Residential Solar

My panels were installed in mid August but are still not up and running due to government tape at the township level. First, they have to approve the changes that were made from the original plans (which got changed by the utility company) and once they approve them, the utility company has to come out and put on a new meter that measures both directions. The good news for me is I don't pay anything until they are generating.

 

Oh n! Where will it end? Now, even elec meters are bi-directional?

 

Lol. Glad I didn’t use the term “goes both ways”

 

Too funny!

And that brings up a good point. Mine won't be operational until the town inspector approves it. Then once that happens the utility has to install the net meter (they have waived the right to their own inspection, so that is something. But I expect it will still be around the end of October before it is actually running.

I pay the other 30% once the town inspector has approved.

 

Everybody wants a piece of the pie......

 

Of course they do. I am fortunate that my town offers a property tax abatement for solar - up to $30,000 of the increased assessment value. So, if they went by the purchase price, I would be good and taxes wouldn't go up. But that is not how assessors work so I have to wait until my first bill containing the additional taxes, then contest it (but pay what I am billed in the meantime), apply for the abatement, get a refund of my over payment and go from there. Not sure whether it will hit the 2023 mid year bill or the end of year bill for next year - it's just a wait and see.

 

I live near the largest solar farm in Mich , over 2000 acres . Seems strange to me that the township and county are leaving the property taxes on the Ag land the same even tho the owners of property are getting paid $1000 and up to $1500 per acre per year for 20 years . Imo the value of that property has increased correct ?

 

Well, I don't know but let me give it a few guesses (becuase Google is a wonderful thing ).

I'm thinking that if they used it for farming, that it would produce more than what they are getting paid per acre to hold the solar arrays (so in this case it decreased). Or the land might be in an Farmland and Open Space preservation program - which can still apply for solar farms in some places as long as a cover crop, even clover, is maintained. Or they might be paying a yearly payment in lieu of taxes.

It is really hard to know exactly what is going on since each state/county/town may have different rules. For example, although NH allows for tax breaks for residential solar, individual towns are the ones who allow/or not and determine the amount of any tax break. Plus, farms are under their own rules AFAIK (not residential nor manufacturing, or commercial), so that makes it even harder to know how that works.

 

Farming ( mostly all cash crops here ) does not pay close to $1000 per acre . They re-zoned it “solar farm “ with no increase in taxes .

 

So you need to look at the laws in your state/municipality. Only then will you be able to tell whether it should have increased - and then ony if you have the total of the information. My bet is that solar farms are still considered FOS areas. or there is a PILOT.

Although this particular issue is not about residential solar, I do know the next town over from mine, there are some properties that lease land for windmills. The the OWNER of the windmill pays the town instead of the landowner as part of the contract.

 

My house insurance is coming due in November and my agent sent me her yearly reminder to check and see if my insurance needs have changed. How timely. So today I go in to talk to her about the array that will be installed in a couple of weeks plus a couple of other minor upgrades to my property. Will be interesting to see how they evaluate the improvements.

 

Oh, oh......

 

I found an interesting article on the web about Amazon disabling ALL their rooftop solar arrays on the various distribution centers because they were catching on fire. Why, I have no idea, but they were so they shut them all off.

 

Walmart did that a few years ago for the same reason. What I had read was that some of the panels were not connected so live wires were just laying on the roofs

 

Hmm, she reran all the numbers and it doesn't seem as if I will need to increase my replacement coverage value. They already increase that value every year and apparently have gotten a bit ahead of it. Weird - I would have expected it to be the other way around what with the higher rate of inflation and, materials and labor.

 

Good news!

 

So basically, they just got caught overcharging you...

 

Sometimes when you put solar panels on the roof, because they are attached and are considered a fixed part of the dwelling there is no increase in coverage. You have to be careful though as the panels themselves may require separate wind/hail damage coverage. In other words, if the roof gets damaged the insurance may cover the roof and the panels, but if JUST the panels get damaged they may not be covered (without the extra premium). Homeowners ins gets so freaking complicated sometimes and because they all factor to their own standard(s) it makes it hard to compare company's offers and estimates. Car insurance isn't really any better. Or associates at the IRS and Social Security office. LOL.

 

IRS folks are busy training.

 

I saw that too!