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I just put 15kW worth of solar on my roof and chose panels made in Washington State (Silfab) over imported (Hanwha). The price difference for the panels was ne

I just put 15kW worth of solar on my roof and chose panels made in Washington State (Silfab) over imported (Hanwha). The price difference for the panels was negligible. The Silfabs were produced locally and look better on your roof. They also have a great reputation for quality. I was surprised at how competitive the American/Canadian panels are with Asian imports. For us homeowners, the largest variation in cost isn't going to be panels anyway - it's going to be who you use to install them. The prices for various installers were sometimes over 2x the price of the cheapest installers, with no difference in quality of work. If you want to minimize your solar costs, optimize for finding the best installer.

rootusrootus 5y ago
I just got a quote for a 15kW system at 1.48/W installed through project solar, and I still can't get the numbers to work out for me. I am west of the Cascades, though. Near Portland. It seems like something you have to do for some other reason than ROI. Like because it's fun. I'm considering still doing something, but making it more hobby-level, maybe a 5k ground mount DIY so I'm not throwing so much at a toy.
- nostromo 5y ago
  We are in Seattle and are already breaking even. We used Blossom Solar which was affordable and did a great job. We got a loan at a very low interest rate and the payment is about the same as our power bill was. It helps that Seattle has net metering, so we didn’t need to build a battery wall and can offset our winter energy use by generating it in summer. Our electric rates go up faster than inflation, and so in a year or two our costs will be lower than they would have been without solar, and will remain so for at least a few decades.
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    I may try again when my roof gets replaced. Right now the numbers don't work because I've only got about 15 years left on my roof. So for a 20K investment, I'd break even in about 10 years, then get 5 years before the system needs to be replaced (the panels will still have value, but it seems like the cost of the labor for uninstall/reinstall will dwarf that). So for a 15 year timeline, all I need to get is about 3% from a regular investment, and if I do better, then I should do that instead of solar. The numbers may be more favorable if I do the solar at the same time I put a new roof on, but mine is only 10 years old so it's early yet. One of the reasons I'm thinking of a smaller ground-mount system is that it won't have the same time horizon limitations as a roof-mount.

rootusrootus 5y ago

I just got a quote for a 15kW system at 1.48/W installed through project solar, and I still can't get the numbers to work out for me. I am west of the Cascades, though. Near Portland. It seems like something you have to do for some other reason than ROI. Like because it's fun. I'm considering still doing something, but making it more hobby-level, maybe a 5k ground mount DIY so I'm not throwing so much at a toy.

nostromo 5y ago
We are in Seattle and are already breaking even. We used Blossom Solar which was affordable and did a great job. We got a loan at a very low interest rate and the payment is about the same as our power bill was. It helps that Seattle has net metering, so we didn’t need to build a battery wall and can offset our winter energy use by generating it in summer. Our electric rates go up faster than inflation, and so in a year or two our costs will be lower than they would have been without solar, and will remain so for at least a few decades.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  I may try again when my roof gets replaced. Right now the numbers don't work because I've only got about 15 years left on my roof. So for a 20K investment, I'd break even in about 10 years, then get 5 years before the system needs to be replaced (the panels will still have value, but it seems like the cost of the labor for uninstall/reinstall will dwarf that). So for a 15 year timeline, all I need to get is about 3% from a regular investment, and if I do better, then I should do that instead of solar. The numbers may be more favorable if I do the solar at the same time I put a new roof on, but mine is only 10 years old so it's early yet. One of the reasons I'm thinking of a smaller ground-mount system is that it won't have the same time horizon limitations as a roof-mount.