PV Gap

Leah Said:

Cons of Solar Power in a home?

We Answered:

The reference is one of the best solar estimators around. The only argument against it is cost. Government incentives help reduce that cost. It's a standard economic analysis. You make a capital investment now to gain an income stream over the life of the system. Several governments have required electric utilities to buy your excess generating capacity from you. Both are real and widely used.

Solar water heating is much less popular and glamorous, but pays back even sooner, even without incentives. There's no excuse for not including it in a new home. It's nearly always worth retrofitting to an existing home. I've been doing that for almost 30 years.