I don't know how anyone affords home solar. We got 2 quotes last year to put solar on our 1000sqft roof from solar installers in our area. The first was just over $100k, the second $160k! The second quote was for more than we have remaining on our mortgage - how is anybody doing this?
That’s seems ridiculous: where are you? Are you sure that’s just solar, or would it also include batteries, maybe a “solar roof”, instead of solar on the roof? As far as I know, most of the systems (in us at least) are designed for shingled roofs: do you have tiles or slate, or something?
Where I live in the northeast us, it’s typically $20-30k for solar panels on my roof, only. I don’t need batteries because I’d stay grid-tied and my roof is pretty new. That’s still ridiculously expensive and beyond any reasonable payback but state incentives make it much more reasonable. They claim 4-7 years payback but since I can’t follow their math, it goes into the bin with the rest of advertising hogwash
That's pretty ridiculous imo. My system in total was around $45k including parts and installation. I got it Feb 2022. It's 17kW system with microinverters for every panel (42 panels). No battery though.
I have some limited electrical engineering experience and don't like paying other people to do things that I think I can do myself. How likely do you guys think it would be that I'll end up burning my house down if I try to DIY a small solar installation?
It's actually not that hard. Microinverters have taken a lot of the danger out of it. Every one or two panels has an inverter, they can be individually controlled and tie together with 120 volt AC wiring, so you avoid the issue of 100+ volt DC strings that can't be turned off. And on the physical side, there are now rack systems that install very easily and look good.
Designing and installing the system isn't hard. Just look up the documentation from Enphase or someone similar, you just need panels, micro inverters, a combiner panel, and maybe one of their computer management units. There's other manufacturers too but the concept is the same.
Installing the solar is the easy part. Getting permits is the hard part. Municipalities throw up a ton of red tape and utilities throw up even more for any sort of grid connected system. So what would be a basic concept that a technician level person could design, ends up being this complicated thing that needs engineering sign-offs and stamped plans that have to be approved by the town and the power company and inspected 18 different ways.
This leads a lot of people to do off-grid systems, that is, set up your own solar panels and batteries, and run some portion of your house off at using extension cords rather than hardwired. If you're just putting panels on the ground or on your deck and running extension cords, no need for permits.
Not only is home installation expensive AF but solar panels themselves on a house continue to look ugly AF. Uptake is going to remain slow amid these 2 factors.
Yeah. People hate hearing that it’s ugly. But it’s ugly. Some people have houses that have the backside facing the right way. But when the panels are all upfront it looks bad imo.
We need more infrastructure to recycle solar panels. ATM according to the independent, only 10% of panels get recycled. Down the road many more panels installed means many more requiring recycling.
Hoping batteries for electric vehicles come down in price. The fucking $10,000 replacement cost pushes the cars to the brink of naw I’m not gonna fuck with that zone…
I assume you're referring to a battery replacement? In all likelyhood, by the time it needs replacing in 10 to 15 or even 20 years, batteries will be significantly cheaper
probably less than a full motor replacement cost of an ice vehicle.
There are 10 year old electric cars now with failing batteries that no one wants. It’s a now problem, and seeing it makes people not want to buy one (including me)
It's interesting how these low low prices are FOB China (FOB is a shipping incoterms code that means the seller takes responsibility and covers the costs all the way until the product is loaded on a ship).