Yes, They are amazing.. I have been in Solar for over 10 years.. If you are going over 5kW use micro inverters,, if the panels are over a well used room.. Kitchen ,Living room..

I did extensive research about all this, because what I REALLY wanted was a "solar generator" -- a backup battery for our home. I did all the calculations (the biggest power draw is our 40-amp circuit for our well pump), and figured, if we were miserly, and didn't operate any major appliances, we would need a 12kW battery to operate two days. (We have a 1700 square-foot home.) I wanted the option to add on solar panels later, in case of a multi-day event. What I wanted to do is have the panels mobile, and just place in the yard when needed, tracking the sun manually. Putting them on the roof would void our new roof warranty.

What I found out is the residential solar industry is mostly a scam. No one would install just the battery backup without solar panels on the roof. This is where they make their big bucks. They'll tell you they can make it so the price offset in your electric bills will pay for the panel 30-year loan. Holy cow.

If you're on the west coast, using battery backup systems for time-of-use is fairly common, and you may be able to find contractors willing to install the battery alone. Time-of-use means you set up the billing with your electric provider for variable billing...you charge the battery during cheaper rates, and use the battery during higher rates. Here in Florida there is not enough of a difference between the rates to make this cost-effective.

I have examined carefully the handful of providers who offer solar generators. Generac's PWRCell is the beefiest, and offers the highest-quality switching components. One to watch is Bluetti -- they offer smaller systems which do precisely what I want (complete with solar panels), but don't quite have 40-amp capability.

Hope this helps.

A little anecdotal but we have two neighbors that have solar through a solar company and they both hate it. They own their homes (no mortgage) but they are now in a never ending contract with the solar company.

It's the kind of solar company that installs their panels and their equipment designed to feed back into the grid and give energy credits back to the home owner.

If we were to do solar I would make sure we own all of the things. Decades ago we invested in a backup generator to run off our propane. I think if we were to do it all over again we would go solar and batteries.

Of course. It makes you a little less dependant of the main grid, which is always a good thing.

If they werent ripping us off in the cost they would be. I produced 2000 watts over our usage every hour of rhe day in Nevada. The connection fee was 13 bucks per month, otherwise I would have had no bill. The cost for the system was 28k. I simply paid my bill to a different guy. 30 bucks less per month. Not worth it unless you are completely off grid and storing your own power.

Solar panels pollute to create, they're inefficient, need replacement, and you are still connected to the grid. You will not be your own power station, and when the power goes out, your power goes out, too.

Most people get into debt to purchase solar for their home. They do it under the guise of "I'll just make the same payment that I do to the power company already", not realizing the high interest they are paying.

If you think you'll be in your home for another decade and you'll pay for it all up front, then it may be worthwhile. But I wouldn't get into any sort of consumer debt for some panels that attract birds and don't even allow me to be energy independent. Not to mention supporting Chinese-produced solar panels that further pollute the Yangtze in production.

Yeah, it's good to have solar. But it's very expensive -- a lot more than I can afford.

Yes no question

One 500w solar panel plus one electric motor to spin a 220 amp alternator geared to spin at 1500rpm that will generate over 60amps, plus one Chinese solar panel controller from ebay that allows for a input for a wind turbine (the alternator will connect there)...set solar control panel to zero out your consumption for your house all connected...when the power drops..the same secondary systems on the market for a emergency generator can used with this system and can be augmented to include a battery pile. But months of thinking about before you deploy and the more batteries you deploy LIPO's or Tesla like battery wall the better...but it's a thought. Are my suggestions legal? Nope. but very doable. You can live off grid in metropolitan area if think about it enough.

Depends on the state and do the panels feed your home or the grid?

Kunstler had a bad experience...https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/its-not-working/

People around here have a couple of small panels used for things like pumps for their wells when power goes out so they have water. The solar generators are interesting but dont know anyone who has them.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjYMrDMYxQY&t=1260s

Here’s a pretty good resource and a great family homestead in WV that installed their own off grid 13kw system. They were gonna have to pay 15k for electric company to run power all the way in to property where they were building so they installed their own system (he was a commercial electrician) by themselves. Spoiler alert I think final cost was around $35k with no labor and they were figuring on a 10 year break even compared to running in the electric - then free going forward.

I was studying up on this recently until my eyes glazed over. Lots of good info from this site. Need to search for different boards

https://www.survivalistboards.com/

I didn’t do a ton of research but the electric bill is much smaller now than before solar. But I also live in CA and my panel is on the roof with constant sun.

Yes, they're awesome. Wind and hydro power (if accessible) are also wondrous and affordable. Good way to supplement/lower energy costs and have a backup if the grid goes out.

Thank you everybody for your input.

We have a 18 panel system with battery storage, we do not have them mounted on the roof, they are on the ground and we move them spring and fall so far we power the refrigerator and freezer, internet, tv etc. could I be off grid? Short answer no ... I would have to invest in another 16 panels and several $$$ a lot more battery storage. Plus we have a wind generator that helps with additional small input. It is what it is, we have a minimal backup system separate from the power co. Would I do it again? Not sure ...

Solar can be reasonable if you aren't heating or cooling. Lights, charging cellphones, and operating computers are all doable on the cheap.

In the Philippines, they use 4-8 watt lightbulbs. Not bright and cheery, but enough to get by.

Also, new tech for both battery and solar panels is coming out. Get what you NEED and keep expectations realistic.

Until recently they just about washed their face over 20 years, but as the cost of electricity gets silly they become better and better.

Couple of things to bear in mind, they DO need cleaning, so ensure you can access them without scaffold. They DO degrade over time and it is NOT 0.5% a year it is at least 1.7% Yes they do need to be facing south, or slightly easterly if you have to be off-south (morning skies are clearer than evenings). Away from the equator, the tilt should be tuned to make the most of winter not summer, so quite tilted.

You will need to replace an inverter over that 20 years, probably.

Unless you are somewhere perfect, it is often less than 800kWh per year per installed kWpeak not the 1200 you sometimes get told by sales people. Especially on average over the 20 years with that degradation.

Good luck, good idea if only for security of supply if you have the money now.

Local house was on the market and they couldn't sell it even though the market was on fire at the time. The reason was the solar power contract. A monthly power bill where we live is about 150 a month. The contract for the solar panels was over double that. Near 350 a month just for the solar panel contract. They ended up selling but had to cut the price of the house drastically to offset the panel contract.

To be remotely viable I would think the panels would be similar or less than the cost of the electricity it was designed to replace.