Anyone here done solar panels?
 

Our recent burst of hailstorms in Denver appears to have taken out my roof. If I'm going to re-roof, it's probably the right time to add some solar panels. Anyone got experience with them? Would you recommend them?

And if you're a roofer or solar panel person in Denver, feel free to advertise your services to me.

I can do roofing jobs..I will travel and do it for

$1 billion

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I don't need the 30-year shingle.

I thought about doing solar panels and after some research I determined that it was way too cost prohibitive for the return. (I'm not a real go green freak)

How long do you plan to live?

I keep hearing about an 8-year payback in Colorado (counting some subsidies), which would work fine. But I also hear about a 20-year life span for the panels. If the utilities start charging extra fees like they want, it could get a bit dicey.

All the way to the end.

I figure I've got maybe 35 years left, which is long enough to consider it.

Check to see if they are resistant to hail damage and if they have a warranty. We installed some small ones at my farm at no cost years ago to monitor feed bin levels and they are all busted up from hail.

Interesting. We do indeed get hail here.

How expensive are the cars you drive? If I remember right, they are a little more expensive than your average ride.

Tesla will be releasing the Model 3 in 2017. If you and your wife both drive the American average, spending between $2,000-2,500 on fuel every year, buying a Model 3 each could greatly reduce the payoff of solar. As that would gain you $4,000-5,000+ per year in fuel savings.

Something to think about.

Very interesting. I hadn't thought about the interplay of panels with an electric vehicle.

Alas, we are far from typical, though. We drive very little, and our house is very vertical with a small footprint. We can't install many solar panels, so they would likely only cover perhaps one-third of our home's electric bill anyway.

Actually, a good bet might be to see if you can get someone to do all of the necessary rough-in during the roof install. It might seem pointless, but if it makes an electricians job easier, it'll save you money. You might also be able to get a fastening system/anchor points installed beneath the roof to make a future install easier.

It might be prudent to wait, as solar is expected to fall in cost greatly in the next few years.

Many projections say solar and battery storage will be cheaper than fossil fuels within 10 yrs.

I tried to do one once, but it burned the tip pretty bad. Never tried it again.

Ah. Might consider coupling them with wind then. A pretty good marriage as you'll usually benefit from one or the other at any given time.

Another reason to wait and try to have pre work done in the meantime would be that the efficiency of panels will probably improve.

21% is fairly standard now, current research is producing 40%+. The holdup would be consistency and scaling up for mass production. Not sure how long you'd have to wait for them really.

I hear about leasing panels as a hedge on technology, but I hate leasing anything. But it is a question of how technology is changing and when is the right time to do it.