Long story is utility companies complain they are losing money. So before I got the COO on the renovation. My electric bill was actually negative because I was not consuming anything. But since we moved in that changed. From what I read, The consumption fee is because I am still pulling from the grid and consuming electricity during off hours ( night). I am not storing everything to a battery. So even though I produce more than I consume, they want a transaction fee for it. I might be wrong here and could look it up again. But that was what I found out when I looked into it last time.

Also, we can't guarantee that it will always be negative. It depends on the weather and usage. So far I have only had 1 month where I actually consumed more than I produced. So it is possible not to produce enough and why they handle it on a yearly basis and not a per monthly basis ( monthly rollover).

Of course. Another idea is to look into financing them if that is possible or just get a small system installed and add panels to it over time.

See my other post. I am in the area, central. I went with SolarMe and they were from Asbury Park. But work all over the area.

I hired installers. I screened through 4 different ones. Ended up using SolarMe. I think they are based out of Ashbury Park. I have no complaints with them. They were great, only issue I had was there was something configured wrong during installation and took a little while to sort out. But it works fine now. They gave a great summary and estimate of the system. They also provide commercial grade panels (more durable, longer lasting, and cheaper than Tesla panels IMHO) and use an Enphase system which has good support. I would also ask for the critter guard to prevent squirrels and chipmunks under the panels. Overall, paid total $44,000 for panels and installation before the federal credit, which gave me $11,000 back. so, after federal taxes total was $33,000 for the largest size system I could get installed. Again, took me about 6 years of side work and consulting to save up for it. But it's something I really wanted to do.

Honestly, it depends on the person's situation. I know one coworker who leased/rented and has done well with it. If you don't have the capital it does make financial sense depending on the deal. The issue is when u rent or lease, u don't get the federal tax credit. The company does. But I have heard horror stories when the person dies and the lease gets transfered or during selling the house.

Also, I know some leases will also include repairs past the warranty and solar panel upgrades.

I guess congress actually passed something useful. That's a miracle. I knew it was going to go down if nothing was changed at the time of installation.

Really well here. Renovated a house, new roof. I put solar up. Panels have a 25 year warranty, so as long as the roof. Lucky enough to have great sun and south facing back. So it's all on the back of my house and don't see them. I saved up money for years and ended up getting 41 panels installed (16.26 kWh system).

Federal government gave 26% back with invoice on taxes ( EDIT: at time of installation, law said it was going to be 22% next year and 20% the following year. Apparently, it's 30% now, surprisingly, thanks @njrun). So I only paid for 76% of the price for the panels.

NJ does the TREC system. Every month I enter how much I generate. ( u can pay a solar company to do it. But I don't) You get $91.20 for every 1Mwh ( 1,000 kWh). That price is locked for 15 years. So it doesn't matter how much you consume. My system size will generate around 14-19 TREC a year.

Each month my electric bill is $3.25 for the consumption fee since I produce more than I consume. Each month it carries over for a year. At the end of the year, if I generate more than I consume I get money back from the utility company.

Since panels are owned, not rented ( rent is a big issue when selling a house, I have heard issues) it adds non taxable property value to the house.

My math, I will make my money back with an estimated 5.75 years. With best case 4.5 years, worst case, 6.5 years. Everything after is profit.

Overall, helps keep monthly prices down and helps pay my other utility bills. If u can do it, plan to stay at the location, and have good sunlight, I would recommend. It's been great for me so far.

Welcome, you r in good hands. As the other comments said. Somerville has been gentrified ( being built up), Morristown is 20 min away for a lot of bars and restaurants. NYC is about an hour away. Somerville has a train line to transfer as well. I believe they are building a new line as well.

NYC has the nickname of 'Silicon Alley. There is a lot of pharmacy and tech in the NYC and central NJ area.

The biggest thing is being able to drive. There is a lot of great food in the area as well as vineyards and breweries. There is plenty to do in the area, from parks, hikes, sports, shows. Morristown's MPAC has a lot of great shows. Not just NYC. If you don't like any of that Poconos is about an hour away if you like chilling on a lake or gambling. The beach is about 1.5-2 hr drive away.

While you are here please try the bagels, pizza, local produce such as corn, tomatoes, blueberries and peaches.