ErnieG
Member
I've talked to people and they advise against it. At certain times of the year I have full sun on the roof for at least a chunk of the day. There's a second problem, It would never pay for itself. I'd rather encourage our electrical co to go renewable. A friend of mine put up a 28KW or really large system on his house. Maybe it was 20KW and $28,000. He claims he charges his car for free. I explain, no you prepaid $28,000 to charge your car. So that is a key point, do the math. If I were in my 30s and had a sufficient employment radius, in other words close to a large employment center, where I could buy and plant myself for decades, sure. I'm retired now. Frankly, I am not certain wind wouldn't be the better alternative. Wind blows at night and when it rains.
When you put solar on your house you should look at the expense as a tax free municipal bond since the money you are saving from your electric bill is after tax money. With the 30% federal tax credit your friend paid $19,600, he probably is saving between $125 and $200 a month on his electric bills. His after tax return on investment is between 8% and 12%. I am adding 5.5KW to my existing Solar system and in here in Northern California where a KW runs between 19 and 50 cents my after tax rate of return will be 9%. Remember in most cases the amount you spend on the solar system increases the value of your by approximately the amount you pay for the system.
Ernie