My co-worker uses a lot of electricity (over $450/month) so to him a $45,000 investment in Lifetime-Guaranteed solar panels was worth it in his opinion. ("Lifetime" is 25 years, the expected life of the product.)
Months 1-9 he paid the interest on the 2nd mortgage on his house (you pay up front for the panels), but he had no solar because he couldn't pass all the government inspections. They really jerked him around (like the stickers weren't the latest stickers so....no solar), but it is what it is.
Months 10-12 were good, he got credits on his electric bill of about $15/month, sometimes $40.
Months 13-15 were Winter, so he at least "broke-even" and didn't owe on the electric bill. He still had to pay the 2nd mortgage, but only 18 years to go before breaking-even.
Months 16-forward haven't been so great, the government ended the Credits program and none of the extra electricity he generated for the grid would be credited toward his bill, so that $15-$40 monthly income is gone. (Battery storage is illegal in Wisconsin, all extra power he generates goes to the grid.) Also the government program for 5 years of tax rebates was pulled and he couldn't get any of the tax savings.
Months 26-forward weren't so hot. Two panels failed from hail damage and he had a roof leak. The panels were covered under warranty, but were out of production so they had to special-order replacements. The roof leak wasn't covered under warranty because the solar guys said it was a proper installation, his shingles were old and that's what failed. The roofer did cover the roof damage but said the roof wasn't designed to hold the weight of snow plus the panels, so he's looking at potential structural weakening, roof movement, and his roof warranty is now void because of the extent of roof movement.
While waiting for his replacement panels to come in a third panel failed, but that was just a bad connection from snow movement (likely roof movement) so that was an easy warranty fix.
Until, after a large but not unusual snowstorm the snow slid off his panels, ripping the gutters off his house, that pulled some of the fascia off, and he wound up with roof damage. Thankfully the roofing company was able to fix it for the discounted price of $2,700, so instead of making an insurance claim and paying a $2,500 deductible he paid it all out of pocket. He later found out the insurance company found out about the damage caused by the solar panel installation and raised his insurance rates 35%, plus tacked on a fee to cover the eventual removal of the panels when they age out.
Months 30-forward saw the power company decrease from 100% credit to 85% credit, so even though he was generating 110% of the power he used (10% extra) he was credited for only the amount of power he used at the reimbursement rate of 85%. That rate would decrease every year, eventually to 40% or 50%, the amount hadn't been determined. Also the panel efficiency was down from the planned 130% of usage to 110% of usage from a combination of overcast days and panel degradation--well, that's accounting as if the two dead panels had been replaced, so his production was hovering around 100% not actually 110%.
Until he lost an inverter. At which point he called to get that replaced with three panels (another died from "excessive snow weight"). All that was under warranty, but the company he went with that had a "seven year perfect track record" closed. So he called the manufacturers, and found their warranty was 2 years on the panels, three on inverters, or something like that, and he was outside the warranty periods. $7,500 out of pocket later he's fully back up and running, the manufacturers discounted the panels and shipped replacements right away, same with the inverter.
I love electric stuff and own R/C helicopters, quad racers, a hoverboard, electric wheel, etc. and have the computer-controlled chargers and all that, so please don't think I'm against electric "stuff," it's the opposite. OMG that stuff is expensive to run when looking at all costs, but those are the choices I made and I stand by them. And my co-worker did have a bad run of luck, an Aussie friend has had really good luck with solar and due to AU's outrageous utility costs is saving gobs of (whatever their local currency is). I do believe before "going electric" one needs to realize what's all involved and batteries are limited-lifespan items that require replacement, like collectors, inverters, and solar panels.
We need to be honest about Total Cost of Ownership over what a realistic "lifetime" is, and also cleanup costs. When you have a family to support you really need to know if solar is going to cost you an additional $250/month before deciding if it's right for you. And maybe like for my Aussie friend it is a good investment, people should be able to get all the numbers and averages as it applies to their situation beforehand.
