• cordlesslamp@lemmy.today
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    2 months ago

    how much do you invested in your solar system? I’m trying to convince my wife to install a solar roof (no battery), but I’m doing the math and it would take 8-10 years to barely break even (if nothing critical breaks down during that time).

    • Hugin@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      $16K in parts, PE drawings and tree removal. With 30% of that back in tax rebate. I did the install myself with help from my wife. 11.64KW DC worth of panels. Anything more than 11.7KW and I would have gone from class 1 to class 2. I didn’t want to deal with all that required.

      My degree is in computer engineering and I used to work in power generation so I was very comfortable with the electric design and working with high voltage and current. You might not be so comfortable. A similar system without battery was quoted to me at $24K by an installer.

      Battery was about $2K. Tree was $1K. After rebate cost was $11.2K. It’s reduced my power bill by about $210 a month. So about 4.4 years to break even.

      It was a lot of work on my end but I know I didn’t cut corners and was very careful to make a system that should last.