"Ford secures battery supplies for 600,000 EVs a year from 2023"

[cs1234]

Seriously - I believe GT PV does work out well given enough time (except maybe for very early adopters paying ca. $10/watt or more.)

But if Ampster has installed systems on 3x previous properties, he kept them a short time or started long ago. So I wonder if payback ever occurred. Did he end up paying a premium for the power he did use, and give remaining value for free to buyer (or even paid buyer to take it?)

Maybe he is a really good salesman and got them to pay him extra for them being there? ?

 

[Hedges]

I've seen a few in my area with solar shingles that blend well into the rest of roof. You barely notice. That would matter for curb appeal of South facing homes. (Unless boxy panels become a status symbol, like a Prius in the driveway next to the Hummer and the Mercedes.)

Most solar shingles cost a multiple of what framed panels do, and being thin-film will degrade faster.

On out of site roof faces, not such a potential negative impact on home sales.

In my neighborhood of Mediterranean homes, lots of panels over tile roofs.
Doesn't do much for the beauty of a $3 million home (or what goes for that price around here.)
But utility savings may not be so important for someone paying $36,000 + per year on property taxes.

 

[Danke]

Maybe he is a really good salesman and got them to pay him extra for them being there? ?

I have no idea, but is this mostly marketing?

Do Solar Panels Increase Home Value? (2022 Updated Guide)

If you’re considering installing a solar system on your roof, you’re probably wondering: Do solar panels increase home value? We answer this question and more.

www.ecowatch.com

 

[Hedges]

Value perhaps, according to bean counters.
The real question is what it does to resale price.

Notice they use the word "value" not "price". And talk about why buyers (say) they are looking for, not what they actually pony up for:

"Do solar panels hurt the resale value of your home?-
Generally speaking, the opposite is true; installing a home solar array actually increases the resale value of a home, particularly if you have a high-efficiency system that helps lower monthly energy bills. Solar literacy in your local community is an important factor here, but for most homeowners, the answer to this question will be a resounding no. Multiple studies have shown that buyers are looking for more energy-efficient homes to reduce their carbon footprints and help save on electricity bills."

Clue is in the last sentence.
So they prefer smaller, less conspicuous. They want to know or say the have PV, but it must be out of sight?

"Do bigger solar installations present a better value add than smaller systems?-
Bigger solar installations may present a better value add than smaller systems. However, in many cases, it’s not the number of panels that matters so much as the power output. A smaller system, assembled with the most efficient solar panels can be just as impactful as a larger, lower-efficiency system. The aesthetics of the system may also be a factor, with many buyers actually preferring smaller, less conspicuous systems."


All marketing, I think. They want their cut when you buy a system. Don't care if a prospective buyer passes on your listing to buy something else clean.
Not mentioned is the issue of Power Purchase Agreements and other entanglements.

I think home solar should only be considered when you expect to get the value out of power produced during your ownership.

 

[Ampster]

How did that work out, economically?

The first one is on NEM 1.0 and reduced my bill to zero when I was living there. It is now rented and the tenants paid more rent because there was no electrical bill. The two other homes were sold withing a few years and I got a good price which paid the initial captital costs. While living there I was able to charge my EVs and cover my house loads for just the Minimum Delivery Charges. The current home was the largest installation and has allowed me to run my Skybox in Self Consumption mode. I have not completed a full year yet but the projections are good. The payback on the solar was less than five years but the batteries were longer but the benefit of resiliency and having a hedge against erosion of NEM benefits is hard to quantify.

 

[cs1234]

This is really why I want a removable ground mount system using buckets full of rocks and a tie in through generator plugs on a manual transfer switch. I want the only thing to be there when I sell are the manual transfer switches and generator plugs. The next owners can do what they want with that. I'll probably end up having properly installed roof panels done to code and permitted anyway, but only because I'm a sucker that likes being in debt.

 

[Ampster]

. Did he end up paying a premium for the power he did use, and give remaining value for free to buyer (or even paid buyer to take it?)

No as I mentioned earlier it significantly reduced my bill. I recovered my costs and other home improvement costs in both of those transactions including inflation. In both cases the buyers were attracted to the home because it had solar. If there are any examples of sellers having pay buyers out there it would be with the assumption of a lease. That is the only scenario where I have heard that appraisers have discounted the value. In both sales instances and in the case of one refinance the appraisers I spoke to gave an increase in value because of the solar. They specifically verified that the solar was owned, not leased,.

