Answers

Alex,  

Solar panels are a great long term solution for energy savings. The average time frame for recovering the initial cost of the panels and installation is about 5 years, so if you are planning on living in the home for longer than 5 years, you will begin to see a return on your investment around year 6 and beyond. Also a big bonus is that tax credits are available to homeowners on both the state and federal level for solar currently!

Hope this helps! Good luck with your new home =)

Eric Consuegra, Arocon Roofing and Construction

Get with a local solar company and have them look at your plans.  You may be building a home that cannot work with solar due to your roof pitch, orientation or shade.  Let them give you a site assessment and run the financials based on your available incentives.  You can look them up here:  http://dsireusa.org/

Solar Panels are increasing in energy generation and energy storage is getting better and better.  You definitely need to make sure that your dwelling is positioned on the property to maximize benefits.  While it is way down the road, make sure to investigate the implications of what happens when the day comes to replace your shingles.  I would make sure you also have adequate insurance in the event the panels are damaged by hail, trees etc. and that you have a comprehensive maintenance program in place should you elect to have panels installed.  You may want to check with your local building code authority and see if you are able to have solar panels on your property other than on the roof if you have enough space.  Just like the VCR, solar panels are coming down in cost and going up in efficiency, so you may want to wait.  If you could have many less panels in the near future, that produce more output, that may be the best choice. Here is a link of many residential applications https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEVzpL309ThhkA45xXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0YXQwZXBpBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDQxNl8x?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-745-s&sz=all&va=solar+panels+homes

The shape of your roof will definitely have an impact, but generally speaking, solar pays for itself in spades.

The other thing to consider is that solar is ideally tailored to your personal electricity requirements, which you won't know for sure until you've been in the house a few months (a year, for a complete picture). You're probably safe installing a smaller system (which is what you usually find on new construction), but you'll likely find it won't cover everything. If you decide to go forward now, just make sure the system is expandable down the line; this is one of many reasons you'll want microinverters as opposed to a string inverter.

Good luck!

Solar shingles are expensive and unproven.  I recommend Sun Power photo voltaic solar.  An average home is $20,000 to $30,000 and the return on investment is 4 to 6 years on a 25 plus year system.

Hi Brian, 

Yes in those cases a ground mounted solar array may be your best option. You can site the solar in a more ideal location for sun access. There is typically some added cost involved in a ground mount vs. a roof mount. 

Let's hear it for Elon Musk and his efforts to move the solar industry forward!  Solar shingles have lots of potential. Hopefully, Tesla and Solar City will get it right.  We used solar shingles about 15 years ago when installing a new roof and encountered some issues: 1) They were expensive! I would recommend getting a quote for both traditional PV panels versus the shingles and see what pencils out. The cost of PV has come down significantly in the last couple of years. Once you get the quote, be sure and compare the cost/efficiency/performance ratios of the two systems. 2) Maintenance can be an issue. There are more electrical connections with a roof shingle system vs a traditional PV system. More things to create potential problems. The shingles are typically installed in "strings" - where mulitple shingles work together in units.  If one shingle has a problem, the entire string "goes down". Check to see how Solar City addressses this issue: can you easily identify where the bad shingle is and be able to replace it easily?  Otherwise the efficiency of your system is compromised significantly.  Another maintenance issue is keeping all the shingles clean.  There is more work to wash down an entire roof periodically to remove dirt buildup than there is for a traditional PV system. 3) Availability: Is Tesla/Solar City providing the units in Atlanta?  It may take them some time to gear up their distribution and train people to install them properly.  Both important things to consider.

All that being said, it certainly makes sense to have your roof generate power for you!  Regardless of whether you go the traditional PV system or shingles route.  Best of luck!

+1

If you can amortize it into the long term loan on the home, it is a 100% no brainer.

Yes!!

Alex, the region you are in is crucial and consider the cost vs time of recapitization

Solar panels are a great "green" addition to any home. That said, the roof underneath the solar panels is just as important. With an asphalt roof, the homeowner is going to be removing the solar panels to replace the asphalt roof long before the solar (PV) needs to be replaced. This wise choice would be to install a lifetime aluminum energy star rated roof and attachthe PV solar to the new metal roof. When the PV needs to be replaced or removed the roof will still be in service. In fact will last for many years beyond the life of the solar panels. On a different note, if you decide to install solar be sure you have a landing area for the snow slides coming off the panels. It is a little known problem that is just coming to light by the industry. Snow slides coming off a roof with solar can cause significant damage or injury. Be sure to address this issue with your solar contractor.