Congrats on getting your system up and running. We have a solar system on our house here in Scotland. I found it interesting reading this post because the economics of it is drastically different here than it is in Texas (not a surprise I guess) !
Our system does fairly well from around mid-Mar to the end of Oct, but in the winter months it produces next to nothing. In Scotland we get lots of cloudy days and way less sunshine compared to Texas.
Our electricity cost is much higher than yours at around $0.40/KWh, so thats where we really save. We have a 4KW system, and I cant remember how much we paid, but I worked out that payback period as 6 years, which we have now passed.
At the time we had it installed, the UK government had an incentive scheme running for home solar installations - they would make a payment per KWhr produced, for 20 years ! Plus our elec suppliers will also pay for the excess you produce. So adding that all up, it works out quite well for us. It does not cover all our needs, and especially not in winter, however with the government incentive, and the power company payments we currently get an income from it of around $850 a year, which is nice. And that is on top of the amount we save from not paying for the electricity it covers.
However, the economics of it have changed again in terms of new installations here in the UK. The government no longer pays the incentive, so for anyone installing new here, the payback period is now much longer, although the elec companies will still pay for the excess. It makes the economics of it difficult for new installers here, largely due to the reduced amount of sunshine hours we get compared to places like Texas.
Anyway - enjoy your free electricity - its a great feeling !
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When we have paid off this first installation, it may make sense to upgrade to a larger system, even if it costs more per kWh with a company that will buy back excess. What has been increasing for us are delivery charges, which can be resolved by lowering our use.
Our federal government incentive is a 30% tax credit, which will be roughly $3000 for us. I don't know if Texas has any additional incentives.
We are fortunate to be able to lock in prices on the electricity itself. Our current contract is for 60 months. I think I'll be glad for the PV system when the contract is up for renewal.
30% tax credit is nice ! Best of luck with it !
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