You can definitely generate a large percentage of the electricity you use - there are diminishing returns for the last portion because it isn't worth paying for

You can definitely generate a large percentage of the electricity you use - there are diminishing returns for the last portion because it isn't worth paying for extra panels etc that you will only need for a couple of months of the year. It's a significant percentage more expensive to be off-grid then to generate 90% of your electricity say. It is hard to estimate when a system will have paid for itself because any estimate depends on electricity prices but you are looking at about ten years. So you probably want to be fairly confident you plan to stay in the same place for that timespan. The advice given is to check that your roof isn't going to need repairs before you get them installed. But a roof usually lasts decades and decades so doesn't feel that is a big factor. Our panels definitely don't feel like hassle! There were lots of decisions getting them installed (no permitting where we are for they size of system we have), but now they are up there, they just do their thing.