Are solar panels worth it in 2024?

Solar Panels On My Net Zero Home … Still Worth It? The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/un... Are solar panels on your home worth it? And did I go too far this time? Well, I’ve shared my experiences living with solar panels on my previous home for five years now. Including the pros and cons of it. I just moved into my new factory built home with the goal of achieving net zero energy, which means more solar. I've experienced going solar twice within five years. Both with the same solar installer, in the same state… but with very different houses. How did I go about sizing my solar panel system to try and hit that net zero target before I actually lived here? And what challenges did we run into… because there were some challenges. Hopefully you’ll find something to take away from this if you’re considering solar for yourself.
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[@UndecidedMF]

What’s your dream solar setup? The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/undecided If you liked this, check out 5 Years with Solar Panels - Is It Still Worth It? kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqnNaaCEr9trhqs Get my achieve energy security with solar guide: link.undecidedmf.com/solar-guide

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

Get a wind turbine too.

[@TheOhMyGoddess]

Hey Matt! Did you think adding the solar panels onto a metal roof can affect the efficiency of the solar panels due to radiant heat generated? Ex. overheating

[@tommysmith7031]

Did you consider getting a wind turbine? If so, what was the reason you decided against?

[@dennisenright9347]

You mention that your system has the ability to cut off from sending electricity onto the grid in the event of a grid failure. Is there any switch that you have to throw manually to ensure that your system is isolated? When I got my generator (40kw, Deere powered), I looked at an automatic start generator, but it would have at least tripled the cost and would have required complete replacement of the main entry panel. It would have had to include a very expensive switching system to cut off the main line, or I would have legally responsible if my generator sent power back to the mains while they were being worked on. Does your system include something comparable?

[@mjduke420]

I'm more north than you, with a 14.5kW East-West facing array (40 LG NeON panels on 40 IQ7a) and produced 17,000kWh last year. I suspect you'll hit 20MWh.

[@hardykornfeld1733]

We’ve now lived in our newly built efficient house in MA for 2 years. It’s 3000 sf with a garage connected by a breezeway. Many of our choices were similar to Matt’s: metal roof, 15 kW solar with Enphase microinverters, all electric appliances including convection cooktop and heat pump water heater and clothes drier. We’re grid-tied with a propane backup generator. No batteries yet. Our house has a simple barn-like design (2 stories) so all the panels are on the south-facing roof. Cooling the house to 77 in summer and heating to 70 in winter, we ended up more net-positive than expected. That includes charging an EV. Lifetime numbers are 53.6 MWh produced and 8.7 MWh imported from the utility. We have consumed 14.6 MWh and net exported 39.0 MWh. So we overshot by quite a bit, but we wanted to cover the entire south-facing roof with panels for esthetics. At least we’ll be covered for panel degradation over time, for a second EV in future, and for the likelihood that we’ll want to be even warmer in winter as we age. We’ll probably get batteries in ~8 years when the SMART incentive program expires. That program pays us monthly for exported power. Last year that added up to $3000, though it is subject to tax. By the time we’re ready to add batteries, I anticipate that cost will come down and performance might improve a bit over today’s offerings.

[@jamskinner]

77 in summer? I would die at that temp.

[@MelloCello7]

@@jamskinner isn't 75/77 like the general human ideal??👀

[@ZeorGaming]

@@MelloCello7 My house doesn't go over 18C (65F).. Like @jamskinner said, I would also die having to live in 77F. 65F would be my day time temp with lowering it to about 60F at night. I also live in Canada, so its pretty clear that location changes your standards of temperature.

[@EvanVlcek]

Thanks for sharing! What kind of HVAC system for heating/cooling?

[@AUMINER1]

solar panels are a net loss of energy every single time they are implemented - it takes more energy to produce each panel than that panel will ever give back - they can't be recycled, so every single panel today will end up in a landfill

[@chefboyartty]

Awesome video as always. Giving me so many ideas for my next home! Totally agree, states should step in and regular solar standards NOT TOWNS. I only found out about different town regulations after I had my solar installed, and then my parents had theirs installed. Congratulations on the new home, it looks beautiful!

