Litoeles harabim Solar panels New Jersey

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  • #1403917
    yossibook
    Participant

    I unfortunately signed a 20 year contract for installed solar panels in New Jersey .Not only did my first electric bill almost triple,but I now have moisture penetrating through the roof,underneath the panels,which they claim is due to not enough circulation in the attic…..(all of a sudden specifically on the underside of where the solar panels lay!!!)
    The company stated that the panels are producing but that my usage went up 3 fold,which was/is clearly not the case……(stated perhaps my previous electric meter was not accurate,which even if plausible still does not account for over the so called over 1,000 klh of usage!!!)
    Anyone have any eitzos how to get these things off my roof legally?or similar experiences?
    Additionally anyone that is about to sign a long term lease please read the contract over and over again…..don’t take salesman word at face value, like I did!!!

    #1404015
    iacisrmma
    Participant

    Contact the NJ Attorney General’s office. They may be able to help you.

    #1404210
    gavriel613
    Participant

    call an electrician to find the source of the leak. If he identifies the panels as the problem, get back to the company with details

    #1404229
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    There could be problems with the inverter or wiring that could easily result in metering issues. Also, make sure the higher bill is for the energy (kwh) component of the bill and not for the capacity (KW) component which may in some cases may be ratcheted up for peak useage. Also, if you are some type of “net metering” program you may not be getting credit for energy fed back into the grid.

    As to leaks, call a good roofer, not the electrician

    #1404603
    yossibook
    Participant

    Did anyone that had solar panels have a bill stating that his/her electric usage mysteriously went up in my case it was 3 fold despite all the ” so called energy” produced by the solar panels?

    #1404742
    ftresi
    Participant

    I have solar panels. I’ve never had the issues you have. My bills have been between $10 and $15 a month since they were installed. Also never had leaks, bli ayin hara. The panels were not installed correctly. If the rails the panels attach to are properly flashed, they should not leak.

    It sounds to me like you signed a 20 year PPA (power purchase agreement) where the company that installed your panels owns them and any power they produce. You then pay them for the power rather than paying the utility. You only pay the utility for any excess power you need after what the panels produce. So when you say your bills tripled, are you referring to the bill from the utility or from the company you signed a PPA with?

    #1404756
    yossibook
    Participant

    The installer stated that the solar panels produced around 750 kwh,plus utility company charged around 330.for a total consumption of 1080.my October usage last year was around 440.something is up.BEWARE everyone before you sign!

    #1404792
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    Yossi….
    you are either misreading the billing statement or you are not accurately stating the provisions of the the PPA…your post doesn’t make sense. If your load had nearly tripled according to the meter and you haven’t installed new appliances or charging a car in your garage, the meter is incorrect.

    #1404913
    yossibook
    Participant

    I’m sure what you mean.just do the simple math,look at my bills from previous years…..
    Simply lied straight out and convincing themselves that I’m the crazy one.sure you don’t work for them.
    Homeowner’s beware!don’t be naive and stup. As I was!!!!!!!!

    #1404962
    DovidBT
    Participant

    “the solar panels produced around 750 kwh,plus utility company charged around 330.for a total consumption of 1080”

    Why would the 750 kwh “produced” by the solar panels be considered “consumption”?

    #1404978
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    Yossi….either you are misreading the electric bills, have a broken meter or are not accurately conveying information in what you are posting. Your characterization of the facts doesn’t make sense. The output of the rooftop array on a net-metered basis was expected to be deficient relative to your load from an energy perspective. No utility company “charges” a customer for energy self-generated to offset load or injected to the grid via a feed-in tariff. Perhaps type slowly and accurately state whats going on.

    #1404980
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    Alternatively, you may have simply signed an abusive contract with the solar provider under which you are being charged some absurd fixed monthly G&A type charge which presumes an order of magnitude higher load than net-metered or contains some other provisions which no sensible customer would have willingly agreed to (unless you didn’t read the fine print). There are a lot of scams out there which have nothing to do with the utility but are entirely bilateral agreements between you and the solar system intaller. Sadly, you may be locked in since stupidity is not normally considered an event of force-majeure’

    #1405020
    ftresi
    Participant

    How big is the system that was installed in KWH? How many panels are on your roof? Also, how much was your usage last month shown on your electric bill?

    I agree with GH. Something about the facts you state don’t make sense unless you signed a contact with awful terms.

    #1405099
    yossibook
    Participant

    Trust don’t sign the 20 year lease.causing lots of agmas nefesh…..not what they had told me!

    #1405408
    yossibook
    Participant

    fons
    fons
    Member
    I seem to have a similar problem.
    we purchased a new house with solar power 18 months ago and received our first electricity bill for $2200.00 over the 3 summer months. there are only 2 of us in the house. After a long battle with AGL and the ombudsman we ended up nowhere. then we received the next 2 bills at a normal rate of around $450 and now our last summer bill came in at a staggering $1500 again for the oct. to jan. summer months. we have air conditioning but intentionally did not use it. After the first big bill we changed everything possible that could be done to reduce the possible consumption.
    Now after the second big bill I discovered through elimination and switching off mains switches that our house is using approx. 6-8kw from 10pm to 8am. God knows on what!!!
    I have a funny feeling that my solar is adding to my meter read. in the 18 months we also changed to a smart meter.
    a. why the power bill so high over summer? 3times more
    b. is there an outfit that can find the reason for excess power consumption in my place in melbourne?
    can someone please help

    Posted Tuesday 17 Jun 2014 @ 4:03:14 am from IP #
    This is the exact problem

    #1405415
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    Solar panels physically cannot “consume” electricity. An incorrectly installed meter, whether a “smart” meter, time-of-use meter, load differentiated meter, etc. for customers with net-metering arrangements can show absurd amounts of energy or record capacity use during peak hours that will ratchet up the bill, especially if the highest marginal peak hour price (which can be 5x to 7x times the off-peak price) is applied across all consumption blocks. All of you who have these ridiculous bills should retain a billing consultant who will come in and figure out for your the source of the problem and engage with the utility billing department. There are several qualified energy auditing firms in the Atlanta area if you are an AGL customer.

    #1405456
    yossibook
    Participant

    Apparently it could! My bill literally tripled! Could be the inverter or something else.theory is that it uses my electric as fuel to help it produce more?Do you work for an electric company?

    #1405457
    yossibook
    Participant

    Meant solar company?

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