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> Putting solar panels on roofs doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Per kWh, rooftop domestic PV costs can be u[p]to 10 times more expensive on a levelized cost
by 1-more 3y ago
> Putting solar panels on roofs doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Per kWh, rooftop domestic PV costs can be u[p]to 10 times more expensive on a levelized cost basis
Yeah an idea I've had kicking around for a bit: if my roof is a good place for solar, it should make some kind of sense to lease it out to someone else who owns the panels and their output. I've never heard of anyone making that arrangement. There are people near me who own property with no water rights who are able to lease that land out to solar utilities.
I'm not against solar and I do think that we need to have every available square inch of the world making energy if we're to survive the next century. I'm just saying that the current incentives kind of don't support it.
- SoftTalker 3y agoA residential roof is too small to make that idea interesting to anyone who is looking to rent space for solar panels.
- wffurr 3y agoLeasing a solar system on one’s roof is a thing, either fixed or as a power purchase agreement: https://www.sunrun.com/solar-lease https://www.sunrun.com/solar-lease Leasing the roof itself to the solar company less so. Though the difference isn’t clear. In theory you get a deal on your power, but it really depends on the terms of the lease compared to your local utility’s prices.
- regularfry 3y agoUp until 2019, exactly that type of scheme was very popular with installers in the UK.
- 1-more 3y agoInteresting! What happened in 2019? And sorry I'm speaking in kind of broad strokes here; I live in the US and don't own my roof so I haven't gone as deep into this as I'd like.
- regularfry 3y agoThe economics changed: up until that point the government would pay feed-in tariffs for solar. In 2019 they stopped that scheme, so the value to the actual owners of the panels dropped past the point where they could install them "for free". The price of panels has dropped since then, but I have to assume that it's not by enough to make resurrecting the idea worthwhile.