r/solar

According to Forbes, having solar panels is supposed to add 4% to the value of your home. However, real estate agents (nj) have said it doesn’t add any value if owned, and it complicates the sale or makes it negative if it’s been funded by a PPA or leased. What have people actually experienced?

Ok ill try to sum up my situation- hopefully makes sense.

So my mom signed a ppa lease with sunrun in 2018 - System size 4.06 kWdc 14 panels no battery. No tax incentives, and doesnt get to keep the system at the end. For 20 years with an annual escalator of 1.9% starting at $99. Promised low utility bill and a performance guarantee.

Fast forward to 2025, my mother unfortunately passed away, Im the legal rep for her estate (which is nothing but debt btw) called all the places to notify of her death- utilities, sunrun, auto etc... specifically the electric company closed her account which she had a 5k balance. and opened a new account in my name. (Also raises alot of questions. My moms last 3 bill total kwh usage was 1244, 1361, and 1311 and my total kwh usage for the first 3 months was 417, 90, and 55-- nothing really changed. My mom spent 2 weeks a month at the house and barely used any electricity so her passing really shouldnt affect the usage at all but thats a big gap) 3 months later I got a misc transfer onto my bill for 5k. They said because I lived there i am responsible for her past due amount.

(In 2026 now) So this had me start questioning everything - sunrun mainly. I got in contact with a "solutions manager" we've been going back and forth for a while now, they sent me their production report from 2018- present. From their data it shows that from 3/23 - 4/24 the system failed producing 0 energy. Also reflects this on the utility bills from that time. So they offer me a 1300 refund in the form of a credit and covered past due amount and late fees ( btw the account was current and my mom paid faithfully every month until she passed) so the account was now current with the newly added refund credit with a remaining credit of $400 and btw The $1300 doesn't come close to what we paid the whole year their system failed.

They offered me a buy out for $12,000. I declined because I dont think It represents a fair resolution.

Then they said they could modify the agreement and remove the escalator locking in at $112 for the remainder of the contract which is about 12 more years.

They also keep putting an expiration date on their offers trying to get me to sign a contract with them which I dont want to do. They also told me the remainder of the refund credit they issued i could not get until I signed a contract with them

Oh and also without notice or anything they remotely shut off solar to my house saying they dont bill deceased people and that we breached contract because we didnt notify them in writing about the transfer (my moms death) WTF? (Not sure if i got lucky on that one or not?- I mean technically they aren't making me pay monthly but they say im still responsible for the remainder of the contract) im not sure...

So now im not sure what to do...

Hope that makes sense .. I have so much jumbled in my head - let me know if I missed any details or what you would do if you were in this situation

I thought about getting a lawyer. Called a couple and pretty much they said its not worth it but granted they didnt get the whole story.

Ive thought about just paying the whole thing in full and also re signing with them but im not leaning towards the last option

My whole thing too is im willing to work with them, I dont really want them taking off the roof panels as im scared my roof will leak. So right now its basically stagnant on my roof..

What should I do...

I have a 9.6ish kW solar system. It is monthly net metering wth no carryover, so any excess I produce only pays me between $0.01 and $0.035 per kWh. Since the system was installed, I have produced excess every month, but most months it’s not even enough to cover the connection and other fees, but it’s still almost free so that’s good.

If I were to get a battery, as far as I can tell it would only mean that instead of trading daytime electricity for nighttime electricity with the utility, I would be doing it with the battery. Since the utility does it for free, what benefit does a battery provide? Are there utilities that don’t even offer net metering within the monthly billing cycle?

I’m fairly certain I’m going to settle on a 13.2 KW system. It should offset my electric usage by about 70-75%. It will over produce in the summer for sure and my utility pays about 8 cents per kWh I send back into the grid. 50% of my electric usage is charging EVs at night. That rate is about 18 cents per kWh. A 27kw battery pack will add about 25-27k in cost and My EV costs approximately $1000/yr to charge. I am not in need of backup power as I have a whole house generator. SO to make a short story long the math basically shows me that when factoring in EV charging alone that’s a 25 year payback. This isn’t realistic as I’d probably use some stored power elsewhere but the majority of it for sure would go into my EV.

