[Jimbo120]

Originally Posted by oneclickplus

Personal experience:
Don't waste your time or money. Payback (if any) is miserably slow. There is not enough real estate on your roof to generate the power you need. Those with a small farm that can dedicate several acres to solar panels might have better results. Also, something not well publicized by solar companies ... the panels degrade over time and the voltage output drops precipitously. In 20 years, they are trash for the landfill. If you do decide to put them on your roof, get it in writing that the solar company will remove them (and reinstall them) at no cost should you need a roof replacement down the road. That is another surprise cost to some people.

Had a neighbor who invested $23,000 in solar panels while drooling over the idea of his electric meter running backwards (per the sales guy). He generated less than $25/month of electricity. That's a negative payback. Ignoring interest, it would take 76 years to get his money back. Solar panels don't last that long. The interest on his loan cost more than he saved resulting in a net monthly loss.

I think you're better off attaching small generators to couple million gerbil and hamster cages and just let them go at it.

Solar water heaters for you pool are a different technology. Don't confuse them. Solar panels that generate electricity are what we're discussing here.

There are too many errors in this post to ignore, everything depends on your situation.