Solar panels wish I knew

First let me put it out there I'm all for solar energy. As far as I have researched it doesn't cause harm to the planet, animals, or humans. Other alternative energy can. We have had solar for a bit over a year now. I wish I had researched the facts of getting this system. At the time we were super busy with interior remodeling. We are trying to make our classic split level into a 2 family house while living here. All of this is on a budget and stressful as hell to live through. Anyway here is a list of things I recommend researching before getting solar. 

Tax break

A lot of states are offering tax breaks for putting in a solar unit. The solar company we went through Auric said we can use this as our down payment (down payment not due for about a year). They said this is how most people pay the down payment. Our tax break was supposed to be about $14,000, the down payment was about $12,000, and monthly payments to be about $200. So we were to pocket $2,000. Sounds like a win right? 

Wrong! Upon doing our taxes a few months before the down payment was due I found out the liability I have (whatever the fuck that is) won't allow a full refund. It will be split up between 7 or so years. And yes I consulted a tax professional and even tried to file in just my name, just my husbands, and both of us. It was all the same answer. We are considered middle class though I'm more broke now then when I was consider poor. 

So now we have no down payment. That was totally cool with the loan company. They said no worries your payments just went up to $450 a month. Only $40 of that goes to the loan of $56,0000!

Winter

Even though we were told our panels would produce in cloudy weather they really didn't. This last winter our bill was about the same as the winter before. Which was super high because we didn't have the garage finished. We had poor insulation up that didn't seem to help. We also had a space heater going in the night time. My room and our make shift kitchen was in here. This year we have proper insulation. 

Another factor is it's dark more in the winter. This means less time to produce. 

Sizing

So there are different sizes to the system. Ours is the biggest we can have. Even on a good day it produces less energy they we are using. Now we are a 2 family house with a total of 9 people and 2 more on the way. We live as it is 2 houses. So yes we have high bills.

We should have never been sold the unit based on our last few years of bills. They are supposed to get your bills average them out and get a unit that will cover that. Obviously this was not done. My advice ask what you are consuming and then ask what the unit will produce. Our power company actually sat down with us and the solar company to figure this out. To late for us, but it was nice. 

When its up its up for good

So my first reaction after finding out we didn't have the down payment was to call the solar company. I confronted them about this tax break lie. My exact statement was, "come get your fucking shit off my roof!" When we found out that the unit was to small for our house my exact statement was, "come get your fucking shit off my roof!" You know what they can't take it back. I would still owe on the loan because they are 2 different companies. Lovely!!! Their solution was for us to investigate ways to save energy. No shit we were working on it. 

So what are the pros

Lets get on the the good stuff. 

1. We are assisting in saving the planet.
2. We do save a lot on our power bill in the summer.
3. No matter what happens to our roof they will pay to fix it. 
4. They will also pay to fix the panels