that is to do things such if you have an old central air conditioning system, replace it with a newer high efficiency model WITH variable speed compressor (inverter technology), variable speed fans, both on the outside condenser and the air handler indoors, since when they turn on they turn on gently and don't clobber the inverter with a high start up current draw. Other things fix air leaks around the house, install insulation, etc. do all the things that will lower your overall yearly consumption BEFORE committing to a new solar system. Doing all these kinds of common sense things will greatly reduce the size of the solar and battery systems needed and save money. Just my 2 cents. Good luck on your new channel, I just subscribed and look forward to your videos.

[danielking]

I enjoyed this informative video.
Because of not wanting a long term commitment, the likelihood of lower priced equipment in the future, or questions about what one really needs, some people may not take advantage of this great opportunity.
It’s true that quality of equipment improvement and prices falling may give an advantage to buy later.
For almost everyone who has a place to put a small, ground mounted array, the DIY off-grid systems are a good place to start.They are scalable and can be easily moved when the person has to relocate. Connected to a small essential-circuits panel you can easily move lighting, refrigerator, life support equipment, washing machine, etc to a small system.I have 2 refrigerators, a freezer, several small window ac units, and most of the general purpose receptacles and lighting connected to a 5 KW inverter, 15 KWH LFP battery, and 10 used panels.I was surprised to find that this load only used from 10-20% of the inverter capacity.
Instead of adding to this system, I built a separate, bigger system, piece-by-piece paying cash for more capacity. With it I run the large loads and a small rent house.
While I still have a grid connection, it’s mainly used to top off the batteries at night when my provider has free electricity. $30.02 bill in August in Texas.
About $20, 000 investment I expect to recover over the next five years.I can load it on a trailer in two days and be gone if needed.
Listen to John Prine’s “ Spanish Pipe Dream “ for motivation.

[haroldskinner]

Great video, great information thanks for sharing

[davidrandall]

Thanks for this. I'm in BC Canada, have a chevy bolt euv on order, and am looking into solar panels for the house. I'm learning all I can about it before I invest.

[martinwanswettjacob]

very informative session, something not available in BC - CANADA - THANK YOU👍

[rjtumble]

Very useful info, thanks! Unfortunately, my power company is a coop and they don’t offer net metering as a service, but I’m still looking into solar for a new home build to reduce my reliance on the grid and protect from power outages.

[carol]

Interesting! I subscribed for more info in t he future!

[mikelord]

This is criminally under-watched. Leaving a comment for some algorithm boost. Good luck

[littlegriffoffgridalberta]

Great video ! I am 100% OFF GRID, no ties to sell or buy just bought my own stuff & put it together, the panels are the cheap part, My battery bank runs me ok in summer but still building my bank to what I need for winter as money allows, I only have 1400ah of storage and really need about 4000ah, with the short days in the way north I have 4 months Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb that I have to use a little generator to keep batteries topped up, In my parts panels have to be adjustable to follow the sun & to keep the snow off them.

[MrDeadInMyPocket]

There's an aspect of Power Purchase Agreements that you missed. Buried deep in the agreements there's sometimes obscure legal language that allows the company to put a lien on the property.There's never a section that says "LIEN AGREEMENT". Companies will seldom use the words "property lien" because it tends to make people have second thoughts about signing an agreement. In some countries/states/counties it doesn't even need to be in the agreement, they can just take a lien out against a property they have a system on. It's like an honor system where the gov't assumes companies will only take out liens in good faith. Leaving it up to the courts to sort it out.

When asked about property liens I got four different types of answers from salespeople.
1 "I don't know". Or "I am unaware of any lien". (most common answer by far)
2 "We don't do liens" (No company putting potentially tens of thousands of $$$ worth of labor and equipment on other people's property is going to leave it to the honor system if you sell your property, or if the you unexpectedly pass away. To stay solvent they need to be assured of a return on investment.)
3 "There is nothing in the agreement about liens". (Technically true. Like I said, some areas don't require a lien agreement from the property owner. A company can just take a lien out on a property without the owners knowledge or consent. So by answering "There is nothing in the agreement..." doesn't mean there won't be a lien on your property.)
4 "Yes there is a lien"

There are other types of companies that offer "service agreements" that do property liens too. (Not all service companies do this) Say for instance you sign an agreement to have filters changed or HVAC equipment service. They will also sometimes put liens on your property. The wording in the agreements will often times deliberately obscure that so read carefully and ask questions.