So I can spend 25k on batteries to save $1000/yr on EV charging or I can sell my over production back to the utility for 8 cents per kWh. This will bring my effective EV charging rate down to 10 cents/KWH which is still a win.

I must be missing something, please poke holes in this conclusion. My goal is not to get “off the grid” or to eliminate my electrical bill but to offset a good chunk of my electric usage and also hedge for inflation of electricity prices (massive data center going in up the road).

Poke away!!!

Edit; thanks for all the replies. I think what it boils down to is that batteries will be beneficial at the right price and the solar installers battery prices are absurd. I’ll be sure to discuss the design with them and make sure that I am able to add my own batteries in the future for significantly cheaper.

Edit to my edit; looks like Costco has 12kw with panel for 5499 and another 12kw without panel for 4499. So for under 10k I can get 24kw with panel. This is the way.

27 states have added fixed charges, even if you consume 100% of your own electricity

Has anyone else noticed a higher-than-expected SDG&E True-Up bill recently?

A lot of San Diego homeowners with solar are starting to feel the effects of SDG&E’s updated Time-of-Use (TOU) rate structure, especially those with solar-only systems and no battery storage.

The biggest change is happening during the 10 AM–2 PM “Super Off-Peak” window — which is also when most solar panels generate the most electricity. Under the updated SDG&E rates, solar energy exported to the grid during these hours is now worth significantly less than before.

At the same time, electricity prices during the 4 PM–9 PM peak period remain much higher.

That means many homeowners are:

• Exporting solar power to the grid during lower-value daytime hours
• Then purchasing electricity back from SDG&E during expensive evening peak hours
• Seeing the difference show up later as larger annual True-Up balances

This has become a growing topic for California solar homeowners trying to understand why their utility bills look different even though they already have solar installed.

One solution more homeowners are now considering is adding battery storage, which allows excess daytime solar energy to be stored and used later during peak-rate hours instead of sending it back to the grid at lower compensation rates.

There are also battery rebate programs currently available through San Diego Community Power for qualifying homeowners, although funding is limited.

Curious what everyone’s seeing so far

Hello all,

I'm getting an Enphase system installed June 1st:

Inverter Manufacturer:

Enphase Energy

Inverter Model:

IQ8HC-72-M-US [240V]

Panel Manufacturer:

SEG Solar

Panel Model:

SEG-440-BTD-BG

Battery Manufacturer:

Enphase IQ Battery 10C

Battery Model:

IQBATTERY-10C-1P-NA

I'm getting 23x panels with an annual prodoction of 10.10 kw for 100% offset.

I've requested a critical load sub panel, where I'm going to isolate 12 breakers for the battery backup system. They're also adding an A/B switch over so I can still utilize my portable gas generator with the outside plug to use gas if needed (bad cloud cover or battery getting depleted for some reason) - I was trying to make a redundant system for continued use in an emergency.

I'm type one diabetic and have a lot of insulin requiring refrigeration. I also live in a very rural area with well water so this system will power that during outages. I'm also offsetting my electric at 100% so no more electric bills.

I have a small UPS system for my router and will also be installing Starlink on their standby plan to ensure phone and Internet during outages. After seeing what went down in North Carolina after that hurricane, and given that I live up on a large mountain range isolated in a similar fashion, this system is safety with starlink for continued services.

I've been on the phone on and off with Enphase directly and I get differing information each time I speak with them, lol. My biggest reason for choosing Enphase was obviously the technology, and from what I've read during an outage, the system will prioritize PV over the battery first (daylight hours), is this automatic or does the battery have to be configured for such? The reason I didn't go with Franklin is because I wanted to ensure that the solar panels were doing most of the work during an outage similar to Enphase's daylight backup. I don't want the battery draining constantly. Enphase customer support advised that this is exactly how the isolation works during an outage. PV does the heavy lifting directly to my critical load sub panel during the day, and the battery is there as a stabilizer (cloud cover, well pump or refrigerator kicking on) then the panels recharge the battery while still handling the house.

Is there anything in missing? Should I be asking anything during the install? I'm confident with my installer, they're a Platinum installer with Enphase so I have no worries. I just want to make sure I'm verbalizing exactly what I'm looking for so there's no confusion

I’m looking at adding Solar but debating between the traditional rooftop Solar or a car port / canopy type along the back side of my house (west facing), over the patio door. So I can get some shade over the patio door. I don’t have room on the south side of the house. So both options would go on the west side anyway.

