Posted: 8/18/2026 12:42:04 PM EDT
| This month's electric bill is a record at just under $700. We live in a place where the sun shines 366 days a year. Some guys at work have the scammy systems where you sell power back to the power company and then its impossible to sell your house and/or you get locked into a contract. Other guys have full off-grid setups and they spent $$$$$$$$ on elon's latest fire-starting battery tech. I am totally out of my depth. What are my options for harnessing the power of the sun? |
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Are you interested in doing it yourself or do you just want to hire someone? It was a better deal last year when the government would pick up 30% of the cost. I use signature solars EG4 line and I'm fairly happy with them. I like having full off grid capability and generally enjoyed doing the build and install myself. If you're paying someone, I would expect about half the cost to be from their design and labor work. |
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If your goal is to simply lower your electric bill and you can DIY then a simple grid tie system without batteries is relatively inexpensive. Most solar companies are uninterested in installing such systems because there is little profit in simple systems. From there it goes up rapidly in price, complexity, and payback time. If you DIY panels and a grid tied inverter you could have free electricity when the sun is up for perhaps $5k if you have a suitable location for ground mounted panels near your house. Whatever you do do not get a leased system or anything similar - those are not a good deal for the homeowner. ETA: Originally Posted By -Obsessed-: 2,800 kWh and 16.4 cents/kWh. Id love to hear about costs to do it yourself. It's not just about total use, but also when you use the power. If you use most power during the day you will save the most. Simple grid-tie without batteries is very inexpensive if you DIY. Figure $2k for 4kw of new panels, $1k for an inexpensive inverter, and $1k for wiring and hardware. Ground mounting the panels can be done many ways, if you can pour some bags of concrete in a few posts and bolt together a mount system maybe $1k for the ground mount. If you live in Ohio you get around 4 full sun hours per day, so you are generating around 16kwh per day, or 480kwh per month. So you'd spend perhaps $5k to save around $80 per month - you'd break even in about 5 years and continue to save $80 per month after that. Note that you could simply double the number of panels without spending more on wiring or the inverter, so you can shrink your payback time - 8kw might cost $7k which would save you around $160 per month and make your break even time just under 4 years. DIY and ground mount is the key to controlling cost to make it financially viable. You can also buy used panels from many sources and cut your panel cost by well over half and dramatically shorten your break even time. |
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Originally Posted By Morgan321: If your goal is to simply lower your electric bill and you can DIY then a simple grid tie system without batteries is relatively inexpensive. Most solar companies are uninterested in installing such systems because there is little profit in simple systems. From there it goes up rapidly in price, complexity, and payback time. If you DIY panels and a grid tied inverter you could have free electricity when the sun is up for perhaps $5k if you have a suitable location for ground mounted panels near your house. Whatever you do do not get a leased system or anything similar - those are not a good deal for the homeowner. Thanks. This is my area of interest, at least for now. Flat roof, lots of room. |
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I know more people who have had roofing issues and needed to pay someone to remove the solar, then pay someone to fix the roof, then pay someone to reinstall the solar (and probably screw up the roof) than I know who are happy with their payback. Living in AZ, the solar vultures have suckered a LOT of people into roof mounted panels. I have NEVER had a conversation with someone who is happy with their decision. Zero people have realized a gain. Seems the payback period is longer than the lifespan of the panels. |
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Originally Posted By fastluck13: .......the solar vultures ...... The math is pretty simple in terms of financial viability. If you pay a company to install a complex system there is better than a 90% chance it won't be worth the cost. If you DIY it will often be worth the cost, just do the math and figure it out. |
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I would never roof mount solar. A bunch of penetrations added to the roof and the panels need to be removed for roof repair or replacement then reinstalled. Also washing the panels becomes a bitch. Ground mount or don't bother IMO. I suppose mounted on a steel roof on an outbuilding is a bit better. Also roof is rarely at the optimum angle for solar production. |
| Look up "balcony solar" as well. More states are looking into legalizing smaller arrays (<1200W) for a plug-and-play type set up. You would need a dedicated 120v outlet, a micro inverter and the panels. it doesn't work when the power is out though, as it kills the line and keeps electricity from back-flowing to the grid. |