[@nothingtoseehere93]

Towns shouldn’t exist imo. Why do we need hundreds of thousands of the same laws, boards, etc. so much fucking waste for these useless administrators making 100-200k to do nothing. On the other hand, I do believe towns have the right of free association.

[@johndoh5182]

@@nothingtoseehere93 So you get cities with 1 - 3 million people, it's in a state that for the most part is rural, as most states are, and state politicians draw district maps for voting that aren't equal in population, they CERTAINLY aren't in Texas, so you end up with a lot of rural people in the state govt. and they're supposed to legislate the complexity of very large cities. Uh huh, RIGHT. That doesn't work though in Texas that's what the state govt. is trying to force by greatly restricting the types of laws/regulations a county can pass. No thanks I think our city govts. in large cities often do MUCH better than the state does in understanding what laws should look like. There's basically no similarity between small towns/rural areas and large cities. THAT is why you have city govts. And you wouldn't shrink the overall SIZE of govt. much by not having them because you STILL have to deal with police and the functioning of that city and ALL you'd be doing is passing that to a STATE assembly assigned to that city.

[@AUMINER1]

solar panels are a net loss of energy every single time they are implemented - it takes more energy to produce each panel than that panel will ever give back - they can't be recycled, so every single panel today will end up in a landfill

[@liamstacey419]

Even so many states create laws that interstate business a nightmare. The result is that only big businesses can manage interstate commerce, which helps them, and ultimately hurts the little guys. Neither political party can seem to figure this out.

[@Youngbl33zy]

Is your mom worth it in 2024? I think not!

[@coffeeisgood102]

Very smart of you to choose a metal roof. I messed up and put on a shingle roof before installing the panels. But I goofed up again by letting the installers mount the micro-inverters underneath the panels. What a bad idea. When one micro-inverter failed it meant climbing on the roof, lifting the panel, removing the bad inverter and replacing it with a new one. And this is a two man job. One to hold the panels up while the other person changes the inverter. I learned my lesson. When I expanded my solar system I had the micro-inverters mounted where they can be reached from the ground without a ladder if there is ever a problem. Thanks for sharing this video.

[@JaylanYilmaz]

When I asked a master electrician about your easy to reach ground-level Microinverter setup (but with Power Optimisers) I was informed that there would be a noteworthy loss in voltage for all the extra cabling, having them closer to the panels is better for efficiency. The failures including labour should be included in warranty to fix them I suppose it wasn’t in your case.

[@coffeeisgood102]

@@JaylanYilmaz …When the original contractor broke my micro inverter during installation (on the roof panels)that inverter was obviously under warranty. That contractor went out of business so another contractor came out to do the job. Changing the inverter on the roof is a two person job and only one technician arrived. He waited in the front yard for 8 hours and a second person never arrived to help him so he got in his truck and left. The job never got done. The reason the inverter broke in the first place was because the original contractor only sent one man to do the job. When he attempted to hold up the rack with one hand and attach the inverter with the other hand he lost his footing on the sloped roof and dropped the rack, breaking the inverter. I was fortunate that the second inverter on that rack as well as the 4 panels attached to it did not break. So even tho there is a slight efficiency loss I would rather have the ground mount and be free of the problems associated with roof mount. At present, 12 of my panels are ground mount. When it is time to put up a new roof I will relocate those panels to the ground. If in the beginning I knew what I know now, all my panels would be on the ground. That broken inverter has never been repaired. I am just fortunate that I produce enough power from the remaining panels the the loss is negligible.

[@frommatorav1]

I have 22 panels on my roof, with each having a micro inverters, IQ8PLUS, under them like you described. In the first year, about 5 months after install, one of the panels stopped reporting. I reported it to Lumio and someone came out in 1-2 weeks and replaced the bad micro inverter. My panels have a 20 year warranty. Is that because I had a contractor and you didn't? The man who came out to fix it, was done in about 20 min and that panel started reporting correctly the next day.

