Is solar selling?

RoBoTeq

The company I work for has brought on a line of thermal solar heating product which I think has a lot of potential. Especially with all of the tax credits and local incentive rebates, it just seems like solar water heating should be really catching on.

I am having a bit of trouble getting my contractors to sell the concept because solar cannot do any job by itself. Are any of you selling the sun?

hvactech

I would try to sell it if it were priced right! and easy enough to install!

RoBoTeq

It is priced right considering the tax credit advantages and many local rebates.

For example, a contractor is going to put out about $3,000 for all of the components to do a solar hot water system that will provide 90% of the domestic hot water for a family of four in the summer and about 40% at the worse case in the winter here in Eastern PA.

This system will be installed by the contractor for an average cost of $8,000 and will take 1-2 days to install. At $8,000, the average payback to the consumer for savings on their domestic hot water versus oil is about 15 years, for electric about 12 years. This is not so good.

However, with a 30% tax credit off of the $8,000, the consumer is now putting out only $5,600. This alone brings the payback down to a reasonable time period.

Here in PA there is also a State rebate of 35% of the total cost. So now we take another $2,800 for a total outlay of $2,800 which has about a 3-4 year payback and a system that will keep saving hundreds of dollars a year in energy use.

NHMaster3015

When oil prices were up we were selling quite a few. Now that oil is down and the economy sucks, you can't give them away.

RoBoTeq

A contractor who is willing to install solar systems should never let someone using oil forget about how high oil prices went and how easily and quickly oil prices could shoot past the last increase.

NHMaster3015

If they are making any purchase at all it is swapping to gas.

RoBoTeq

Gas is not available other then in LP in much of my territory.

mechanicalDvr

I have seen a couple companies that seem to be doing well (nice new truck fleets and plenty of man power) pop up virtually over night in my area. Someone told me there is interest free money available in the southern parts of NJ for solar conversions.

hvaclover

Back when I was only a few years in business there were massive energy credits or solar (Thanks Jimmy Carter). The tax credits expired and the systems broke down and the systems were all proprietary. No parts. Monstrous air to air ht ex that had flue gases passing thru them were installed in cold air returns. Inspectors weren't qualified to pass the systems.

Fock solar, as soon as the tax credits go away so will the products manufactures.

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Not Stupid, Just slow

RoBoTeq

This discussion is now a moot point; I sold the Sun today

hvaclover

Robin I kid you not when I say there were so many differently designed systems it made your head spin.

One thing the systems had in common was they all achieved 85 to 90% efficiency off standing pilot furnaces. All using the flue gases passing thru various heat exchange methods. I tore out more Frankenstein systems then I can remember.

Back then the requirements were the system be designed by a a credentialed engineer.
I may not support solar but at least we have established standards that won't allow those Frankenstein system I pulled out.

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Not Stupid, Just slow

RoBoTeq

This ain't my first rodeo, buckaroo

I have doctored up and pulled out more of those systems then......no, I made good money off of those systems whether I was keeping them running or tearing them out and replacing them with something else.

I love solar systems. Been selling them pretty well in the past few weeks. Efforts in doing solar training classes are paying off.

jvegas

I sold a solar clothes dryer for some big dollars

RoBoTeq

That's good. I have the solar water heating for washing the next load for your solar solar dryer.

My solar water heaters come with no strings attached, how about your solar dryers/

hvaclover

Wanna try the solar toilet I built? It flushes by sunlight.

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Not Stupid, Just slow

jvegas

I really love the sense of humor here

AustinAC

We are getting almost no requests for it now. People are in "repair it if my AC doesn't blow" mode.

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milk man

I saw the date of this post and hope you know by now that there is a cap of $1500 for the entire property. So in your example the HO will be paying $6500.

RoBoTeq

And I hope you know that you don't know what you are talking about;

hvaclover

That is what I was going to say.

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Not Stupid, Just slow