9 Crucial Questions to Ask Solar Companies to Avoid Huge Problems

The 9 Questions to Ask Solar Companies — According to a Top Solar Expert

“The numbers get so confusing,” Travis Jones explains. “People get scammed.”

Travis is the owner of Smart Roof and Home Performance, and a leading solar energy expert in the Dallas Fort Worth area. He has installed 30 solar systems and spent 5 years researching solar before accepting jobs. He’s committed to educating Dallas area homeowners on the pros and cons of solar energy — and whether it’s right for your home.

We used Google search data to find the 9 most searched for questions about solar cost, installation and long-term value. Travis answered them all for you.

It’s refreshing to have a solar panel installation expert tell us the questions he’d ask a solar panel company. That level of transparency and trust is why HOMR selected Smart Roof and Home Performance (Smart Roof HP) as its Dallas solar expert.

Solar Cost vs. Value Questions

Am I really saving money by installing solar panels, instead of just going through the grid?

TRAVIS: You need to find out how much your solar is projected to cover each month. In months where you don’t produce as much electricity as you use, you’ll have to purchase additional electricity from the grid.

Solar is priced per watt, but what you really need to know is how much it costs per kWh. That’s how we buy electricity.

When people buy solar (not including leases), they choose one of these three methods to pay:

• Cash. This is the least common option, as it involves paying in full after solar installation. It ties up all your cash in the solar panel system.
• Long Term Financing. 15-30 years for lowest monthly payments.‍
• Short Term Financing. Less than 15 years with higher payments and a plan to pay off more quickly.

NOTE: Consumer Affairs reports the average solar panel cost per watt in Texas is $2.69 as of September 2023.

We’ll go into further detail on the overall 25-year cost vs. value of solar in the “Questions about Solar Panels and Future Value” section later in this article. Travis tells you how to calculate your monthly spend on solar energy vs. going through the grid. 

What does it actually mean when someone says, "You're going to get an offset"?

TRAVIS: Offset tells you what percentage of your normal annual electricity usage can be produced by your solar panels. 

If you use 20,000 kWh/year and your solar is projected to produce 20,000kWh/year, that would be considered a 100% offset.

However, a full offset doesn’t mean you won’t have an electric bill. Remember, you lose some in the form of delivery fees.

You also lose some over time, because panels degrade. The top panels lose 2% of their production at the end of year 1 and 0.5% every year after that. The best manufacturers will guarantee the loss doesn’t exceed that. A few higher priced premium panels lose 1% and .25%.

On a roof that gets lots of good sunshine, it might make sense to size the system to 110% or more to account for this loss over time.

Solar Installation Questions

Where are you going to place these solar panels?

TRAVIS: You need to understand the three factors that impact how much electricity a solar panel will produce: orientation, tilt and shade.

• Orientation. Facing your solar panels south is best. West and east can work. Avoid the north side of your home — the sun is to our south in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Tilt. Tilt your solar panels between 15 and 45 degrees. 30 degrees is ideal. 
• Shade. You want the sun shining on your panels for at least 4 hours between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
  

If some of the panels don’t fit that criteria, ask to see proposals with and without those panels and find out how each version impacts the cost/kWh of the system.

Will I have to cut down any of my trees?

TRAVIS: This has to do with the tilt and shading portions of the last question. If any of your trees directly interfere with your solar panels getting 4 hours of sunshine between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., consider removing them [or pruning them]

Does my house get enough sun for these solar panels to even be worth it? 

This is a more general version of what we’ve covered. A quality solar provider helps estimate the production of your solar panel system over time and compares it to the total amount of energy your home needs to function.

Size your solar panel system to slightly outproduce the amount of energy you need. Travis recommends a solar setup that can produce 110% of your required energy — that way, a stretch of cloudy days is no problem.

HOMR SOLAR TIP: You can put your address into Project Sunroof from Google to see how many hours of sun your home could produce in a year.

Solar Energy Independence Questions

A major driver of solar energy conversion is the idea of going off the grid — being 100% independent from the electrical power grid. Many DFW area “solar homesteaders” worry about ERCOT’s energy grid management in the future, or the potential for major blackouts and brownouts as Texas freezing events and droughts increase.

But does installing solar panels on your roof really lead to total energy independence for most Dallas homeowners? We asked Travis for a realistic outlook. .

Am I going to be fully energy independent with these solar panels? Or will I still depend on the grid for some electricity?

TRAVIS: In Dallas-Fort Worth, you will always be tied to the grid. That’s not a bad thing. If you have multiple days with no sunshine, you want to be able to rely on the grid.

It’s also important to remember that solar production from panels occurs about 6 hours a day. The other 18 hours a day, you’re either pulling from batteries or from the grid.

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Is the local power company actually buying back power you "send back" to the grid, or am I going to be stuck buying a battery to store it?

TRAVIS: This depends on the company. People on the Oncor grid can choose different plans by different retail providers. Some pay more for the electricity you send back than others. 

At minimum, they don’t give you credit for the delivery fee, which is a passthrough fee from Oncor and is around 5 cents/kWh.

If you live in an area with a co-op like Coserv, you need to understand their individual solar buyback policies.

Many companies will not give you any credit for electricity you send back that is greater than your total usage that month. This often happens in months like April and October, where we have plenty of sunshine but don’t use as much electricity for cooling.

Questions about Long-Term Solar Savings

When am I actually going to receive my full tax credit? Will some of it come later than year one?

TRAVIS: The best way to address this is to consult a tax professional. Here’s a general overview of how your tax credit works:

The Federal Tax Credit for solar panel installation is 30% of the total cost of the system. Roofing can no longer be included in the cost.

An example solar project breakdown

For a $30,000 system, the potential tax credit is 30% of the total system cost, or $9,000.

If you have tax liability (income tax owed after all deductions are taken out), you can apply the tax credit.

For W2 Income: you can receive that $9000 back as actual cash up to the amount you've paid in via withholding.

For 1099 Income: you can reduce what you owe by up to $9000 against your tax liability.

Any unused portion of the credit rolls forward to the next tax year.

TALK TO YOUR CPA: The payment of many solar loans is built assuming you will send all of the tax credit money to them before month 18 of the lien.

How do I determine if my monthly solar payment actually makes sense for me? How do I compare it to my current energy bill?

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports Texas homeowners pay about 14 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) on their monthly energy bills.

So in order for solar to make financial sense for you, your new monthly solar payments should be less than 14 cents/kWh.

TRAVIS: If you pay cash, you can take the total amount of the system and divide it by the system’s 25-year lifetime production expectancy.

Example:  If you do a long term loan for a 10kW solar system, you might pay $165/month. Now you need to figure out the monthly cost.

18,250/12 = 1,521kWh/month

$165/1521 = $.108/kWh

Now, you’re paying just under 11 cents/kWh for what your panels produce — a savings of 3 cents/kWh from the average Dallas energy bill.

EcoWatch reports the average Dallas home uses 1,300 kWh per month. If you save 3 cents kWh by switching to solar, that’s a savings of $468 per year.

Over a 25-year solar panel system’s lifespan, that equals $11,700 in energy bill savings.