Florida Solar Plan: Step By Step Guide
Florida Solar Plan: Step By Step Guide is so important because there is only one way to make a huge profit from home solar. That one way is to pay the lowest cost for the highest quality home solar system possible. It’s imperative to know what is the best action to take before installing solar because the more efficient the home is, the smaller the solar system needed. The most obvious thing is don’t overpay for a solar system because it will eat up the profit ratio.
There are many other things to be aware and that’s the point of Florida Solar Plan: Step By Step Guide is to cover everything necessary in preparation for going solar. An informed buyer tends to make the most profit from a home solar system.
Below Is a Table for The Things To Do Before Installing Solar.
The Objective Is To Achieve As Close As Possible What A Homes Daily Average kWh’s Usage Is?
The Average Daily Kilowatt Usage Will Determine The Size Solar System A Home needs.
Doing these Home Improvements will Improve any homes energy efficiency and reduce the Size of the Solar System Needed.
Each Item On This List Will Be Covered In Detail After The Chart
| Air Conditioning | A New AC Unit can cut power a bill in half if the unit is over 10 years old. Replacing An A/C unit will result in noticeable savings and will pay for itself. |
| Roof | Older roofs are not as efficient as a new roof, and it’s ideal for the roof and solar panels to age simultaneously. |
| Windows and Doors | Caulking Is The Least Costly and Money Saving Thing To Do In A Home |
| LED Lighting | Amazing Energy Saving Technology! |
| Attic Fans and Blown Insulation | Go The Extra Mile for Additional Savings! |
| After The Above Home Improvements The Size Solar System Needed Will Cost Thousands Less! | At This Point, Your Home Is Efficient Enough To Determine The Actual Monthly kWh Usage. Which should Be Considerably Lower than before The Improvements Started. |
| Solar Equipment | This Is Where Some Expertise Goes A Long Way! You want to deal directly with the contractor removing sales reps and managers from the deal, and you get the lowest price possible. That’s exactly what “Your Solar Advocate” Does for You, and It’s a Free Service! |
| Installation | Expert Licensed and Insured Contractor |
| Get Top Quality Equipment of Less | Buy All of Your Equipment Wholesale and Save Big! |
| Use A Free Solar Consultant | “Your Solar Advocate” Consultant Firm Is a Free Service! |
Roof Replacement
The general rule of thumb is if a roof is no more than 7 years old it’s okay to do solar. A roof 7 to 9 years old well kept in good condition can install solar without concern. The key is a roof should be in Good to Excellent Condition before going solar.
A 10-year-old roof or older is a challenge because it will need replacement within 5 to 8 years. Timing is critical when it comes to maximizing your ROI with home solar. Bottom line is to consider replacing the roof if needed because just like an A/C unit, new roofs are more efficient.
As far as solar installation is concerned, they do very little penetrations to the roof if any at all. They stand behind their work and will address any installation issues going forward.
A/C Replacement Will Pay For Itself
A new A/C unit pays for itself because of improved efficiency and increased home value. In most cases, the rule of thumb is to replace any AC unit 10 years or older because it can have a dramatic effect on lowering power consumption. The lower your power consumption is the smaller your solar system will need to be.
LED Lighting
LED lighting is the best energy saving technology in decades, LED bulbs burn cool, last long and are amazingly efficient. I challenge anybody to replace all the regular bulbs in their home, and you will see a noticeable difference in the power bill. LED bulbs are expensive but well worth the investment.
LED lighting has added value because of the aesthetics that wasn’t cost effective with the traditional bulbs. The beauty and elegance LED offers makes the investment worth every penny.
The combination of lower energy consumption and the soothing comfort LED lighting provides makes this a must do home improvement!
Be aware that it is a bit challenging with all the different choices of LED fixtures and designs, but worth the effort. LED lighting is a home efficiency idea that you can see and feel and not just do it to save energy. Because of the ambience LED lighting creates, it makes doing it fun and exciting while helping the environment at the same time.
Re-Caulk All Windows and Doors
New caulking is one of the cheapest but effective steps for improving home energy efficiency. Windows are one of those things that are a contractor’s nightmare. The same windows with the same installers get different results when it comes to efficiency.
In Florida because the weather is hard on caulking, It’s best to reseal all your windows every 3 to 5 years to maintain peak efficiency.
Attic Fans and Blown Insulation
In Florida, attics get extremely hot and installing additional vent fans and blown insulation improves efficiency and lowers kWh used. Installing attic fans and blown insulation is often done when replacing a homes roof and or when purchasing home solar.
Any homeowner that makes any or all of these improvements will have a more efficient home and a lower power bill as a result. The key is a homeowners power bill will be lower without having to change their lifestyle.
