# Solar panel "deal" - Opinions?



## JLNorthGA (Jun 29, 2012)

Our playhouse is probably "higher" than any other building in town (except a few steeples and the clock tower of the old courthouse). A solar panel vendor has offered us $2K a year to place solar panels on our roof. Then they might sell the panels to us in five years.

Our roof is tilt slab construction - that is the panels are precast concrete panels that were hoisted up to make the roof. The panels are 6" thick or more with large "ribs" that are an additional 16" or so. The panels sit on large corbels that are attached to the outside panels. We also have large cast concrete beams holding up the slabs. The area under the stage in the basement is a rated tornado shelter. The roof panels have a membrane with large, smooth river rock covering the membrane. The roof above the stage is 25' x 50'. The roof above the rest is maybe 75' x 100'.

The downside is possible damage to the roof, which they say they will repair. The upside is $2K a year - which would give us a little cushion - not much, but enough to help out. Supposedly the solar panels would shade the roof enough to make a bit of difference in the summer. This would be a small system - maybe generating 50 KW or so. What makes it profitable for them are the tax incentives - and the fact that the utilities are mandated to buy their solar power.

I don't know what to think. I'm sort of ambivalent about the notion. We wouldn't be using the power, we'd just be paid. They would be getting maybe $50/day. We'd be getting about 1/10 of that.


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## chausman (Jun 29, 2012)

2k is 2k. Unless you think people would not want to come see performances because there were solar panels.


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## Morte615 (Jun 29, 2012)

What I would be worried most about would be damage to the roof, and by that I mean long-term damage that is not caused during installation. I would talk to an engineer and/or architect and see what they say about the weight being added and how it will affect the long term quality of the roof.

But if they sign off on the project then it sounds like a good way to raise money.


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## sk8rsdad (Jun 29, 2012)

A few points to ponder:


Don't install anything on the roof until you have an engineers assessment regarding water penetration, impact on roof life, wind and snow load impacts.
Make sure you understand who owns the liability if a panel comes adrift and hits something or somebody.
Who deals with the electric company?


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## FMEng (Jun 29, 2012)

A licensed structural engineer is the person that should review this idea. He or she is the only person qualified to determine if the roof can safely handle the weight of the panels and that the attachment methods are appropriate. Let the solar panel company pay for the study, with the agreement that the theater receives and owns the report from the engineer.

Once it is determined that the building can do it, then a contract should be reviewed by an attorney representing the theater. This sort of thing should not be done on a hand shake.


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## zmb (Jun 30, 2012)

How would the panels be tied into the building's electrical system? Is it going into a inverter and then mergeing with the building's supply or being fed directly to the grid?

And is the $2000 just for having the panels or is there money from the electricity genearated paid per kWh?


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## cpf (Jun 30, 2012)

Since it's not-you doing the work and providing the equipment, make sure the contract is ironclad so that if anything at any point in time goes wrong as a result of the install or connection, it's the installers on the hook and not you. If they're using this just to sell power to the grid, it'll almost certainly be on a separate meter (so it can be billed separately by the utility), so beyond being up to code you shouldn't need to be concerned about their install affecting your power. If this is a professional company they'll probably have experience in what you're going through, and (+/- the conflict of interest) should be able to address all your concerns.


The benefits are good, $2k plus the publicity of being a "Green" building, just make sure it's not a too-good-to-be-true type deal.


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## museav (Jun 30, 2012)

FMEng said:


> Once it is determined that the building can do it, then a contract should be reviewed by an attorney representing the theater. This sort of thing should not be done on a hand shake.


Definitely do this as there are going to be all sorts of details such whether they need to be able to access the panels at any time, what it may do to your property taxes and insurance, what happens if they go out of business or if you want to sell the building and so on. These may be easy to address in the associated contract but it may be important that they are addressed.


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## Sayen (Sep 13, 2014)

Check the company like there's no tomorrow. In Arizona there's a number of companies offering similar setups, with different rates and reputations for their work. A few have a reputation for poor hookups and bad installations, others have been caught not reporting power generated correctly or paying out dividends. Do they have anyone they can give you as a reference? What will other companies offer you? What's the cost at the end of the contract if they sell the (now old and outdated) equipment to you?


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## RonaldBeal (Sep 14, 2014)

My gut reaction is: as long as everything checks out/ is on the up and up, go with it. One other thing to take into consideration, is generally (and it depends on the construction of your grid/flyspace) you will reduce the amount you can safely fly because you have reduced your roof load. If you normally never approach that limit, then it is a non-issue. However if you sometimes approach max roof load, adding weight to the roof, reduces your usable roof load, and you may now exceed the max. Just something to take into consideration.


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## StradivariusBone (Sep 15, 2014)

This thread is 2 years old, btw, I'm sure OP made his choice by now. But there are a few companies I've seen that do this sort of thing. It's also moving towards residential sites as well- http://www.solarcity.com/ I was looking into it when we bought our house, but since it faces south it would mean putting the panels visible to the street and I wasn't interested in dealing with that.


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