Nearly 3 in 5 American know that solar panels increase the value of their home.

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

MSN

I talked to two homeowners this month. They paid $50,000 and $55,000 for their solar panels, respectively with no batteries. Both still get an electric bill.

So according to this article solar panels increase the value of the home 4.1% or $9,274.

The article also says over the lifetime of the solar panels, you can save between $25,500 and $33,000.

I know this is fuzzy math, but I am inclined to think this article is fake news.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Location, Location, Location! Arizona, S. California, I'd think they would be a benefit - not that I want them on my roof, but maybe next to the house. In N. Michigan? Not so much.

 

[J Grant]

MSN

I talked to two homeowners this month. They paid $50,000 and $55,000 for their solar panels, respectively with no batteries. Both still get an electric bill.

So according to this article solar panels increase the value of the home 4.1% or $9,274.

The article also says over the lifetime of the solar panels, you can save between $25,500 and $33,000.

I know this is fuzzy math, but I am inclined to think this article is fake news.

Some articles can be planted or paid for by certain industries - a form of PR . Not necessarily fake news, but using the industry;s own findings which may or may not be correct exp in certain areas -

 

[Dublin ohio]

MSN

I talked to two homeowners this month. They paid $50,000 and $55,000 for their solar panels, respectively with no batteries. Both still get an electric bill.

So according to this article solar panels increase the value of the home 4.1% or $9,274.

The article also says over the lifetime of the solar panels, you can save between $25,500 and $33,000.

I know this is fuzzy math, but I am inclined to think this article is fake news.

From the article:

The study explains that it costs about $7.2 million for the grid to produce electricity for a neighborhood, but lowering that demand would result in $3 million worth of savings.

EnergySage will be able to bring this kind of savings to more homes because its marketplace has expanded to all 50 states.

It appears that EnergySage is something like the "Angi's List" for solar with funding from the USDOE

Compare and save on clean home energy solutions

EnergySage is the simplest way to shop for clean home energy solutions. Join over 50,000 homeowners who have electrified their homes with EnergySage.

www.energysage.com

 

[George Hatch]

Depends too on the energy costs @ the location. Cheap grid energy at the local puts the break-even point further out. Expensive grid energy brings the break-even closer in. There's also the expectation of the energy inflation rate to consider. Just because the CPI might average 2% or 2.5% per year doesn't mean the energy costs will increase at the same rate. Then you get into different pricing tiers by the time of day; more expensive at some times of the day than others.

A significant percentage of a power bill is attributed to connectivity and what it takes the power company to build and maintain the transmission infrastructure, independent of the actual monthly usage. A vacant house uses no power but it still gets an electric bill. Solar doesn't offset that.

The power company's fixed overhead doesn't just go away because everyone is using solar during the day. If more people add battery capacity and reduce the number of connections what possibly could happen is the costs/connection goes up because its shared by fewer connections. Hypothetically.

Apparently there's a whole lot of political drama unfolding in Canada right now as the liberal govt is allegedly considering quadrupling their carbon taxation for certain uses as a means of engineering a public transition away from carbon-based power usage. Inclusive of the disparate effect on the poor. So that's an example of politically-driven changes (increase or decrease) in energy costs. I don't anyone can predict how those effects unfold going forward into the future.

And lastly, there's the question of the cumulative costs of financing (or the opportunity costs of paying in cash) on the install. Interest rates are higher now than they were even a couple years ago, and not by a little.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

The study explains that it costs about $7.2 million for the grid to produce electricity for a neighborhood, but lowering that demand would result in $3 million worth of savings.

A significant percentage of a power bill is attributed to connectivity and what it takes the power company to build and maintain the transmission infrastructure, independent of the actual monthly usage. A vacant house uses no power but it still gets an electric bill. Solar doesn't offset that.

When TVs were big tubes, the energy consumption of a TV was large when turned on and small when turned off - even with it ready to be activated by the remote.... But when LCD etc. came about the energy consumption for a TV per the same size dropped dramatically....and TVs then proceeded to get much much larger...with much more stuff working in the background. Ultimately it saved zero energy. Same with your electric oven. If you don't use the oven often, then the electronics consumes as much energy as the appliance. Ditto the "smart" hotwater tank, and tons of other devices. And with us using our "smart phone" 24/7 even they use more energy than the old landline that rarely rang and never was used to surf the net.

We endorse "energy saving" devices only to then increase the number of such devices we have and use. So, the idea that the grid of the future won't require nor use increasingly more and more energy...well, pretty pie in the sky.

 

[Elliott]

When you don't manage forests and spend money on maintaining electric lines, you get forest fires, and even if a jury awards a billion dollar, it all goes on the rate base and every ones rates increase. If you add solar panel and wind mills it doesn't increase 'base' capacity, though it might supply electricity part of the day, and those 'costs' go back onto the rate payers. Reducing the cost of energy and improving productivity are what improves an economy.

 

[jay trotta]

The amount (number) of panels required will note the end result cost; here I've heard anywhere from $25-$75,000
When you calculate the savings over time, in general it would take on average 20-30 years to get paid back. Also, if the roof is over 10 years old, they recommend re-roofing ($10-25K) depending on size of course, before install to gain the life expectancy of the panels without removal for problems.

IMO-if you're in your 20-40's it has a purpose, in your 50's possibly, in your 60's questionable. Again, it depends on what you wish to achieve.

 

[George Hatch]

If I consider all of the aspects of the analysis, including the ones the PV caculators omit, the shortest break-even for SFRs that I've seen is ~15 years although shorter is possible.

Meanwhile, the present value in 2024 of a $20k purchase that was made with 2009 dollars is over $29,000. You have to pay $29k in cash today to get the equivalent purchasing power of a $20k investment you made in 2019. $29k in net income, not gross income. Not to mention losing out on the potential proceeds you might otherwise have earned in spending that $20k differently in 2009.

"Adds $10k to the resale price" + accrued savings in electric bills is cool and all, but it doesn't look so great when compared to spending that same $20k in a 2009 investment into Amazon stock. ($4.20 in 08/2009) vs ($161 in 08/2024). $20k into that stock in 2009 would have resulted in a 2024 payout of $700k. That adds a whole lot of opportunity cost to using that money for a solar install.

 

[Mark K]

When TVs were big tubes, the energy consumption of a TV was large when turned on and small when turned off - even with it ready to be activated by the remote....

We endorse "energy saving" devices only to then increase the number of such devices we have and use. So, the idea that the grid of the future won't require nor use increasingly more and more energy...well, pretty pie in the sky.

LED bulbs are so cheap to run that I have some that I never turn off. LOL!