Purchase or Pre-paid lease of 4-year old Solar System

[J.P.M.]

Yes and then solarcity sales people came to my house today trying to sell me on solar. I told the guy see those metal patches on my roof. That's where a solarcity system once sat until about a week ago and I am still waiting for them
To fix it.

Nice touch. Great internal communication. Sounds pretty typical of my experiences with them as well. And people wonder why I call SolarCity bottom feeders.

[nomadh]

Incredible. I wonder if they would have taken 8k or so. I'd be so uncomfortable about his. There is no way they are going to fix the roof back to its full life. And you'll be stuck with a leaky roof in 3 to 6 years. Solar city is the most rigid of companies it seems. I wonder what deal could be made with other national companies or smaller local installers. Maybe no one would take $4k for a 4 yr old 8kw system but I suspect $8 to 10k would. And that would still be a great deal. I know I'd take it.

[nomadh]

Hey everyone, so SolarCity has officially turned on our system for the "trial period" I requested. I told them i wanted a few months without solar and a few months with it free of charge and we could compare electric bills. Today is the first full day it has been on and it has generated 41 kwh. Is that a pretty good number for central california and an 8.460 kw system?

About 20 or so panels facing 240 degree, closer to west than south and the other 12 are facing pretty close to south with limited shade. 4.84 watt hours / w

Hmm, maybe not so great.my 5.7 kw runs about 35 to 36 kwh /day and I start getting some shading starting 2pm with a string inverter 6.3 wh / w

This made me think about daily output / system watt. This made for an interesting comparison. I dont recall seeing any efficiency numbers listed this way. Am I doing this right?

[silversaver]

Looks like the system is too large for you usage, and $4000 low ball offer aint gonna change anything since SC probably use them on other PPA customers.

Nice try, the system worth at least $9000+.

[tracksyde]

About 20 or so panels facing 240 degree, closer to west than south and the other 12 are facing pretty close to south with limited shade. 4.84 watt hours / w

Hmm, maybe not so great.my 5.7 kw runs about 35 to 36 kwh /day and I start getting some shading starting 2pm with a string inverter 6.3 wh / w

This made me think about daily output / system watt. This made for an interesting comparison. I dont recall seeing any efficiency numbers listed this way. Am I doing this right?

If you have your system on PVOutput, there's an efficiency column that does just that (although its kWh/kW)

[quicksilver8907]

Well they came and removed the system and they had scheduled a date to come take it down. But instead of it only taking one day like I expected, it took them 6 days to come and remove all the equipment and fix the roof. Hopefully the roof is repaired correctly. The communication with solar city for the removal was absolutely terrible. They just randomly showed up 6 days later, without any notification, to remove the inverter and the rest of the equipment. Fortunately for them I was actually home at the time, but I still wonder what would have happened if I wasn't home??? Would they have just gone into my backyard and remove it? I'm just glad to be done dealing with them.

[J.P.M.]

Well they came and removed the system and they had scheduled a date to come take it down. But instead of it only taking one day like I expected, it took them 6 days to come and remove all the equipment and fix the roof. Hopefully the roof is repaired correctly. The communication with solar city for the removal was absolutely terrible. They just randomly showed up 6 days later, without any notification, to remove the inverter and the rest of the equipment. Fortunately for them I was actually home at the time, but I still wonder what would have happened if I wasn't home??? Would they have just gone into my backyard and remove it? I'm just glad to be done dealing with them.

Thanx or the update. From what I think I might know about SolarCity, If it was me, I'd do a video of me running some water on the roof and looking for leaks.

[silversaver]

This is going to be an issue for most solar lease customers. Under original lease agreement that Solar City has to remove all the equipment when lease is over. BUT......

In common sense: The new home owner has to assume the lease, but you don't want it. You did not sign the contract with Solar City we understand, BUT solar lease is part of the deal. It is already there and you know it.

The last owner breach contract with Solar City. Solar City has the "right" to remove all the solar equipment from the house. Now, does Solar City has to be perfectly remove all the equipment for you? That would be the question. There is no contract between you and Solar City, Solar City doesn't need to be "nice" to you since you are not their customer.

I always look thing on both sides. You should be after the original owner of the house.

[J.P.M.]

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This is going to be an issue for most solar lease customers. Under original lease agreement that Solar City has to remove all the equipment when lease is over. BUT......

In common sense: The new home owner has to assume the lease, but you don't want it. You did not sign the contract with Solar City we understand, BUT solar lease is part of the deal. It is already there and you know it.

The last owner breach contract with Solar City. Solar City has the "right" to remove all the solar equipment from the house. Now, does Solar City has to be perfectly remove all the equipment for you? That would be the question. There is no contract between you and Solar City, Solar City doesn't need to be "nice" to you since you are not their customer.