[@Riceman-o1p]

I live in a modest climate and I used to be a solar contractor. I purchased a refurbished battery based system and got some cheap solar panels. 4.2 kW of PV, a 7.5 kW inverter and 14.4 kWh of energy storage. The city denied me on my solar panel installation because my awning is not structurally adequate. (According to them...) So I said screw it and installed the whole thing by myself with no permit and I put my system into "zero export mode" because California doesn't give you much money for your solar production anyways. So far no one has detected that I have a solar system, and I paid about $11,000 total for my equipment and still took the 30% tax credit. 😂😂😂😂 So far it looks like it will save me $2600 per year because electric rates are so dang high here. ROI of 3.2 years! (If I don't get busted) 😂

[@flashfader]

Honestly. This is the way. It doesn’t make sense to have a company charge you up the whazoo for a 15-20 year ROI.

[@abrahamhorowitz8374]

I think you'll achieve your net 0 goal based on how well researched your amazing videos always are. I certainly am hoping that you do anyways, as you're more than deserving of achieving what you want with how much you've given to me and so many others who watch your videos in terms of valuable information and inspiration for what the future can look like. I look forward to your update video(s) to find out the results you ultimately achieve. Thank you for all the great information and resources you provide.

[@seanhoward8055]

We have a 10.45 kW solar installation with a 40/60 E/W split here in Perth, Australia. We added 2 Redflow ZBM2 batteries for 20kWh of storage. Even with ducted heat pump air-conditioning, we still have not needed to use any power from the grid. I am really liking the redflow batteries as they do not use lithium and have no capacity degradation over their life. Oh, and they are fire retardant so no risk of burning your house down.

[@rcememwood]

I built my home in Nova Scotia Canada 3 years ago and installed 10kw of solar panels, in NS the system is sized by a certified installer based on the house size(number of bedrooms) hence the size of my solar array. I do not store power but "sell" power to NS power my surplus and draw when I don't make enough power for my demand. On the anniversary of the system being installed, the books are balanced and either NS power sends me a check or I pay. Happily in all the years I've been in the house NS power has sent me a check. My home when build was with efficiency in mind, it's super insulated with 14" fully insulated walls, all LED lighting etc. I would not build a home without solar! As for costs, the system installed was $24k Cdn. At the time of installation I qualified for a solar rebate of $5750 and and energy rebate for the entire home of $9k Cdn. Using this all into the costs I feel I have almost completely paid for my system as power here is very expensive and only increasing.

[@wasupfool5692]

Here on PEI we get screwed, if we produce more power than we use in a year we don't get paid anymore, Maritime Electric did away with that

[@OBD01]

So happy for you and your wife getting all moved in! I know what a great feeling it is to be in your forever home. As always thank you for all the great information presented in a easy to understand method.

[@hightechredneck8587]

Holy Crap. 50kWh a day!! I'm in Northern Canada, In winter our furnaces run 24/7 or we freeze to death and we only have sunlight for 5 hours. My house is old and I have 2 heated double garages and still only use 28kWh a day in Winter! How can someone burn that much energy? Even my neighbour with 2 electric cars doesn't crack 40 a day.

[@innrwrld]

Appreciate you sharing your new solar build. We also have REC panels & they've been pretty great. I don't believe I have the same model as yours, as mine are just 300W per panel vs your 400W, so overall we're capable of about 13.5 kW from the array. Nicely done, looks great! I might reach out to you in a year or so to discuss some of the choices you made regarding the house build as I approach doing mine. Thanks again for sharing your build experience.

[@Tell-me-more-75225]

His energy production is at most 12,470 kw..... The Enphase IQ8+ has a maximum continuous output power of 290 watts. That times the 43 panels is 12,470 kw.

