Our First Net Zero Solar Home Renovation

Being netzero means that you produce as much energy as you use. But we included enough to power an electric car too.

Goals For This Home and Our Mission

1. Keeping the Project Realistic in This Economic Environment

2. Make Sure It’s an Investment First

3. Keep the total cost under the median average home price of the area.

4. Ensure it can rent out for 10-15% above all ownership costs, including long-term maintenance.

Finding The Home

It took a long time to find the house itself due to the criteria needed. Options were limited because real estate has already been red hot for years, even before the pandemic. We needed a big south-facing roof for solar also.

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Planning

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Blower Door Testing

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Kitchen

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After

Before

Kitchen

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Master Bedroom

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Master Bedroom

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Flooring

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Flooring

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Garage

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Garage

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Backyard

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Backyard

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Exterior

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Exterior

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Hurricane Impact Windows & Doors

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Hurricane Impact Windows & Doors

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Time for Solar Energy!

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Here’s How Our First Net-Zero Home Renovation Turned Out

Yearly home electricity savings: $2,000 ($160+ per month)  Yearly Tesla/EV savings from not buying gas anymore: $592 ($49 per month) Total yearly electric and gas savings: $2,392 per year

Yearly Energy Usage For Both The House and Electric Car

After running the calculators, I estimated the house and car would use about 10,600 kWh per year in energy combined, so I designed the solar array to match that by using both the east and west-facing roofs.

The Cost of the Solar Electric Install

The total cost installed was $16,720.00. After the 26% solar federal tax credit, , the net cost is $12,373.00. We got it at $2.20/watt installed. This is considered pretty low.

There are many other nitty gritty details which played a key role in this renovation.