Is Solar Worth The Investment - 4 Year Review

80% production after 25 years is great. That means all it will take is a few new solar panels added to the array and your back up to 100% production.

Awesome. I'd just add the certainty of energy provider charges/rates rising, as they've always done. So despite output of a system slowly degrading over 2.5 decades, each kW becomes more valuable. Offset amount will vary, of course. Def don't kick yourself over hindsight when there's no sure-thing to be learned from. It could have just as easily gone bust.

Good stuff! I like seeing the breakdown.

The amount of time it takes to for the solar panels to "return" your money also depends on the size of the house because in this case bigger means better cause you can have more panels. So the surface area which the panels are placed its very important, therefore some people may be getting their income earlier

Nice. Thank you for solar info 🌞

A great analysis; thanks!

So, finally! 25 KW grid tied system, DIY installed and operational first week of this month. Already generated 1.16 MwH, system cost was roughly 45K. The bills have been all over so I haven't calculated how long it will take to pay back. But I expect this property will be carbon negative to 2050, even with a plug-in electric vehicle or two. It's fun and almost hypnotizing to see the live power generation value near noon time. I was shocked to see peak power increase past the normal peak power time. Turns out there were bright clouds in the sky, but not blocking the disc of the Sun and it was increasing the output more than a cloudless day! That was a surprise. I estimate I was getting an extra 300 watts while the clouds are floating around. It's a 57 panel Enphase microinverter system on three roofs. The 86 ft long trench was a nice bit of exercise to dig...

Good analysis Garrett. I am in Qld, Australia and I have a 9,7kw PV grid tied system for about 18 months now, at a installed total of $4,500 Au probly the cheapest one could get at the time and so far it has been great. Without going into too greater specifics, I can tell you in the 1st 12 months we had 3 bills, $26, $6 & 6cents was the last, we didn’t have to pay anything as per our credits and after the first year we received a check for $280, so we put in another 2.5kw split ac for the kids. We dont use A-con a lot, but do have a 5kw & a 2.5kw also, so 10kw now all up. We went for a cheap option for different reasons, an older house and we may rebuild another on property, and partly curiosity to see if we do get our value from such a budget system. As a rough guess I believe we would normally us between $100-$150 power here a month, at $100/mth and the $280 we got back that is still nearly $1500 in the first year off a $4500 system. Yay, so far!

Besides that with 20-20 hindsight, we can always find ways that would have been more profitable to invest money in, you leave out what is in my mind (and I am sure that goes for many others as well) at least as important. Having your own solar installation, with, if possible, a way to take the house off-grid in case of a power outage, gives peace of mind that at least the most important electrical loads can be done without dependence on the grid.

My utility charges $58.75 per month in fixed charges and then only charges $.10 per kWh. Effectively this make the price per kWh very high for very efficient users and very low for very high electricity users. They are trying to disincentive conservation and increase electricity use.

How much does cost to recycle solar panels when they get old?

Hail damage and buying Enron stock are risks, also in 5 years the panels will probably be better made, and the batteries are constantly improving. We just bought a battery powered weed trimmer and blower, our next battery powered device will probably be a lawn mower for our small yard.

People always want to talk about return of investments on these things like they're the stock market. How about the fact that: -You have electricity when your power grid goes down. -Access to the electronics that are powered by this grid. -Unlimited, pollution-free electricity for a decades. -Eases the strain on the power grid system. -Extra power can be given to the community. -Reduces dependence on foreign fuels. -Virtually no maintenance needed. -Can be installed virtually anywhere. -Safer than traditional electric current. -Efficiency is always improving. -Federal grants, tax incentives, and rebate programs help with initial cost.

Solar is called an "investment", its clearly not...Good video

Well there is also the chance the market could have crashed and you lose the investment. Solar is an investment that does have a yearly return but the investment basically has no risk. The size of that return depends on how well it is designed and how much it offsets the electric bill. In my case that return could be as high as $4000 a year.

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Every body has surcharges.