[jpearson]

You are correct that the installation must be complete by December 31, 2021, to receive the current 22% Tax Credit. My opinion is that President-Elect Biden will support legislation to either extend this credit or support entirely new legislation to provide incentives for solar. Time will tell. You also must be the original owner of the solar system.
I have installed two separate but compatible systems on my home. Each qualified for the 30% credit. The first was completed in 2014, and the second one in 2019. Why did we install a second system? The answer is based on the consumption side of the equation. In 2018, we bought an electric car, and in early 2019, switched from a gas cart to an electric cart. We also bought a hot tub in 2017, so our consumption increased beyond the capacity of the original. Our two together now are a perfect compromise between consumption and production.


We bought both systems outright. Our decision was based on our personal finances. We don't like to borrow money. We call it "buy once..........cry once". As for the selling, we have not had to worry about that yet. In my opinion, the right buyer will love them, and most buyers won't have a clue what they are or what they entail. A good realtor that understands solar would be crucial. I won't hire any realtors that don't pass this test with me. They have to be able to sell the concept to the buyers. I think the right buyer will see some value in them, but most likely won't pay a large premium for them. It would take a very unique buyer to think their value was above and beyond the market value of the home. Again........my opinion. I would think a 30K investment would pay back a small percentage at sell time. The only great reason not to like them as a buyer would be the expected life remaining. If they are near the end of life, there would be little benefit to gain, and expenses to either remove or replace. Most buyers would beware of that. The other thing a buyer would shy away from is if a roof replacement is in the near future for the home. Our home is in that situation now. The roof is 17 years old, so I would think most buyers would worry about not only a roof replacement, but the cost of removing and replacing the panels for the roof job. Yes, they have to be removed when this happens. The homeowner would bear the cost of this. I am guessing the removal/replacement to be significant.

First off, I should mention that if you don't find "intrinsic value" in a green solution, you are not in the right gig. You must seek the value that comes with every day of sunshine. It has no money value, but the intrinsic value is dynamic......" if you are this kind of thinker." My wife and I fit that category. I never once thought it was a great financial decision, but instead, it was a decision that meets our environmental goals and was possibly a break-even financial deal over time.
I am a data geek...........having said that, I read my meter every day, save the data on a spreadsheet and calculate all kinds of trends, etc. that most could care less about. I have a real handle on what these are producing, what we are consuming, what each type of day will produce, what each time of year will produce. The production does follow long term patterns and produces predictable long term averages. The month by month graph is predictable, while the day to day graphs are quite variable.
When we bought our first system, it was predicted that we would average 33KwH per day average production. That number is extremely close. In fact, the first two years averaged right on that number. Basically 1000 per month, and 12000 per year. So, the expectations have been consistent with reality.
Here is an example from my SECO bill.
Dates 11/9-12/8/2020 29 Days *1.00/day = $29.00 (Just to be on the grid)
KwH Consumed 683 * .1106/KwH = $75.54
Total Electric Cost = $104.54
KwH Delivered 570 *- .095/KwH = $-54.15 (This is a credit.hence the negative)
Hot Bucks. We get credit for what we consume and pay for what we deliver.
The net was a credit of -$3.19
Add some tax. and the bill came to about $48 bucks. In the summer it might rise to 80 in August.
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So, why is there consumption? This is because we use the grid any time we are not producing what we are consuming. Night time is the main reason.
So, why did we deliver back the utility? This is because between 10 and 2, you over produce almost every day. It can be stored locally with batteries, or in our case sold back to the utility. We buy at 11.6 pennies per kWh and sell back at 9.5 pennies per kWh. A great deal of our consumption during the day is washed out by production. We actually consumed about 1400 kWh during those 29 days. Using the rate structure of Seco, our bill would have been ...
29$ + 1000*.1106 = $110.60 + 400* .1306 = $52.24 + (Hot Bucks Credit -27.87)
Basically $164
$164-$48 = $116 saved. So we average a bit higher than this during typical month savings.......say $125. This is $1500 per year. Ten years is $15,000. Twenty years is $30,000. Our out of pocket is close to $25k after tax credits. So, in our case it looks like the true payback, assuming rates/consumption/production remain constant would be about 17 years.


Our first array was true south. This is the most efficient during the year. Our second array is on the front of our house. Half of the panels face east, and the other face south. East beats south a few months of the year, but south beats east most months.


I would not ever put these on a mid to old age roof. You will have to replace your roof and with that comes an expense to remove and replace.
Buy the system with micro-inverters like Enphase, and do not get a string inverter. The strings work great if you have no shadowing during the day. The micros in my opinion are much slicker and easier to troubleshoot if you have a problem. PS-I love Enphase!
Choose a company that is efficient and diligent. Permits are pulled and need to be inspected as the job goes forward. I believe there are three inspections. Be sure that the company understands the connection agreement between you and SECO. This was a pain for us. You are not legally allowed to turn on the system until all inspections are done and SECO has signed off on the agreement. The final step is their inspection and meter swap. This took us almost a month after our install to get SECO to cooperate with the completion.
Another thing to consider is maintenance. Expect someone to have to clean the panels a couple of times per year. I do this myself....Once during pollen season and one after the pollen season. The rainy season is no problem and winter is no problem. You cannot believe how much pollen collects on them, and what that does to production. You might have this worked into the contract to have them do this???? If you hate roofs, the job is not for you.

Conclusion......
So, my wife and I were perfect solar candidates. We were young enough to have a good chance to outlive them, could afford to pay outright, and love environmental projects. It may not be for you. I am glad I did it and would do it again. I hope to outlive these systems. Hah!