SteveKLord@slrpnk.netFor years, I’d debated whether residential solar would make sense for my home. The math never quite clicked, and I refused to go into debt by signing a $30,000 contract or leasing agreement with a door-to-door solar sales company. It wasn’t until the end of 2025 that the market finally forced my hand.
The combination of a steady, upcoming increase in electricity rates, the impending January 1, 2026, expiration of federal tax rebate incentives, and battery tech actually improving in recent years made a far-off “maybe one day” dream into an achievable DIY project. The announcement that a new hyper-scale data center was going in a few towns over made the decision to finally jump in a no-brainer.
Many of my tinkering projects are driven by curiosity. I like to see if I can accomplish a goal without paying as much as expected, and I’m admittedly motivated by the feeling of getting away with an unexpected hack. Channeling a little ingenuity and effort feels like an arrogant middle finger at being told what I have to buy, and nowhere was that feeling more satisfying than in this solar project. If you’ve been thinking similarly about making the leap to solar power, I know how intimidating it can be. But in my experience, the squeeze was well worth the juice I got in return.
Canconda@lemmy.ca 6 hours ago
Some thoughts from a solar fan boy who knows more about finance than electronics.
The average time to pay off solar panels (7-12 years) is still longer than the average time most first time home owners (at least before 2015). So it’s still not as viable an option for a lot of people for people who plan on selling within 10 years.
There is less home ownership overall. More of us are renting and there is no incentive for these installs.
If these systems could be reasonably relocated and reinstalled, that would probably shift the financial equation drastically.
How close are we to solar breakthroughs in materials/production that might incentivize waiting?
Squizzy@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
I got solar this year and am selling. The cost has directly increased the value of my home.
lemming741@lemmy.world 37 minutes ago
What’s the ratio?
budget_biochemist@slrpnk.net 2 hours ago
Re 1: Doesn’t the solar add value to the home though? That makes it viable even if selling as you can sell for more.
Re 2: The incentive is potentially on the landlord in these cases, to rent out a solar powered home for more. 35% of Australian homes have rooftop solar, many of those are rentals, because people will pay $10 more rent knowing they will save $20 on their bills.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 hours ago
I know more about electronics than finance.
What I would do is take a more holistic approach to your home’s power system, with solar panels as one very useful tool in a well-stocked tool belt, that also includes:
I am currently on a standard rate power plan, I pay 14 cents a kilowatt-hour no matter the time of day. My power company offers a time-of-use plan that varies between 29 , 11 and 7 cents per kilowatt hour depending on the time of day. The game becomes, buy as little power as possible during the 3 hours it’s 29 cents, and as much as possible during the 5 hours while it’s 7 cents.
This might mean doing laundry and dishes at 1 in the morning, setting a timer to charge your EV at 1 in the morning, setting a thermostat to turn air conditioning off between the hours of 6 and 9, that sort of stuff. A battery system can store energy when it’s cheap for later use when it’s expensive. Solar power is then a further reduction in the amount of power you buy; in my area depending on time of year the solar producing parts of the day are either in mid- or discount-price times, so the bulk of your savings are coming from discounts and time shifting. They’d likely be more valuable during extended power failures than day to day power savings, as you’re unlikely to generate a dollar per day.
DrunkenPirate@feddit.org 6 hours ago
Balcony Solar Systems are the answer. You can literally plug it into your power plug. And unplug if you move somewhere. ROI is around 5 years. You can even use it for your camper if you buy a inverter-battery-combined system.
Drawback: It is reduced in Wattage (around 2kwp) and will reduce your bill just slightly. (Mine around 30€ each month). You likely won‘t install the panels on your roof and need a different place for it.
BlueOysterCultist@lemmy.zip 6 hours ago
I have solar already and can’t wait to buy some balcony solar panels
I’ve got a gazebo that’d be perfect to mount them on, and since my system has a house-backup battery I think it’d be a massive benefit for me (for the price)
My whole system is 3.2 kWh so a 1.2 kWh system would be a huge boost on the cheap
I think I could get at least 800w out of it with positioning so I could basically use my AC for a lot longer
Canconda@lemmy.ca 6 hours ago
So the challenge with those is that they’re not legal in many places. In Canada our electric code requires everything be connected to the breaker box so that electricians can work safely knowing there is no current in the building.
Strata’s also often require panels on railings be mounted flush, facing sideways instead of angled upwards.
On that note, given where most balcony solar would be installed; changing bylaws to allow balcony shades and air drying launder would arguably reduce our energy costs significantly more than what energy solar panels on railings could harvest.
To answer these:
Increase in house value due to solar system is likely making this moot.
Small “balcony solar” system work fine for renters.
See 2. and for larger systems 1.
Very unlikely to see a major market unheaval in the next 10 years that would make things cheaper. The real price improvement happend in the last 10 years, and the price difference between LiFePO4 batteries and Sodium-Ion ones will not be large enough for it to matter in small systems.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 hours ago
don’t buy this bullshit. has no effect on value, and likely has a negative impact as many DIY systems are hacks.
zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 hours ago
#1 absolutely is not accurate. My last house had a $40k solar system installed and it maybe raised my home value by $10k per my appraiser. I still thought it was fine because I had intended to live there forever. I ended up moving four years later :(
Canconda@lemmy.ca 5 hours ago
Respectfully, you are trying to generalize real estate based on your local market. That simply doesn’t work. See my other comment on balcony solar for a clear example. Your 4th point is pure speculation with no argument backing it.
I’m not saying solar isn’t viable. Just using my experience in mortgage financing to add more context to the conversation.
Fetus@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Some people would pay slightly more for a house that already has solar installed, even if it’s a 5-7 year old system. So install it, then use it as a selling point down the track.
Anecdotally, I’ve rented a house before that had solar installed. It was a factor in my choosing to rent that place. I don’t know how it is elsewhere in the world, but it’s pretty common in Australia to have to pay for your own electricity usage when renting a place. The solar panels lowered my bills considerably.
Pad mount / ground mount systems are a thing, if you have enough space. That said, anything that can be installed, can be removed. Cost is a factor, though.
I don’t see any breakthroughs coming any time soon. Gradual improvements through economies of scale will likely be it, along with any government incentives.
Canconda@lemmy.ca 5 hours ago
Certainly. I’m one of them.
I’m not saying solar isn’t viable. Just using my experience in mortgage financing to add more context to the conversation.