Brewbeer

GWDLT

It’s not good form to put panels on an old roof. I would not do that and recommend against that. it’s not a big deal to pay someone to fix things a buyer requests when selling a house. I wouldn’t buy a house that needed a roof without factoring the roof replacement cost into the purchase price. i also agree that forests should not be clear cut for industrial solar power generation, but property rights folks might disagree with that.

Lease agreements require new home owners to accept the original terms of the lease. I wouldn't agree to that, either. one of the big reasons why you want to own the panels and not lease them

When doing the research for my system, I came across these stories over and over. the way I mitigated this risk was to hire the same contractor to install the system AND replace/upgrade the roof. that way if there were any leaks, I knew who would be responsible. it was a few more bucks than contracting these out separately This is why you want to own the system. No "permission" required to remove them or work on the system.

I've done repairs mostly under warranty (see the banter thread for details) and I know the panels will need to be removed and replaced when I need to re-roof in 15 years, but other than that, why else I would remove the panels ? I repair my house or car when it needs it, solar power generation is no different. there's no so such thing as a free lunch, but with a little effort and ingenuity you can make lunch cheaper

do you own the panels, or do you lease them form a solar company ?

This is why you want to own the panels, and not lease them for a solar power company.

moving this to banter so it doesn't get lost under the oppressive heat dome This question is dense, so I'll provide some details that should be considered when making your evaluation. First and foremost, owning the panel vs. leasing them: others may have varying opinions, but for me, I wanted to own them so I could claim all the benefits. The drawback to owning them is you are laying out cash up front (or financing) to get generating. So factor in the financing costs or the lost time value of the money you spend to get them installed. Is this purely an economic decision, or are there other factors that are influencing your decision? I considered economics but I also wanted to make a conscientious decision to spend some of my personal elective resources in decreasing my carbon emissions that are making the massive heat dome even bigger. At the time I installed, there was a 30% federal tax credit and a $1,000 state tax credit, so my 35K installed cost was shaved to 23.5k. Because I was an early adopter, I was able to enter the SREC pool and I was paid between $250 and $300 for every MWH the system generates for the first 10 years. I'm in my 10th year now and have generated 82 MWH, so call it $2,200 per year, direct deposit, into my bank account. The system generates more power in a year that I use. My utility credits excess generation on a 1 for 1 basis, so over generation in the spring and summer is absorbed in the winter. March through October are excess generation months, February and November are typically neutral to slightly negative, and December and January are deficit months. The savings from no electric bill is probably about $2,000-2,200 per year, on average, over the last 10 years. Now for the degradation/repairs. The degradation I've observed is small. When the system was first installed, my best solar production day of the year would produce about 51-52 KWH. This year, my best production was 48 KWH. Best production comes in the spring, before leaf-out, when temps are cool during the day. For repairs, I have a Solaredge system which uses a central inverter in the basement, and individual optimizers under each panel. My system was purchased with a 10 year warranty on the system except 25 year warranty on the panels. 2 optimizers were replaced under warranty 4 years ago, no charge. I replaced 2 optimizers 2 years ago, they cost me nothing under warranty, but I had to get up on the roof and install them (which is not for the faint of heart). At the end of last summer, the inverter failed. It was replaced under warranty, but I lost 2 months of prime generation and had to pay an electrician $600 to install it since my installer wouldn't let me attempt it myself (j/k, I know my limits). Fortunately I have a large credit built up over the years with the POCO, so I didn't have to pay a power bill when the inverter was off line waiting to be replaced. With all this factored in, I figure my break even was somewhere around 7 years. With the decrease in the cost of these installations in the last 10 years, the increase in the cost of power, and the loss of the federal tax credit, I'm not sure what the payback period would be for a contemporaneous installation. Hope this help, post any questions you have, happy to respond.

10 years here, no electric bill since May 2016; wife was skeptical at first, kinda looks almost brilliant right now

I heard it ! Twice !!

drove through it on my way back from Burlington, mass pike was a massive mess

Tolland MA about to get hit getting darker here, needed to turn on the kitchen lights

if it does it won't be due to lack of generation, it will be due to transmission capacity issues, like the 2003 northeast blackout

if only all those people didn't install solar panels, we'd might get some brown-outs

Looks like there will be plenty of power available on the grid for the upcoming heat, no power watches or warning forecast - yet: Those interested in the New England grid should check out this site: https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/web/guest/charts