Quote:
Originally Posted by Barnes
FWIW, my 31 panel 14Kw system from February was right at the $2.30/watt as well.
SF, if you are looking to move in 7 - 8 years the loan will follow you so all you are doing is putting in and paying for a system for the next homeowner that will probably more than cover 2x their usage.
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I'd probably agree if you aren't committed to your house for 5+ years, it might not be the most worthwhile endeavor.
But it is an 10 year loan that costs ~$3000 / year. and in general I expect these panels should add ~$20,000 + in value to the house, maybe declining ~$1000 / year. So in theory if I were to sell the house in 8 years, I might still have ~$6000 left on a loan, but I should pocket ~$12,000 in cash from the sale.
*depending on the rate the panels degrade, and the rate that energy prices inflate they might even hold there value better than that, but home buyers will be smart enough to know that a system that reduces your utilities bills has value for the property itself.
I Also doubt 8 years from now the system would be overbuilt. It will probably be producing ~11,000 kwh annually instead of 13,000, because of degradation. Realistically that is probably only ~20% higher than the average house today, and with growing AC adoption and EV use... I think it's pretty likely the average house in Calgary is consuming more than 11,000 KWH / year in 8 years.
16KW seems like a big system to me, knowing just how many EV KMs I put on to get to 13KW