I just got a DIY kit quote for solar and it’s ~$18,000. That would mean a contractor installing is at least $25,000 if not more. That’s a big chunk of change upfront.
Did you just learn that some people have more money than you?
Did you know, some people pay cash for cars, or even homes?
I knew a guy that had a boat, that crazy mfer
You’d have to consider also long-term maintenance and repair costs to that …
Typically if you can afford a $25k upfront cost, the long term costs are pretty negligible.
If you’re paying cash, then your monthly expenses are only going down due to your reduced electricity bill, so your savings potential is going up further.
Additionally the panels are warrantied for at least a decade, with a performance guarantee for 20+ years. If they’re installed on your roof, many also include a guarantee on the roof work.
Proactive solar maintenance is really just keeping things clean, which costs very little.
These small costs do add up if you’re barely making ends meet and on a lease plan that costs roughly the same as your old utility bill, but for the group paying upfront, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And also nobody talks about the manufacturing costs which are huge!
You should get another quote, we have a decent sized 8kw array with a fronius inverter and smart meter that we had installed for $8000AUD.
Unless you’re getting an insanely large array, I don’t see this price being worth it. You’re likely not gonna save $25K over the lifespan of the array. Unless you live in a country with extraordinarily expensive power
Make sure to do the math if solar is even worth it for you. Electricity is relatively cheap in my area. When I did the math, it would take me at least 20 years to break even (that’s if I paid cash, even longer if I finance). Considering 25 years is an average panels lifespan, it would not save me any money.
Being independent of the grid is the only selling point, but I haven’t done enough research if that’s even true with solar. If it’s still connected to the grid, will I even be able to utilize my panels if there’s an outage in the grid?
Home equity loans are used by a lot of people for this sort of stuff.
And no plans are in place for the disposal of panels, batteries, etc after their 25 year useful life…
Lithium batteries are highly recyclable… The current rate is something like 60% recovery, and that is bound to increase over time.