| Also check your local laws/regulations with buy back of power with the power companies. Also check power company regs. I know around here you cannot have a system that you can use when you need it for something like power outages and have it tied into the grid to reduce energy bill. It’s an all or nothing rule. Either you live 100% off your solar, or you live 100% off power company and sell back what your system generates to lower your bill. |
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Originally Posted By PKT1106: it doesn't work when the power is out though, as it kills the line and keeps electricity from back-flowing to the grid. Originally Posted By PKT1106: it doesn't work when the power is out though, as it kills the line and keeps electricity from back-flowing to the grid. Originally Posted By ScottsGT: It’s an all or nothing rule. Either you live 100% off your solar, or you live 100% off power company and sell back what your system generates to lower your bill. If you ask your power company about an electrical problem in your house (behind the power meter) they will tell you it's not their responsibility. I live in Alabama (one of a couple states with no net metering law) and getting "approved" by the power company is infeasible (they require your system be installed by one of a very few companies and those companies are only interested in mega-$$$ systems). Since they admit that what happens behind the meter is not their responsibility I just built my own grid-tie using microinverters. I looked up the local building codes and they were of no consequence, so I just built it myself. I bought used panels and got the microinverters on sale so it broke even in just a couple years. The only negative is that I don't get credited for excess power I put into the grid so my system very small so I'm not giving away much free electricity. It puts power into the grid sometimes and we have smart meters, the power company hasn't said anything. |
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Originally Posted By Morgan321: This is very outdated information - there are countless ways to be grid tied and also have power when the grid is down. The switchover can be manual (ie. you have to flip a switch) or automatic (and seamless if you want, your PC won't even reboot). Originally Posted By Morgan321: Originally Posted By PKT1106: it doesn't work when the power is out though, as it kills the line and keeps electricity from back-flowing to the grid. This is very outdated information - there are countless ways to be grid tied and also have power when the grid is down. The switchover can be manual (ie. you have to flip a switch) or automatic (and seamless if you want, your PC won't even reboot). Im talking about balcony solar with a single microinverter that plugs into a dedicated outlet. I'm not talking about transfer switches or switching inverters or all in one systems. If you do a simple system with a single balcony-style micro inverter, the inverter with shut off the power from the panels because it won't allow it to flow back into the grid and potentially kill someone. |
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Another interesting issue a friend ran into was selling his house he inherited when his parents passed. House was in Texas. Solar company they bought the system from went bankrupt. Debt was sold to another solar company. Because of dad’s health issues before he died, solar was locked out due to nonpayment on the debt. Son had a hell of a time getting it turned back on, and when he was putting the house in the market the new company didn’t want to tell him the payoff amount. It was a shit show getting everyone involved on the same page. Realtor selling, power company and solar loan company. Power company said they wanted new engineered drawings of the system, new solar company couldn’t have given a shit, they just wanted the monthly check. Finally a guy (like a lineman, residential power guy, not asshole behind a desk) showed up, looked at the original drawings and said these were perfect. It took the threat of legal action against the finance company to get them to hand over the numbers in a legal document for closing. My son’s old high school buddy sells solar systems now. High end, made in USA stuff apparently. He was selling in TX, but a few years ago the laws changed on what the power company has to pay back for power generated. Was reduced in half or something like that. All of a sudden a solar system that would have been paid off in 15 years went to 30 years. Company pulled out of TX. |
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Originally Posted By ScottsGT: Also check your local laws/regulations with buy back of power with the power companies. Also check power company regs. I know around here you cannot have a system that you can use when you need it for something like power outages and have it tied into the grid to reduce energy bill. It’s an all or nothing rule. Either you live 100% off your solar, or you live 100% off power company and sell back what your system generates to lower your bill. This is what a friend of mine has at work and he absolutely loves it. He hasn't had an electrical bill in a couple of years and this past month they ran three air conditioners and a pool pump most of the time and his bill is $70. |
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Hwh, no electeical bill but a $700 payment for the lift of solar. Company came by and said look, break even is only 16 years out. Yeah, assumed zero maintenance cost, extended roof lifespan, and a YoY electeic cost increase of 7% per year, every year. And still payback pwriod was 16 years, and that assumes zero return on the cash you have to use to buy the array. 