I always look thing on both sides. You should be after the original owner of the house.

l'd not hold or expect SolarCity to do more than the absolute minimum required. That's why I'd be on the roof with a hose and a camera.

As for buying a home with any solar equipment on it - I wouldn't, leased or otherwise. For others, if a leased system, I'd make sure the system was removed and the home inspected to the buyer's satisfaction before close of escrow as a condition of sale.

[quicksilver8907]

I don't disagree that they have a right to the equipment. I am not disputing that. I am just frustrated at the lack of communication that caused me to be home for 6 days. I wouldn't let people on my roof when I wasn't home and some of the removal had to be done in the backyard and I have pets. Overall it was just a frustrating situation. And solarcity does actually ask you to sign a removal agreement that explins what they're going to do and they warranty your roof for a year, but if I have any problems with the roof I can't imagine how good their communication will be in getting the issues resolved.

[silversaver]

It is your house how, just pay people some $$$ to inspect the roof job for you. It is a cheap insurance. There isn't really much you can do with a hose and a camera haha (sorry JPM)

As I recall, I did spent little cash for an 3rd party to inspect my solar system after installed just to make sure everything isn't sorry later.

[J.P.M.]

It is your house how, just pay people some $$$ to inspect the roof job for you. It is a cheap insurance. There isn't really much you can do with a hose and a camera haha (sorry JPM)

As I recall, I did spent little cash for an 3rd party to inspect my solar system after installed just to make sure everything isn't sorry later.

Inspection/testing is always a wise move regardless of who does it, provided the methods are sound and the personnel are competent.

[silversaver]

Inspection/testing is always a wise move regardless of who does it, provided the methods are sound and the personnel are competent.

You need to run the hose for a day or two to find out if there a leak

[J.P.M.]

You need to run the hose for a day or two to find out if there a leak

You're sure of that from experience, right ?

Experience or not, you may very well be right - in some situations. I'd also submit it's likely that a smaller amount of moisture may suffice, but take a day/2 or longer to work its way through the building envelope. I suppose, like most everything else in life, it varies.

While I don't claim leak detection expertize, and do not have extensive experience with leaky roofs, I probably have a bit more than my share, and certainly more than I'd like.

My Albuquerque home had 9 or 11, depending on what you call horizontal, separate, roof elevations. About one week after moving in, it rained, probably for about an hr. or so, maybe ~ 1/2" or so. A leak showed up in the kitchen below an outside deck about an hr. or so after the rain stopped. Another leak in the living room showed up that night, about 6 hrs. later, dripping on a couch. After those repairs, and in the spirit of a non destructive (I hoped) proof test, I hosed all the elevations and found one more leak that showed up immediately in an area that was overhung and not usually subject to standing water except for the relatively large volume of standing water from my soak. From that limited experience, my educated guess is it's a matter of time duration and/or intensity of the deposited water, or the nature of the penetration, or all of those things and perhaps more. It worked for me. No more leaks. And, FWIW, no more homes with horizontal roofs.

Take what you want of the above. Scrap the rest.

[silversaver]

You're sure of that from experience, right ?

Experience or not, you may very well be right - in some situations. I'd also submit it's likely that a smaller amount of moisture may suffice, but take a day/2 or longer to work its way through the building envelope. I suppose, like most everything else in life, it varies.

While I don't claim leak detection expertize, and do not have extensive experience with leaky roofs, I probably have a bit more than my share, and certainly more than I'd like.

My Albuquerque home had 9 or 11, depending on what you call horizontal, separate, roof elevations. About one week after moving in, it rained, probably for about an hr. or so, maybe ~ 1/2" or so. A leak showed up in the kitchen below an outside deck about an hr. or so after the rain stopped. Another leak in the living room showed up that night, about 6 hrs. later, dripping on a couch. After those repairs, and in the spirit of a non destructive (I hoped) proof test, I hosed all the elevations and found one more leak that showed up immediately in an area that was overhung and not usually subject to standing water except for the relatively large volume of standing water from my soak. From that limited experience, my educated guess is it's a matter of time duration and/or intensity of the deposited water, or the nature of the penetration, or all of those things and perhaps more. It worked for me. No more leaks. And, FWIW, no more homes with horizontal roofs.

Take what you want of the above. Scrap the rest.

Yes, my previous house. Really depends on size of leak, some might even take longer time to surface. I think we are pretty okay here in SoCal without much of rain. As long as there's no spotting water on the roof, you won't see much of leak unless the leak had done its damage. Yes, no flat roof.