[@chrismaxny4066]

We are in the Hudson Valley by Kingston NY and have a 16kw grid tied ground mount. It was turned on September 22 2022 and for the first year it has produced 20,086.79 kWh which means we are net zero. The PVWatts Calculator was right on in calculating the electrical production. The system has 40 Qcell Duo Blk G10 400 watt panels and 40 Enphase IQ 7A microinverters. Cost after all incentives and tax credits was $30,840. The location has limited sun as there is a forested hill to the west which means the mount is in total shade by 3-5P depending on the season. Our home is all electric geothermal, induction, electric car, pool and the system has saved us $5000+ in this first year. The house was built in 1987 and is pretty well insulated but not up to the standard of Matt's new house.

[@FrankCarey]

I'm in Kingston, how was the process? Any tips?

[@mariuszarszylo1476]

I'm curious how the noise level is with the metal roof as it rains.

[@donchristie420]

He has product and insulation between the metal roof and ears, so no difference in sound😉

[@bobwojcik6196]

I have a metal roof on my home. There maybe slightly more noise when it rains hard but definitely not a problem. It also depends on how much insulation in your attic.

[@rambopally23]

@bobwojcik6196 Honestly, rain with a metal roof is some of the best sleep I've ever had when I was at my great grandmother's house. It was an instant off button.

[@Azamyth]

The office I work in was converted from an old house with a metal roof and light to moderate showers are unnoticeable, The only rain i can hear is from a tropical storm or heavy thunderstorm levels of rain.

[@julianshepherd2038]

Insane without insulation. Silent with.

[@TraderJff]

We understand that the goals and needs for every person varies and each person will have have their own factors and goals to parse though. However the point of this video was for you to answer if the solar system satisfied your personal goals. After sitting through all this information at the end we the viewers are just not clear if YOU are satisfied with your system's performance or not. Can you please clarify in simple words, was your system worth it to YOU ?

[@drillerdev4624]

I'm probably missing something, but I'm confused about your new house being super energy efficient yet needing much more energy than the previous one (even if you weren't net zero before)

[@adamellsworth3732]

It wasn't obvious but I think he's eliminating fossil fuel sources his previous house had. So the electrical consumption is going up but total "energy used" is going down.

[@UnauthorizedTechnology]

Likely due to switching to an electric furnace, dryer, and water heater. Most homes use gas for these, so switching them to electric would help hit that net 0 goal.

[@maboroshi1986]

That’s actually pretty easy. He’s electrifying everything. So no fireplaces or gas stoves or gas powered water heater. You still need to replace those things with electrical counterparts. As such his house is going to use more electricity to offset no longer using things like gas.

[@SuperMacGuy]

I still don’t understand, because I have an all electric house, and it is not very energy efficient, we have baseboard heaters, mostly, and a couple rooms have in floor heat. My yearly electricity use is about 18,000 kWh. So I think either Matt is way off in his estimates, or all this energy savings that he’s getting is dipping him into the Jevons paradox. He’s building a much bigger house that somehow is only a little more energy efficient as the previous house, and so his costs will end up being the same. I hope we’re all wrong, and that his house end up being super net positive.

[@adamellsworth3732]

@@SuperMacGuy Baseboard/resistive electric heat is probably the least efficient of all options. One of Matt's biggest projects is the geothermal heat pump which is more money up front but probably the *most* energy efficient way to heat and cool a home. Our house has an outside air heat pump and it's amazing how low our electricity bills are and our gas bill is non-existent. So it's not an incremental difference, that's a huge difference in efficiency.

[@mbriandunson]

Thanks for this excellent video! We are preparing to install a 29 panel, 11.745 kWh system. Total cost without a battery is right around $36000 (before tax credits). Panels: Q.PEAK DUO BLK ML-G10+ 405 Inverters: IQ8A-72-2-US Microinverters We wanted to add a battery, but that’s another $17000! Does your stated cost include the battery?

[@john38825]

Ive seen a bunch of stuff about home wind turbines being 400-1500w. Is there a reason why its not a good fit for you, location or not enough storage so its redundant? It seems like that little boost of energy would be perfect for your home especially in the winter.

[@JasonMohammed]

might be permit/housing restricted for various reasons.

[@SuperVstech]

Wind turbines are noisy, so many hoa’s forbid them. Also… the VAST majority of wind turbines are scams. Able to output anywhere CLOSE to rated output during a hurricane only…

[@ssoffshore5111]

From what I've read in the past, many of these systems have significant reliability issues.