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Originally Posted By tucansam: Thanks. This is my area of interest, at least for now. Flat roof, lots of room. I just got into solar about two years ago. All DIY. In hindsight, I'd offer some advice: Will Prowse's DIY forum is a goldmine knowledge base to study for DIY. He also sells an excellent and inexpensive book. A better book is from the guy at Clever Solar (a Dutch guy named Nick) Nick and Will both have excellent YT channels. Next, if you have the available real estate, I cannot recommend going with ground mount arrays enough (over roof mounts) Next.. nearly all this stuff is made in China. I will never fully trust it. It is the reason my solar generation equipment is in a dedicated outbuilding. Power from my "solar shack" is piped in to my home via buried conduit. Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP, LFPO4 as they are called) batteries are considered very safe, but can malfunction and gas off. You don't want gassed of Hydrogen in a confined space...that is a Kaboom). If LFPs do malfunction and burn, you absolutely don't want to breathe that smoke. If my shack goes up in smoke, we'll at least that is not my home. A last suggestion is not really solar. It is adding more efficient loads. I'm a former AC tech. This year I decided to install install a new high SEER mini split heat pump. My original 3 ton central died a few years after my divorce. I'd installed a few window units as a temporary get-by for our deep South summers. This new 22 SEER mini is rated 1 ton. It and a window unit keeps my house in the low 70s. I cannot believe how efficient this thing is. In the hottest part of the day, it's only drawing about 7-800 watts. At night, it coasts at about 300w. My generated solar power is tied to my grid panel board with a manual transfer switch. It alternatively can run my critical house loads, like lights, fridge, TV, etc on grid or sokar, but it mainly powers the new mini split. My last light bill told the tale. Last year in August, my grid bill showed I used 51 kwh. With solar powering my that mini, my usage this August was only 11 kwh...a 40kwh drop. My bill was the lowest I'd ever paid. |
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That's the situation I was in a couple years ago. I live in Northeast Texas. Electric bill in the summertime was running seven $800 a month. 3500 square-foot home with a large pool. I installed ground mount system myself. I installed three arrays, 24 panels on each array for a total of 72 panels. The house gets to arrays, 48 panels, 21 kW potential. The reality is it produces about 18.5 kW at peak. My other array of 24 panels goes to my shop and outbuildings. I also charge my wives Tesla two times a week on this array. My shop bill is always the minimum of a little under $40 a month. My house runs under $75 for about 6 to 7 months of the year. This is the summertime months. I have an excellent deal with electric company. The electric company allows you a one to one credit for excess energy that I produced during the day. It also limits that to 15 kW. Nowhere in the electric companies paperwork, does it quantify what a 15 kW limit is. It's important that you read your paperwork and understand what is allowed and what is not allowed. Since there was no definitive answer on what 15 kW meant, I took that to mean that I cannot produce more than 15 kW an hour that I sent back to the electric company for my one to one credit. so a lot of people will tell you, you'll only produce maximum power for so many hours a day where you live. And that's true, for me it's about 4.5 peak hours a day. You'll produce more power than that but it will be peak power. So I decided to rig the system a little bit. Solar panels are cheap. My panels are bifacial and cost me about $18,000 for 72 panels. My ground mount system, consisting of three arrays, cost me about $15,000 total to get it installed. I did that myself as well. I have two high-end inverters on my system. They cost me about $8200 each. I went with these because they allow me to program and limit how much power I send out to the grid. These are the SolArk 15 kW inverters. All of the excess stuff, wiring, and everything else put me at a total of about $63,000 for the system. With the tax break that I was able to qualify for the rebate that I got that was being offered at the time, my total price is about $45,000. my payoff is about 6 1/2 years. At the end of last year I added 50 kW of batteries to the house. so here's the kicker, and why the programmable inverters are important. I produce more electricity that I can use throughout most of the day. A typical solar system looks like a bell curve with the peak of the curve realistically giving 2 to 4 hours of max power production. My bell curve is clipped, or has a substantial flat portion across the peak. So I produce more electricity, that I can send back during the day, but my maximum production is over six hours a day. During the summertime my system produces 130 kW for the house and 65 kW for my shop. That's on a sunny day of course. |
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Originally Posted By OregonShooter: I would never roof mount solar. A bunch of penetrations added to the roof and the panels need to be removed for roof repair or replacement then reinstalled. Also washing the panels becomes a bitch. Ground mount or don't bother IMO. I suppose mounted on a steel roof on an outbuilding is a bit better. Also roof is rarely at the optimum angle for solar production. This is good advice. |