What's your opinion on solar power? More specifically, having panels installed on your roof to reduce your electric bill. I'm having a consultation tomorrow to get more details. I live in the SW, so it's always crazy sunny here. I don't know what the cost will be yet. Is it something you'd consider if the situation was right? If not, why?
Lots of folks are installing them in my neighborhood in the Mid-Atlantic. I'm going to hold off until I can ask my neighbors how much their electric bill has gone down, after they've had the panels for a year or so. I don't see any reason to rush into it. Also, I'm a little concerned about what happens if a leak develops in your roof during or after installation. Who pays to fix that? That, plus the west side of my house faces the street, and I don't think I want my solar panel array to be greeting guests and visitors...I'm just not that in love with the looks (although the shingle- or tile-like versions of panels that Tesla is advertising would not be bad). So the panel installers would have to be satisfied with an east-facing installation on the rear slope of my roof.
You dont say where you live? you need to consider average sunshine hours. There are some sites on the net that will work out for you what percentage of nameplate capacity you could expect to receive for different areas. Usually the capital cost wont be paid off for at least ten years, so money wise you would do much better by investing the cash. I once asked a guy (climate warmer) whether his solar panels had paid off or would do in the future, his answer was no but it was the right thing to do morally.
Just had them installed on a development of 4 homes and they look goood! So far each user has free electricity during daytime for 3/4 of the year. If you live in a hot country - that's free A/C to keep you cool. The downside is that it is grid-tied so there is no storage, which means that if you use electricity to cook the evening meal - you don't get that free. What we advise to do instead is to make use of slow cookers that cook meals during the day - for FREE, and just serve it up in the evening as it keeps the heat. It would be more effective if you used storage radiators and heated hot water tanks for washing/bathing using it but this hasn't been added yet. It's free power all day - so what is there to complain about? The only catch I have found is that some power companies charge YOU if you export power to the grid - so just watch out for that, and design your system to avoid this if this applies, but most just don't pay anything - so you may as well use what you get.
Sure. You may be able to get a tax credit for installing, but independently verify what the solar panel guys tell you. And check with the electric utility to see if they actually will buy back any excess electricity you might generate. Solar panels are not cheap so they make the most sense if you plan to stay in the house a long time or think it will enhance the resale value enough to make it worthwhile.