 

[Ozark Tinkering]

And after 10 years only pay over $10K for an new battery to be installed.

Price a new 7.3 Powerstroke.
I dread the day I have to buy a new 7.3 Powerstroke for my '99 F250 SD. They say those engines will go 1 million miles but mine already has over 250k so there isn't much left already after just 23 years in service.
I'm thinking about maybe dropping one of those crate ev motor setups Ford is offering. Not only would it qualify for the ev lane and parking but it'd qualify for antique plates too!
@73powerstroke I regularly achieve 4.3 miles per kWh with my Chevy Bolt. That translates into .232kWh per mile at a rate of $0.10 per kWh which works out $0.023 per mile. To make it even better I charge only from home and have a 5kW solar system grid connected.
My 7.3 Powerstroke had a turbo job and new injectors at 220,000 miles and on the highway I average just over 19mpg unless it's really hot and my tires are rock hard and I drive at 55 mph I can get as high as 22mpg. It's 2 wheel drive and has highway tires. It's the best truck I've ever owned and I'm old enough to had had quite a few.
Right now diesel in my town is $5 a gallon. At 19 mpg that works out to $0.26 per mile which is over 10 times what it costs me to drive my Bolt at $0.023 per mile. My truck has a 36 gallon tank and my last trip to the fuel-mart diesel was $3.87 per gallon at the beginning of March. I have about 10 gals of diesel left. Hopefully it will carry me until prices fall back to early March prices at least.

 

[Ozark Tinkering]

Must be fake news?

Fake news in Arizona? Be still my heart.

 

[Ozark Tinkering]

BTW at my age of 63 if I am not grown up I consider it a plus.

Others close to you might disagree.

 

[Ozark Tinkering]

A EV needs 5000 lbs of resources to drive around ONE 150-200lbs human.

My Bolt is under 3600lbs and will carry 5 adult...humans.

 

[Ampster]

A EV needs 5000 lbs of resources to drive around ONE 150-200lbs human.

My Tesla Model X came in at 6000 lbs which qualified it for the Hummer ITC. However it can carry six humans. That works out to 1000 lbs per human.

 

[cs1234]

My Bolt is under 3600lbs and will carry 5 adult...humans.

Comfortably? How large are these adult humans?

 

[Ozark Tinkering]

When there's an accident or spun-out vehicle the highway can be stopped for hours with hundreds of cars backed up. All those people in EVs will have to choose between freezing or running out their battery

How is it any different for an ice vehicle stuck in the snow?

 

[time2roll]

How is it any different for an ice vehicle stuck in the snow?

The ICE vehicle has the possibility of CO poisoning.

 

[Ampster]

How is it any different for an ice vehicle stuck in the snow?

With an ICE vehicle you are breathing exhaust fumes running the engine trying to keep warm.
@time2roll beat me to the answer.

 

[cs1234]

Would the average ICE vehicle be able to keep one warm at idle in a huge line of cars on a frozen mountain pass? I honestly don't know if that would be enough heat, I've never been in such conditions.

 

[Ozark Tinkering]

Comfortably? How large are these adult humans?

Before gravity began taking its toll on my height I was 6'3" and still tip the scale at just under 250lbs. By now I'm barely 6'1". My wife is considerably smaller and always has been. For some reason short people don't shrink as fast with age. The rest is what GM promised me could happen should I ever allow 3 more adults to ride along with us (all N95 masked, windows down). In that case I don't give a crap how large they are as they will have to figure out the shared space on their own. I'll be busy driving.

 

[eXodus]

My Bolt is under 3600lbs and will carry 5 adult...humans.

I got an BMW i3 and it carries 4 adults for 2800lbs.
BUT how often do you drive with 5 people? What's is your utilization ratio?

The tasks at hand is getting someone from A to B. When the distance is low enough - a bike is by far the most efficient of way of doing that.
Those bikes get upwards of 40 miles per kw/h Some are pushing 100 miles per kWh.

I regularly achieve 4.3 miles per kWh with my Chevy Bolt.

My i3 gets 5 miles per kWh and I love it, never go back to gasoline.
F150 Lightning is pre-ordered.

But living a region where I wouldn't need both - would be even better. Just one EV-truck and bunch of E-Bikes.

 

[Ozark Tinkering]

USA many states do not charge road taxes for EVs either. (Gas tax pays for the roads)

Arkansas charges a $200 fee per year for a full ev over and above normal registration fees. I drive less than 5000 miles a year. That's twice what I use in electricity to power the car!