Honestly, it depends on the person's situation. I know one coworker who leased/rented and has done well with it. If you don't have the capital it does make financial sense depending on the deal. The issue is when u rent or lease, u don't get the federal tax credit. The company does. But I have heard horror stories when the person dies and the lease gets transfered or during selling the house.

Also, I know some leases will also include repairs past the warranty and solar panel upgrades.

Drive to north Jersey and have a good Korean food.

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Thank you this was the mess I was looking for. Lots of cute houses with solar but I get calls for that scam shit every day in Florida

Yes, but i was concerned that they present a rosier picture. I have it…somewhere. I did crude estimates and didn’t really factor in credits earned in my state. I took the cost after fed tax credit and divided by the life of the panels. I estimated my electric at about $100 per month (we have gas too). I assumed that the net metering would average out so that I basically don’t pay for electric. I have to see what summer is like.

The break even, by my estimate is about 11.5yrs. Then, there is 13 years of additional savings, plus whatever the trec credit things are. Minus whatever it costs to move these panels in 15yrs when I need a new roof. I assume energy prices will continue to rise, but I won’t be affected as much. A good deal, I would say, even if I have fuzzy math.

Whatever you do to get your panels. Do NOT do a PPA. Came across a house that had solar with a PPA. You pretty much don’t own the hardware, and if you have to work on your roof you’re screwed (you’re responsible for all fees for removing them)

All tax credits, rebates, benefits go to the solar company and you pay per kw/h a fixed rate that increases every year. The house we looked at, the price per kw from the solar “owner” was higher than the current normal electric rate. So there was zero benefit to the home owner.

And it was a 20 year agreement.

Might as well try and sell a radioactive house.

Some good old disc golf never hurt to try

Thats cheap. Full tear off? or just a second layer.

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Bowling? Shoot some pool? You've lived there your entire life and have no idea what to do?

$9400 for a roof with 50 year guarantee, installed ridge vent removing the old elctric vent, reflashed the chimney. Got 4 quotes anywhere from $8000 to $13000. One we went with was recommended by a neighbor (he did inspections).

NOTE: This was a strip and replace. April or May of last year.

Go on a hike in the beautiful pine barrens?

Edit to add. Happy Birthday!!🎊🎉

We had to do this. Fortunately in our contract it was stated $499 to remove and reinstall the panels. Otherwise they had quoted us like $3500 (until I pointed out the clause in our contract).

Did the solar company do a break even analysis on the cost of your system?

If you’re in central nj (around Morristown to Bridgewater) who have you used for install and were you happy? Definitely want to do this and full ownership/not rent.

Exactly. I'm getting more production out of my solar panels now in March where I'm really only producing from 9:30 - 3:30 than I will in the middle of July where the days are way longer, but it's 90F+ outside.

What I meant was that I am currently much closer to the equator, and I barely see clouds in the sky so solar makes easy sense. But in a place that’s cloudy rainy, wintery, foresty, wasn’t sure. Wondering if it’s a selling point on a house or a pain in the ass or worse, useless. Glad to hear otherwise

Well first, if it takes you 20-30 years to break even, you’re getting ripped off, or your loan’s interest rate is terrible and you’re making minimum payments. Solar panels have warranties that basically match the life of a roof these days, so ideally, you’ll replace that roof at the same time as putting up new panels. Solar panel tech has come a long way in 25 years, the optimist in me says 25 years from now they’ll be cheaper, more efficient, and more reliable than they are today.

I've tried to get solar a few times and it's always way more expensive than traditional energy. my house faces due north so the backside faces due south which is perfect and I have zero shade over my house and with the cost of the panels and roof I would lose out over any period of time. confirmed by the solar companies

Just FYI the tax credit actually went UP to 30% this past summer.

In theory the electric rate will go up and your monthly solar panel cost will stay the same. But yes you should not get solar unless you are getting a new roof or recently got a new roof. Most people break even much sooner than 20 years - often 7-12 is what I hear.

I guess congress actually passed something useful. That's a miracle. I knew it was going to go down if nothing was changed at the time of installation.

The credit actually went up to 30%

How is breaking even over 20 to 30 years worth it especially if you might need to reroof and get the panels reinstalled?

Really well here. Renovated a house, new roof. I put solar up. Panels have a 25 year warranty, so as long as the roof. Lucky enough to have great sun and south facing back. So it's all on the back of my house and don't see them. I saved up money for years and ended up getting 41 panels installed (16.26 kWh system).

Federal government gave 26% back with invoice on taxes ( EDIT: at time of installation, law said it was going to be 22% next year and 20% the following year. Apparently, it's 30% now, surprisingly, thanks @njrun). So I only paid for 76% of the price for the panels.

NJ does the TREC system. Every month I enter how much I generate. ( u can pay a solar company to do it. But I don't) You get $91.20 for every 1Mwh ( 1,000 kWh). That price is locked for 15 years. So it doesn't matter how much you consume. My system size will generate around 14-19 TREC a year.

Each month my electric bill is $3.25 for the consumption fee since I produce more than I consume. Each month it carries over for a year. At the end of the year, if I generate more than I consume I get money back from the utility company.

Since panels are owned, not rented ( rent is a big issue when selling a house, I have heard issues) it adds non taxable property value to the house.

My math, I will make my money back with an estimated 5.75 years. With best case 4.5 years, worst case, 6.5 years. Everything after is profit.

Overall, helps keep monthly prices down and helps pay my other utility bills. If u can do it, plan to stay at the location, and have good sunlight, I would recommend. It's been great for me so far.