busybee fluffy rambles

First of all, the initial cost was around $40,000. There was another $6,000 which ended up happening later due to needing to get it removed and reinstalled due to roof replacement, which wouldn’t have been the case if I’d been guided to replace my roof first. So I won’t count that in the cost since it wouldn’t have affected the calculus if things had gone right to begin with (and instead I count it as part of my roof replacement cost).

There’s a tax credit on the solar panels worth up to 30%. I will probably not get that full amount, because of being unemployed since mid-2022, although I do get a carryover credit as well so maybe it will work out? I don’t know. I’m just trying to compute the financial benefit of solar panels vs. other investment strategies. So anyway, let’s say that the actual panel cost (for most people) would be $28,000 after tax credits.

Over the past year, the panels have generated 12.3MWh of power. Because of the way that Seattle City Light does its solar billing, this generally works out as a credit against the normal bill. Power in White Center is currently around 15¢/kWh, so this is equivalent to reducing my bill by $1845. So that’s a rate of return of $1,845/$28,000 = around 6.6% annually.

At least at present, that’s a pretty good rate of return! And this will only go higher as power costs go up.

Also, keep in mind that I live in Seattle and that my panels mostly face East and West. The same solar panel system would generate considerably more energy in a lower latitude and with an equatorial-facing roof.

So, yeah, I’d say solar power is financially worth it, if you can afford it. It does cut down on liquidity significantly.

Also, very few investments can say they actually help the environment! Enphase estimates that I removed 8.8 tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere (not counting the amount generated by the manufacture of the panels, of course). I don’t quite know where they get that number from because Seattle power generation is mostly non-carbon-emitting, but assuming they’re thinking in terms of national averages and grid-level fungibility, I think all those various factors cancel out and I can say that, yeah, I helped the planet overall, too.

So my takeaway is: if you are able to, and your state’s utility regulatory commission isn’t terrible, get solar power.

(But that said there’s a huge caveat in that many states do not handle billing for private solar power even remotely reasonably, and to get the full benefit of solar power you might need to get an off-grid battery system which raises your costs considerably. Do your own research.)