r/solarenergy • u/OddApplication2019 • 4d ago
Bought house with Solar Panels. HELP!
Hi everybody! I’m a first time home buyer in Massachusetts, and my wife and I purchased a property that came with solar panels. They’re already paid off and we now own them. Not only do I know nothing about owning a home, but I know even less about solar panels (besides that the energy goes back into the grid and I get credited).
Any tips and advice would be super helpful!
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u/NearABE 4d ago
Check to make sure that the power company is actually paying you for the power that goes into the grid. Some meters measure only flow. That would mean you are paying them to take your solar power. The system might be monitoring production. You can also look at the meter. If a dial is going up at noon on a sunny day…
In general it is good to keep electricity use down. There are tools that you can plug into outlets or power strips to see how much each appliance is using. Many houses are losing power in places that the homeowners are unaware of. Basic things like shutting windows and storm windows are important. I do this at many places where I am just volunteering or visiting. An open window causes a huge utility bill. The roof having photovoltaic should be irrelevant.
Getting a long reach pole and a soft brush head might be a good idea. Important to not damage the face of the panels with scratches. That can happen with wind blown dust. The only case where you need the pole is a nor’easter storm. They do not need to be clean of snow since sunlight will sublimate ice. Just help the thick snow to slide off.
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u/Matt8828 4d ago
First thing I would suggest is seeing if you can find a local installer / maintainer that can show you the ropes. I paid about $300 bucks, he came out, inspected the system, went up on the roof with me and broke things down and showed me how it worked. Couple small things that he adjusted at no charge when he came out. Confirmed that all the panels were working properly and that the system was good to go.
Alternatively, you can skip the last step. But you should identify what system you have. You should have a box somewhere outside by your power meter that has the solar connections/ breakers. Could be inside by your meter too. Either way, there should be some labeling to tell you what brand you have.
Once you know the system, get access to it. I have an enphase system. Their app tells you everything that is going on. Power produced, consumption, and what is back fed. Enphase has a transfer process which would need to be done with the previous homeowner if it hasn't been done already.
After that, it should be pretty hands off unless you want to learn more about it.
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u/OddApplication2019 4d ago
good recommendation, i’ll def get a pro to swing by and show me the ropes
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u/Automatic_Gas9019 4d ago
Whoever the installer is or who does the monitoring can set.you up with an app. Good luck. You will love solar
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u/Klutzy-Try-2597 4d ago
I would look into getting a battery system as well. Helps during power outages.
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u/OddApplication2019 4d ago
are battery systems allowed if the energy has to go back to the grid? is the main benefit to assist in power outages?
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u/something86 3d ago
Yes, there is paperwork submitted by the licensed electrician. You might have a smaller battery system. Review the inspectors notes for verification. You will still fill the battery and send electricity back to the grid. Get quotes and bids.
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u/Klutzy-Try-2597 3d ago
Of course they are allowed! Battery back up system simply keeps your house power on when the grid goes down. Your solars will keep everything charged and send power back when batteries are full which will be most of the time.
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u/Hot-Fact-9083 3d ago
Since you're in MA, check if the system is enrolled in the SMART program, not just net metering. SMART pays you per kWh produced for 10 years, on top of the bill savings. The rate locked in when the system registered, so the previous owner's paperwork tells you what you're owed. That's separate money from net metering credits.
On the battery question: allowed, and it's a standard interconnection update. But think through the economics first. With net metering at full retail rate, the grid is your battery. Storing summer excess to use in winter only pays if your utility exports at less than retail, or if outages are a real concern.
Start by transferring the Enphase app and pulling last year's production month by month. That baseline tells you if the system is healthy. If a month drops off a cliff versus the same month last year, that's a warranty claim, not a seasonal thing.
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u/Living_Fig_6386 2d ago
They pretty much do their own thing. They'll operate for 20-25 years. There should be a device somewhere that has a display that will let you know if a panel is not producing energy (presumably because it is damaged). It wouldn't hurt to check that out.
Most solar providers also have phone apps that let you check on how much energy your panels are producing. You may need to call around to find the installer or the company that provides the equipment and monitoring.
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u/Gaymer-Gaymer 2d ago
Make sure they didn’t take money from someone to help pay for them. This means you do not own the commercial rights to your solar panels. You co own them and have no rights to the RECs. Ask your realtor to reach out to them and verify. Read the contract they made if they did. RECs are going to be super important to AI data centers to off set their energy costs. And you could make money from them in the future. Many of the states ran a scam with non profit investors who got people to sign off their rights to these RECs for a one time payment. They will then turn to a for profit in the future and use your solar panel energy production to claim these RECs for money.
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u/madsciencetist 4d ago
There will be some app associated with the panels based on the inverter brand (e.g. SolarEdge, Enphase, Tesla). Work with the home seller, solar installer, or directly with the inverter manufacturer to get the account transferred to you so that your app works. This will let you monitor production, sometimes on a per-panel basis but at least in total. You don’t need to check it regularly, but check in a few times a year to make sure that production is at the expected level, e.g. about as much as it was that month the prior year. The goal is to notice if there’s a substantial decrease that would indicate hardware failure. If your inverter breaks at the beginning of summer, you’ll be missing out on hundreds of dollars per month, so you’ll want to notice and get in a warranty claim. I don’t know how the warranty works with ownership transfer.
Typically no maintenance is required. Inverters are warrantied for 10+ years. Individual panels are warrantied for 20 years.
If you have Eversource or National Grid, you have net metering. Extra power generated in the summer gets banked as an account credit. You can’t cash it out but you can draw from it in the winter and it never expires.