Power Trip Energy

I’ve owned a 10kw almost 8 years now and I must say it has not been as great an investment as I was led to believe. We just don’t use enough energy to benefit from savings generated by the panels. Any excess, if any, that is credited by PUD is quickly exhausted by October. With pacific northwest weather, there just aren’t enough sunny days. The SunPower micro inverters are not durable and quickly deteriorate, reducing power output but until they fail outright, you have to live with decreased performance. After SunPower’s bankruptcy, transitioning to Enphase monitoring was frustrating. After promptly purchase phases monitor, which cost $600, I attempted repeatedly to schedule installation via emails. Finally after 3 months, I called Enphase, spoke with a great customer service representative and was scheduled within a week. The new monitor was just installed only to find none of the Sun Power micro inverters are not compatible with Enphases system so I cannot determine via the app if any or all the micro inverters are healthy. Enphase did promise diligent monitoring and I could call anytime for a health check. So far, I’m very pleased with Enphase but given past maintenance issues with this 42k system and SunPower’s bankruptcy, I definitely would have deferred installation of a solar panel system had I known then what I do now. I was led to believe the system would add value to my home but on a recent appraisal, no value was attributed to the addition of a solar system. I realize some buyers may see it as an asset but others may also view it was potentially a logistical negative. I’m still for clean energy, I just recommend making sure it is a good fit for your needs.