During the Meeting I did not have all of my power bills but they used a 4% increase in power from year to year. I did have some information and I knew that when I moved into my house I used whats called "budget billing plan" to allow my bill from Duke Energy to stay the same year round. It started at $160, raised the following year in 11 months to $181 and then again 11 Months later to $208 this was the power cost and did not include taxes. so my Actual Numbers were an increase of 11% and 13% for a total 24% increase over a period of 24 months. (2 years).
However their briefing showed a 4% increase and they used that to show how much power would cost per month over the next 15 years, and they used it to show how much you could save. So for the time being I used their numbers and I did know my increases but did not do all the calculations I would have wanted until the next day.
My current actual power bill is $244/mo (cost+taxes/fees). I am disclosing this actual cost because it makes sense to understand the real numbers which are very hard to find.
After their briefing and all the discussion we were shown numbers....FIRST we were shown two options for payments....
- OPTION 1 - $200 / 25 years (2.99%)
- OPTION 2 - $202 / 20 years (1.49%)
now here is where it gets a little tricky because in order to maintain these payments you have to take whatever the Income Tax Credit (ITC) is and apply it to the loan at 18 months...OR your payment will go up. For Option 1 it would be $252 after 18 months, for Option 2 it would be $277 after 18 months.
Also 2020 the ITC is 26% of the cost.....in 2021 it is 22% and in 2022 it is 10%. just like the electric car rebates they used to have, it is disappearing. Also this 26% is an amount that is given BACK based on Taxes Paid in...so if your credit is 26% and your rebate is 10,000 BUT you only owe 5,000 then you would get 5,000 and the other 5,000 would carry over to the next year. Also the money you earn has to be taxable....you cannot be on disability and earn non-taxable income and expect to receive $10,000.
After all of this. we asked to see the BIG number...i wanted to see the final cost. each is different and it is dependent on the number of panels, and size of system installed and other things like not having to remove trees, upgrade to a 200amp power panel, or any roof issues. each of these can be extra costs and can be rolled into your Solar Panel Install BUT remember that increases your payment. SO the big Number. (our Big Number)
--- $41,450 ---
Was this a Shock....not really. is it expensive, YES!
So Who in their Right mind does this why take on an extra $200/mo bill when it is supposed to save money instead of adding a bill.
Here is how that happens.
1. The plan of all of the Solar Panel Install companies is to do this. REPLACE YOUR CURRENT MONTHLY POWER PAYMENT WITH THE PAYMENT FOR THE SOLAR PANEL SYSTEM.
So when all is said and done as long as you are not having a super low power bill, your payment for the solar panels should be lower than your current power BILL and based on 'future' power increases, which I myself saw 24% increase in 2 years, you will recoup the cost and lower your bill.
In my actual situation my power bill is currently $244/mo, and if I buy the system. I will not get a Power Bill** and my new bill will be to buy the SOLAR PANELS for $202.
** I put two stars on not having a Power Bill because you still have to be connected and there is a fee for me to be a DUKE Customer and that cost is $10.63/mo. SO I still have a Bill but if I generate credit from sending Extra Power in to Duke. My bill could potentially be $0.00 because that fee will be covered by my credit.
Now for the Numbers. The Next Day I downloaded all of my power Bills for the past 24 months and this is what I found.
* Notice my actual Increase occurred in both the power Bill and Taxes paid.
If this percent increase continued in 20 years (the time it takes to payoff the Solar panels) my power bill would be astronomical.
Next I thought well lets go with a simplified increase of 5%, no increase 0%, and what the solar panel payments actually are. Here is what I found.
As you can see with just a 5% increase per year my power costs would be almost $100,000 during the payoff timeline of the Solar Panels. If there was no increase at all from my current bill then my power costs is almost $60,000. Finally my Solar panel cost with Interest is almost $50,000 which even with no increase the costs over the timeline it would save me $10,000 and this does not take into consideration the additional savings in the lower monthly payment which is $500 a year extra.
These were my numbers I used to justify and quantify my decision. which Bottom Line.
We Did Decide to Purchase Solar Panels!
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