Thread: Ben's Garage
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Old 02-24-17, 02:26 PM   #93
bennelson
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SE Wisconsin
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I just turned in my paperwork to the Electric Utility for the solar proposal.

I believe that according to the Public Service Commission, they have up to 10 days to review it and get back to me.

I don't see any reason why they would deny me or even ask me to make any changes. I've done my homework, and I think the only thing they might do at all is have their electrical engineer ask me a question or two if they need anything clarified.

I also had two different people poking around in my garage yesterday.

One was the insulation company sales guy. My Dad's construction business uses a certain insulation contractor. He told me that they are so cheap, that I can't go to the big box store and buy insulation and install it myself for less than these guys can.

The insulation contractor suggested to me that the best bang for the buck would be to use fiberglass batts in the 2x4 walls and in the angled roof/ceiling of the upstairs. In the ceiling of the garage/floor of the loft, they would use blown-in insulation. The bottom cord of the engineered trusses is a 2x10. That extra thickness means that more insulation can be put in.

In the upstairs, it's a bit limiting how much insulation can be put in because there's not much flat ceiling. Half of it is the bottom-side of the roof 2x6. So, that can really only get some fiberglass batts in there (plus one of those spacers that lets air flow from the soffit to the ridge vent.)

Blow-in insulation filling the loft floor will act as much like an "attic" to the downstairs as I'll be able to do while still having upstairs space.

An hour after the insulation guy was here, the building inspector, Tom, was here.

I introduced myself to him and said hello. I also mentioned about the Solar system and asked what the Town would require of me in terms of permits for it. (For example if they want a separate electric permit from the rest of the garage electrical.)
He said that was really more of the office guy's department (Mike), and gave me his contact info.

Tom also said that he already found something in the electrical panel that I would have to correct in terms of the details of bonding. I told him that I thought it was correct, but of course would make whatever changes the Building Department would require of me. Mostly, I was holding my tongue, because I was REALLY sure I had it done right, and what he was telling me was wrong, but the last thing I want to do is offend the one guy who can completely derail my construction project.

I went back in the house and let the building inspector finish his Rough Construction and Rough Electrical inspection.

Later in the day, I got a call from the other inspector, Mike. He told me "Tom told me about your panel. Yeah, you have it right, Tom was wrong. Maybe he was just having a bad day. We all mess up sometimes. You're good on your inspections."

I felt pretty good about that. I'm not an electrician (or an engineer, architect, mason, carpenter, etc.) but I read as much as I can and learn all I can. It was a good feeling to know exactly what I was talking about even when a "pro" was telling me the wrong information!

I asked Mike about what he wanted to know about my solar project and in the end, we both decided it was just best to send him over a copy of the same paperwork that I was providing to the Power Utility. (Which was actually one reason why I wanted to be set with the Utility before even speaking to the inspector...)

At this point, I'm waiting on getting an estimate from the insulation company. I probably won't hear back from either the Electric Utility or the Building Inspector about the solar for at least a week.

I also sat down to figure how to get the Utility incentive we have in my area. The STATE of Wisconsin has no incentives for renewable energy*. There is an incentive through participating power utilities. There are some limitations on it. For one thing, the value of that incentive last year would have been $2,400! This year, it will max out for me at $1,200!
It likely won't be available at all next year.

I went through the paperwork and read all the fine print. The highlights of it say that the equipment must be new. (You can't purchase used gear, install it, and get the incentive.) You also have to be on the grid. It's an incentive through the power utility, so I guess that's fair. Interestingly, the 30% tax incentive on Federal U.S. taxes does NOT have that requirement. You could live off-grid in the middle of nowhere, install solar panels and batteries on your off-grid cabin, and still have the federal incentive apply.

There's also some requirements about the solar panels being within a certain number of degrees of south, within a certain range of angles, and have some certain limited amount of shading. i.e. The utility doesn't want to pay you to put up solar panels on the north side of a building under a shade tree.

The last and most important fine print is that the utility incentive requires that your system be professionally installed. It lists that you must have a "licensed and certified contractor" with "all necessary permits".

The other interesting thing is that at this point, the paperwork isn't even to request a rebate check. It's an application to reserve a later request for the incentive.

So, right now, I need to have a signed proposal from a contractor, showing that I've already made at least a $500 down payment. Using that, I can send in paper-work that shows that I intend to later apply for the incentive. Then, once all the work is done, I fill out more paperwork to actually ask for the incentive.

Sound confusing? It kind of is. Even though the reservation application is only a two-page form, it's really ONLY set up for "Hey you, go hire a solar professional, pay him lots of money, then we'll give you a kickback for installing solar."

The problem with that is there's no allowance for a D.I.Y.er or even if you want to purchase your solar panels from one company and your inverter(s) from another! Fortunately, I was able to get in touch with a real live person on the telephone. She (Sarah, at Focus on Energy) was actually very friendly and helpful. I explained my full situation, including that it was the family construction business building the garage, that I already bought 2 solar panels from the guy I was going to buy all my solar panels from, and that yes, I actually DO have training in solar. (OK, officially, it was only one class, but I did get a certificate!)

In the end, we decided that I just need to get my signed proposal from where I'm buying my solar panels. (I already paid him $300 for 2 panels, so I just mailed in another check for $200 towards the rest of the panels so I have my $500 deposit.) I also need to have estimates from the supplier where I'll buy the racking, inverters, and balance of system components. And finally, an estimate from my electrician for the final hook-up. Which is fine, because I was always planning on doing 90% of the solar work myself, and just having the electrician look it over anyways!

So, in the end, it looks like I can get my local incentive for all the parts of the system, but it's a little bit more hassle and paperwork.

(Hope this isn't sounding too "ranty" - I'm learning plenty as I go, but at some times, some of it is a little frustrating. By default, I don't feel good about dealing with any governmental-type agencies. It seems like they can only ever usually either make things really complicated or outright deny whatever it is I'm trying to do!)

So, anyways, the lady at Focus on Energy was pretty nice, and I think we have it all figured out. Essentially, a 6KW solar system with micro-inverters will cost me a little under $10,000 for all the panels, inverters, cabling, components, etc. I'll be able to get a tax credit of about $3,000 on my Federal taxes. (I paid more than $3,000 in taxes last year, so this is all sounding good...)
And I should earn up to $1,200 from the Focus on Energy incentive, which will come as a check 6-8 weeks after project completion. (Although the application needs to be done the sooner the better. The program is known to run out of money by September.)

After incentives, my $10,000 solar system should cost about $5800ish. It will save me about $1,000 per year on electricity. So, simple economic ROI is about 5.8 years to pay for itself. After that, it makes me $1,000 a year

I've also run numbers before on creating your own electricity and using that as motor fuel INSTEAD of buying gasoline. Of course, that depends quite a bit on the cost of gasoline. When I ran those numbers, I used an average price of regular unleaded from a number of years to help even that out. The ROI I got from putting up your own solar system and using it to power an electric car came out to about 3.5 years.

So, for less than the cost of a used car, I can produce electricity for my home and a vehicle for the next 25 years and beyond. Sounds like a good deal to me.




*(Actually not completely true. There is a law that says that renewable energy systems by themselves can not raise the taxable value of your property. i.e. your property taxes can't go up simply because you put up solar panels.)
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