[@NorthOlbo]

I’ve read that many home wind turbines produce a lot of noise, and vibration if attached to a building. Also maintenance. Solar should be maintenance free apart from occasional rinsing off of dust etc.

[@theadventuresofbrockinthai4325]

Here in Thailand, solar panel systems are popping up everywhere. The government itself has huge solar arrays all over the place. I am building a new house in northeastern Thailand and will be one hundred percent off grid. It's actually one big house with several small bungalows for when we have guests. All of that will be off grid too.

[@M1911jln]

Your issue with local regulations is so typical of Massachusetts. We are so parochial with local fiefdoms so eager to over regulate. Then our politicians wonder why housing is so unaffordable in Massachusetts. This sort of nonsense drives me crazy.

[@TheCornucopiaProject-bd5jk]

Due to regulations, entire cities no longer go up in flames.

[@ronaldlincoln2935]

Guaranteed this dude votes for the team that likes regulation and taxation. You can hear it in his voice.

[@davebryer6133]

The mistake I made was estimating the solar needs before adding a heat pump and it does use a lot of electricity. I also had no idea that Jan-March of 2023 was going to be the cloudiest in 18 years, which really hurt solar production. Happy I did do a battery backup as power was lost twice, and with our system the only reason I knew it went out was becasue the SPAN app on my phone told me it had. Good luck on your net 0 dream.

[@UndecidedMF]

Thanks for sharing!

[@coolhandluke423]

Matt, Your original solar video was a big reason why i ended up deciding to have a solar array installed at my new house. Here in Idaho, power is fairly cheap as there's a lot of hydro-electric, but my new house has no natural gas and is purely just electric. We went with a 18kw-dc and 15kw-ac system that is sized to do 120% of my last years power usage, as the panels degrade over their lifespan, roughly 20 years.... as I'm sure you know, my system will still be able to produce more than my annual usage. I'm also set up on a net metering program as well as have a metal roof somit made alot of sense. So far I'm loving it!

[@SpaceJazz3K]

Love the idea of solar, but ROI is way too low on a system like this. Better to choose a renewable power provider and invest those dollars elsewhere (other green projects?)

[@Voltaic_Fire]

Solar panels do have an ROI at least, giving money to the energy company doesn't, you eventually pay off the solar whereas you aren't left with anything after the same time with the energy company.

[@FuncleChuck]

He says he has 10% ROI (7 year breakeven) That may not be attainable where you live, as it certainly isn’t for me - but for him this is an absolutely spectacular investment.

[@SpaceJazz3K]

@@FuncleChuckokay, I was going from what his old house was and the numbers don’t really add up to a 10% ROI unless it’s 2.5X+ power demand increase. So maybe a new house where all your HVAC is electric + cold winters….😊

[@oebydoeby]

Wow that is quite a expense. In the Netherlands I installed a 16kw system with solaredge and it was 15k euro. Makes it more impressive that you went this route.

[@ssoffshore5111]

Solar installers are insanely expensive and overpriced in the US.

[@SukottoSama]

with 7 years? yea, i can see why no one wants solar at their homes. idk about over paying for equipment that will be out of date, worn down, or even be broken after finishing paying. crazy to think ppl are okay with being scammed like this. imagine the system breaking one day and the whole then just becomes a paper weight for your house for a month. then you still have to pay for it after a repair bill

[@Suburp212]

I have expanded my home solar 3 times already. One can never have enough solar. Especially in winter.

[@ortusdux]

I wish solar made sense in my area! I pay a flat $0.07/kwh, and most of my electricity comes from hydro. My break-even on a setup like yours woild be over 30 years!

[@TrapZoneCanine]

If you’re able to sell the additional power you create in the summer, that’s where the faster payback comes vs. straight up calculations on your power usage. In the spring and summer months you can essentially double (2-4x) your power consumption and get paid back extra $ for it. But the rate you pay is very low, not a lot of incentive to need to change. BC?!