What are the pros and cons of having a separate structure for solar that’s next to the house?

Looking at 10 panels with 1 Tesla Powerwall 3. Roughly 4.2-4.5kw system.

My roof has 2 layer of shingles. The second layer was put on in 2024. Tesla came out and surveyed everything and didn’t seem to have an issue. But from research seems like it’s not a good idea long term. Having to remove the panels and replacing the roof sooner than normal.

Since I’ve always needed shade over the patio. Started looking at the canopy option. But I don’t know the cons.

Tesla would be $23,500 straight out buy.

The canopy route would be pre paid lease. For $31k-$32k (so they get the tax credit) or $45k straight out buy.

I’m being told with the pre paid lease that after 5 years they will transfer the ownership to me and that’ll be it. The fine prints do say they will assess it at fair market value before transferring it in 5 years. But when I asked. I was told the FMV will be near $0 in 5 years so don’t worry about it.

Need some advice on what option is better.

Hi, I'm not sure if anyone had ask this question this questionbeforee since I am relatively new to community but what are some oppurunity for smaller business that come with solar revolution. To be more specific I am from Pakistan and lot of people here are converting to solar because how unreliable the usual energy sources are

Sounds like they wanna get them on batteries or something. This is the text message they got after the interaction.

>Your Sunrun appt is confirmed for [time and date] Your Sunrun rep will show you how solar + storage can help you take control of your energy. Get ready for your appointment by uploading your most recent utility bill: [link]

the link goes to a page called "customer presentation" with the time and date and a place to upload a bill. They haven't signed anything or uploaded a bill so at least they can't get got that way. Sidenote: every time i see the words "customer presentation" it's always about a timeshare, the most scammiest of scams, so that's got me real worried ngl.

They already have a SolarCity (now tesla solar) system with 17 panels on their home (but no battery) from 10 years ago with 10 years left on the lease. so idk what Sunrun can even do in this situation. the sun facing side of the roof is filled to the max, and every time i've called tesla to see if they can add powerwalls to an existing sytem they said that they can only add powerwalls with new solar installs. So the whole thing from sunrun feels a bit scammy. Or at the least the rep just lying to them.

anyone have experience with sunrun in SoCal (ladwp) area?

Suppose I've got 2 boxes of water in my yard. Both boxes have a large footprint but are very short, for example 10' long x 10' wide x 1' tall, so that only the top gets meaningful sun exposure and we can ignore the other sides.

Box A is painted black, using the most absorptive paint known to man. Or whatever other non-PV surface that will maximize the collection of heat.

Box B is perfectly covered with a solar panel. The solar panel is directly connected to a resistive heating element submerged in the water.

How much of a difference is there in the amount of water heating that occurs? Is it fair to say that if box B's solar panel is rated for 20% efficiency, then the water in box B will gain 20% as much energy as box A (plus whatever heat travels from the solar panel directly into the box, if they are thermally coupled enough rather than spaced out and casting a shadow on the box)?

We are having some re-model work redone. The electricians installed a 30A pre-wire ( guess they are required), and it can handle about 11 panels, which is great for us and has us at about 110% based on our current usage.

The solar installer wanted to do their own pre-wire to "future proof" it beyond 11 panels for $1500.

They said "-If you want to use the current pre-wire, your electrician needs to run the MC cable up through the roof where the solar panels are to be installed."

I took this as a good sign and suggested we do 11 panels and use the existing pre-wire. Then they responded back:

"   -To my knowledge, electricians will not penetrate roofs to run wiring/conduit as it is outside of their scope, and I will not coordinate a solar pre-wire unless my crew is doing the work in order to ensure that the work is done correctly and to the specs required."

Thoughts here?

Enphase IQ 8A Microinverter

Enphase IQ Combiner 5C

Trina Vertex - 420W

I recently saw a video on how Utah approved the use and sale of plugin solar. These portable and cheap solar panels work by having a solar panel and micro inverter take solar energy and dispense it through a household outlet.

I'm probably out of my depth cuz I wasn't good at electricity in my physics classes, but how does the energy sent through the outlet get sent to other appliances in the household? Isn't the electrical in a house designed to send energy out to appliances, not take from them?