When I bought my house five years ago, I planned a solar roof top installation. Later on I let a salesman in my door. I didn't dislike him, but he didn't know his ass from a whole in the ground. I've seen so many bad jobs around here that I wouldn't even consider doing it unless I wrote the specs. With a worldwide glut of solar panels the price has tumbled to about 50 cents a watt. That's about 3k for a 6000 watt array. Another 2k for wiring, racking and inverters etc. Anyone knowing the difference between series and parallel wiring could do the basic wiring and maybe add 500 bucks for a licensed electrician to do the hook up. I was given a quote of $26,000 by one company. Now I have worked in the home building and home improvement business and know you have to have a minimum of 30% of gross margin to stay in business and that 30% marketing and sales cost are not unusual, but this is pure scam.
I have looked over local installations and seen bad elevations and even panels on the north side of a pitched roof. However, even if done correctly there is no way that at the price they charge it is a good investment. I live in an older neighborhood and many of the houses like mine have no insulation in the walls or attics. Upgrading your insulation should be mandatory before installing a/c or solar.
What's the point of having solar if your savings are going out your walls and attic? A contractor won't even ask about that or look. I spent about $6000 replacing single pane windows and insulating the walls and ceiling. I also ventilated the roof well. This has saved about $1000 a year or a 16% return on investment. With solar I couldn't even get a 5% return on my investment f I did it myself. If you finance it, way in the red. Solar panels have a 20-30 year life so that should be taken into consideration.
The round numbers I gave are only for my situation. For a lot of people it might be a good investment. I highly recommend that anyone that wants to install solar to find someone who does not work for a contractor like an engineer to go over the numbers. Or better yet spend some time and do some research for your local area on solar yield and installation.
I was ready to install 2 heat pumps on my house when the infrastructure act was passed, so I delayed it until it became available, since I was eligible for the $8000 rebate. Of course Texas delayed it until after the 2024 election so the slabs are sitting empty. The good news is that with the insulation and windows my house works well with the evaporative chiller even with the extreme heat of the last 2 years.
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