[@prichter9798]

Hi Matt. Your videos are great. Not sure if you have decided on batteries yet. But I can give you insight on why we dont have batteries. We live in Central Florida. 14Kw system with (2) 7Kw inverters. Paid cash. Our Electric company gives us a 1 for 1 energy use/supply. So for some of the year we over generate and the rest we consume. At the end of the year we have a credit that roles to the next year. We have a 0.00 Monthly bill and have had for three years. That said our Electric company is our battery. So it doesn't make sense to invest in battery storage. Of course in the chance of a power outage, (which rarely happens and if so it is only an hour of so) we have a propane/gas generator which cost around $400. Way cheaper than a bank of batteries. For us it just doesn't make financial sense for batteries.

[@FuncleChuck]

Yep, that makes sense for you. Batteries are almost never a net-positive choice, unless you DIY and already had a very oversized solar system (or a wild differential on ToU plan)

[@ssoffshore5111]

These sweetheart NM programs are quickly being phased out (thanks to lobbyist), enjoy it while it lasts!@@FuncleChuck

[@RyanMercer]

I wouldn't mind having 150% of our annual need being produced for potential demand increase in the future. But, yeah, 6 months of being unemployed this year then returning to work with about a 45% pay cut... oof. By the time I can afford PV there will probably be cheap fusion.

[@reestyfarts]

5 KW of SunPower solar on our southern Nevada house. We installed an induction cook top and a heat pump but our water heater and dryer burn city gas, as does our outdoor barbecue which is staying. The big problem is our breaker box is maxed out and it will cost major funds to go bigger. The gas appliances do not burn as much as it sounds because of high ambient heat in the summer and low ambient humidity so we hang dry most garments and take cold showers during triple digit heat. Even the barbecue gets a free hundred degrees in the summer.

[@darinfisher989]

At 50 to 100 dollars a piece I would cover the entire roof. I bought a dozen of them for $600 off Marketplace and run my entire air conditioning unit during the daytime. In the desert where we get sunlight most of the year I cut my bill in half and I don't even have batteries at night I just worry about daylight collection... if you just want to quick and easy setup to taper your bill off I did my whole system for $1,000

[@spiritualandmotivation600]

Not sure what the best situation is for solar other than off grid living. I had a customer wondering why his utility bill seemed to keep going up. Long story short, his $51,000 investment is not paying off. When the calculation is done he gets less then $10.00 credit for using solar. The kWh is killing the solar each month. He also said the installer was reported on the news a few weeks ago. Not sure where he purchased from ,but he is not benefiting from his investment at this point. You still have to have a meter for solar there is also a flat rate charge for using kWh and kwhr(solar) plus additional chargers per kWh.

[@ridethetalk]

If the mounting rails ran "vertically", rather than horizontally, natural convection currents can work unimpeded to cool the panels (which have a negative temperature coefficient meaning they lose efficiency as the temperature increases)

[@brettspencer-curran8269]

@UndecidedMF why didn't they install an extra row of solar at the bottom of your south facing roof? That would have been more efficient than the West facing roof.

[@rayopeongo]

I love your new setup. If I had the room and money, I would also go full solar, geothermal, batteries, the works. I just have one question. Why is your house shaped the way it is? I am assuming that a simple 2 story cube would be the cheapest and most efficient: the most interior volume for the least surface area; less complex exterior so easier to seal; one simple roof covered with one large solar array; easier, cheaper and faster to build; use less building materials; etc., etc., etc. Of course, it probably loses out aesthetically speaking. And maybe there are other considerations I don't know about, perhaps like wanting your studio to be separated from the rest of the house for noise reasons. I was just wondering if those factors I listed really are worth worrying about. Would a simple cube really be better in the ways I mentioned? Did you consider alternate, simpler designs, and discard them because they weren't that different in regards to construction costs and long term efficiency?