These improvements will help folks with high power bills that are $225 and up because they are expensive improvements to make. A power bill any lower is not going to improve as dramatically unless its $200 and you know it’s too high. Then you can probably get the bill reduced to $110 to $125 it might be worth making all of these improvements. The lower the power bill the smaller the solar system needed which is additional savings.
Here's An Example of A Solar Company's Ridiculous Claim
Don't Overpay for a Home Solar System
Here’s the biggest problem with the way solar is marketed? The claim that power companies raise rates is exaggerated when it is so important to know the truth about power company price increases. The truth is power companies do raise rates but when purchasing solar that should not be calculated in. The reason is simple because nobody can tell you what the future holds, price increases are an unknown quantity. We still have to have some kind of guide to calculate power costs over the long term, the following is my recommendation.
Below Is An Example of The True Cost of Power Over a 25 Year Period Including Increases
When calculating the value of your solar production over a twenty five year period use the your present day average monthly bill and multiply x 12 Months x 25 Years and add 10% more and that’s a realistic price increase over twenty five years. The reasoning is in over the next twenty five years how we obtain our energy is going to diversify. So fossil fuels will probably go down in cost quite dramatically or at minimum hold steady and that’s what dictates power price increases. I’m sure power companies will figure out a way to justify a higher price but it doesn’t mean they’ll be effective at doing so.
Average Monthly Power Bill | x 12 Months | 25 Years X 1800 | 10% Total Increase Over 25 Years | Total 25 Year Power Cost Estimate | Average Power Costs Monthly for 25 Years |
$150 A Month | $1800 A Year | $45,000 | $4,500 | $49,500 | $165 A Month Average Power Costs |
Information Is The Key To Saving Money Going Solar
So the truth is if your average power bill of a $150 a month will average about $165 a month over the next 25 years (300 Months). So we know the accumulative value of your power cost $49,500, that’s what you pay the power company in twenty five years. Now we have the value of the power lets compare that to the cost of a solar system that produces that power.
Knowing the cost of the power will show what the real value of home solar and if it’s for you.
We now know you have $49,500 to invest in solar with no cost to you because you will pay the $49,500 to the power company without solar based on a $150 per month power bill. You do not want to spend that much because there wouldn’t be any benefit from having solar and you don’t need to.
The Following Is An Example From An Actual Home Solar Companies Proposal. This was presented to the client in July, 2018.
To Get To This Payment Amount They Included The Tax Credit but Not Everybody Qualifies for It. They are using the tax credit as a down payment which is deceptive. If the buyer doesn’t pay that tax credit to the finance company then their payments will be much higher. That 25 year warranty you see, the company is out of business!
That 4.99% loan you see costs the solar company $2500 in points to provide the customer low interest. That 5% percent loan over 20 years doubles the cost of this system paid over a 20 year term.
As You Can See In These Examples There's A Lot of Deception Involved
The company is claiming $66,000 in total savings which is impossible? The total cost of power over 25 years is $49,500 and that’s including increases. They’re using a tax credit in the deal to create a lower perceived cost with skewed savings estimates.
Conclusion, profits from solar is dictated by what you pay for a home solar system, not how much your finance payment is. Now we know why Florida Solar Plan: Step By Step Guide is so important, because you will get a profit from solar with this plan.
A Typical Solar Company's Proposal
| Add-Ons To Every Solar Proposal | Cost of Add-Ons |
| The Cost of Salesperson | $3000 |
| Sales Manager | $1500 |
| Proposal Builders and Permitting Department | $1000 |
| Overhead: Rent, Auto Insurance, Vehicles, and Utilities | $1000 |
| Cost of Leads and Marketing | $1000 |
| Points for Low Interest 20 Year Loan Terms (Frequently Hidden Cost) |
$2500 |
| Solar Panels, Inverter, Installation | $17,000 |
| Solar Company Profit | $5000 |
| Total | $32,000 |
| Add-Ons To Every Solar Proposal | Cost of Add-Ons |
| The Cost of a Salesperson | |
| Sales Manager | |
| Proposal Builders and Permitting Department | $1000 |
| Overhead: Rent, Auto Insurance, Vehicles, and Utilities | $1000 |
| Cost of Leads and Marketing | |
| Points for Low Interest 20 Year Loan Terms (Frequently Hidden Cost) | |
| Solar Panels, Inverter, Installation | $17,000 |
| Solar Company Profit | |
| Your Solar Advocate Target Price $2.75 a Watt Totals for 7K | $19,250 Tax Credit – $5,005 The net Cost Is $14,245 |
So the truth is if your average power bill of a $150 a month will average about $165 a month over the next 25 years (300 Months). So we know the accumulative value of your power cost $49,500, that’s what you pay the power company in twenty five years.
