[Shortie771]

Just wanted to jump in and say that I installed a 4.5kW solar array on my house in June and have since been, for the most part NetZero. I did all of the math for my geographic location and solar azimuth to figure out how to get the most sun and how many panels I'd need. Then I pieced it all together from a solar wholesaler and did the installation myself. BTW, June is probably not be best time to be installing solar panels on a galvalume roof... Sunburn from above and then again as it reflects back at you.

I'm grid-tied with no batteries, because they are too expensive to keep up with and blackouts are incredibly rare here and if they happen, the power is back on in less than 10 seconds. My co-op does 1:1 net metering which works like rollover minutes... Any extra that I make just gets carried over to the next bill. There is however a $23 service fee that is charged every month, but because if the way I sized my system, I've been producing enough that I don't have to pay that either. My idea was to generate a surplus in the summer so that it carries me through the winter, when we have less sun and have to run the (electric) heater. Just last month I dipped into my surplus, by $6, but to be fair I didn't get them installed in time to take full advantage of that spring/summer sun.


As far as the EV part goes, I don't own one but I'm contemplating converting my Del Sol Si into a full EV. I may have to add some extra panels to support the extra charging usage though.

And to those who think solar isn't worth it... In my own experience, the answer is "it depends". It's a case by case thing. Even if it doesn't make sense monetarily, it may make sense for other reasons. For me it made sense all around. In total, my system cost me $6,521.82. After the 30% tax rebate that brings it down to $4,565.27. My price per kWh varies, but on average it's around $0.10/kWh. Over the last 6 months I've produced a little over 4MWh, which adds up to about a savings of right around $400. That means if the trend continues, my panels will pay for themselves in a little over 5.5 years. They don't increase my property tax or insurance and electric rates don't effect me, actually the higher they go, the better my ROI. I DID consider investing the money into index funds instead, but once you factor in taxes, volatility and inflation, this just seemed like the better option.