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Originally Posted by nokiasixteth
Looks like your locked into a contract till 2023 on the current setup . Your plans still to add more ? And do you think your going to add even more optomizers or would you try something different than that. Seems like you like it prety well
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The contract is for 10 years, where I get 8 cents per kwh more than the net metering that I already get for selling them my M-RETS(Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System) credits. I don't think I'm "locked into" anything but if I were to make a change, they would need to know because the second meter that goes between the SolarEdge system and my service panel monitors everything the solar system produces(whether it actually is released to the grid or used on premises). If I were to add additional modules into the SolarEdge system, then the electric company would be paying me 8 cents for the additional kwh but they wouldn't have M-RETS credits for that.
So what I could do is increase the size of my system but it couldn't be through that second meter, it would just be net metered through the normal one without the extra 8 cents per kwh. I could apply for the solar incentive program again though, and if the new part of the system wins the yearly lottery slot(limited incentive offering), I could get whatever the current incentive scheme is for the system.
I think the reality is that I'd probably wait out 12 years since the system was installed, when the SolarEdge warranty runs out and then add in an additional 3 or 4 modules on a different section of the roof. SolarEdge only wants to have 135% oversizing with the inverter that I have(the new HD wave says 155% is the max they want). ..but this is a warranty thing, I'm willing to oversize beyond this because my house's roof has sections that face southwest and southeast. When I installed my system, there was a giant maple tree in my neighbors yard on the southeast side which would shade a good chunk of the winter as well as morning and evening sun throughout the rest of the year. That maple tree started to threaten the neighbors house foundation so it was removed. Since these are 90 degrees off from eachother based on compass direction and the peak generation will occur at different times, I'm thinking 4 additional modules on that roof face would be safe enough to not damage the inverter by having the output hang out in the clipping range for a long time.
Will I actually do this? I'm not sure. The first year I had my system, I was living alone in the house and every single month I produced enough solar to cover all of my usage, including the winter snow months and the summer AC months. I'm not talking about a yearly average, each individual month. Solar doesn't beat out my stock market investments, in fact, I probably wouldn't have put the solar system up if I did the math on what $10,773 would get me in the stock market versus waiting to get it back and then getting slim margins after the 10 year mark with a payback that is longer than that 10 year period. In the stock market, I expect to see $10k double in 10 years, then 10 years later double again, using conservatively average figures. Solar PV doesn't do this for me. I can consider it to be investment diversity though and some hedging against higher utility costs. I paid cash for the system and if I were to have put this under a loan, the financial prospects regarding the opportunity cost may be different if the loan were to be a lower interest rate than the expected gains but then I'm operating on margin using a solar system and I could get a cheaper interest rate if I did a cash out refinance using the solar system as equity. ..this is something I might do if we head for a US stock market correction soon, which it feels like we're due for because this really looks like a stock market and housing market bubble to me, and then maybe things will turn positive.