[@mitchellfolbe8729]

After credit cost = $38000. Avg power bill = $300/month. $38000/300 = 127 months Loan 5%. $38000 * 0.05 = $1900/yr interest Payback 7 years for loan = $13300 in interest. $13300/300 = 44 more months to pay off loan in terms of utility savings. 127 +44 =171 months before break even =14 years. If he can sell power back to utility, it will be less. When power prices go up, and they will due to government mandates for more expensive renewals, it will also be a better deal for him. The big winner will be the family who buys his house in 20 or 30 years.

[@fiberboss2255]

In 20 30 years the panels will become worthless junk

[@cjmixmaster]

Don't forget that for the enphase batteryless power you need a different configuration for your panels. I can't remember the details off the top of my head, but is is almost as costly as getting a battery.

[@skeetamacgyver1821]

Australia has a very efficient solar installation process established by a legendary electrician and passed in all states. As a result my 17kw areay and 15kw 3 phase inverter cost $11k Australia (so about $6k US). Essentially installers are trained tested and receive a qualification to install. A regulator monitors quality and another monitors safety. Extremely effective as I am not aware of a single fatality in installation or by a homeowner from their solar. We also have one of the highest solar adoption rates in the world.

[@By_Rant_Or_Ruin]

Well having spent that much money I am surprised you didn't have a pivot system so the panels turn right and left to follow the sun. But wow what a crazy house. So you are somewhere near $500,000 all in so far?

[@str1ky]

It is crazy to me, how much power the average US citizen needs. 1000kWh/Month at a normal house? BOI! The average german household needs 250kWh/Month or less

[@uramalakia]

I'm guessing that has to do with much strickter building codes.

[@sunkings5972]

We have much looser building standards especially when it comes to the vapor barrier on sides and top of homes. I also imagine American houses are a bit larger houses on average. A better comparison is kwh/month/sqf but Germany probably still blows us out of the water. Track houses in suburbs are notorious for leaking air and being inefficient.

[@shannabolser9428]

You also have a higher voltage than we do. That changes how much is used

[@eavdmeer]

Generally, in Europe, we don't have electric heating and typical houses don't have air conditioning. That's a huge difference

[@MrStreaty122]

He’s not an average citizen. The US EIA pegs the average US citizen at 12.1 kWh/day of power consumption for residential purposes. That means an average citizen is only using around 360 kWh/month. Him and his wife life together, so doubling that figure gets us to 720 kWh/month for residential consumption. Tack on the cars they charge at home and you’ll find that 1000 kWh/month is reasonable for them

[@Sailaboat]

I didn't watch the vid but I've lived offgrid on a yacht for nearly 3 years now. 1275w of Solar, 614ah lifepo4 and 7kw generator as a back up. Generator hours amount to 80 hours over the same period. It can be done.

[@Skotty64081]

I have a 20 panel system (290W panels) and it kind of just covers my EV charging. I would need probably 20 more panels to cover household use. Make sure to factor in EV charging or future EV charging when considering how big of a system to put in, as EVs can end up being a majority of the electricity usage depending on how much you drive. For me, I was limited to 20 panels due to budget and roof space limitations at the time. Next time, I hope to put in a system that is at least twice the size.

[@Bukoe]

I live in a new house 2 years old now. Heat pump and all just like you. I live in Denmark so weather is close to what you have.. We live 4 people in this house and for the first 2 years we used close to 5000kw pr year ..So around 400kw pr month .. I am still amazed at how mutch energy you think you will use =) .. Kinda looking forward to more updates on those numbers .=)

[@toddbegnoche4066]

Massachusetts is a good state for solar. Electricity costs around 30 cents per kwh. In Kansas I pay 13 cents.

[@darthsirrius]

I put up about 40 of the 430 Watt LG panels on my system a couple years ago for a 19 KW system, also with Enphase inverters, and that cost me $60 Grand, including $2k for a new electrical panel, so that sounds about right.

[@TomBosserez]

Great videos Matt, will keep following your channel. I'm blown away by the cost of your installation. You say installation cost is hyperlocal but do you know the cost of the installation vs the cost of panels themselves? Your installation costs about 3.22$/kWp which is truly a very high cost. If i look at some of the comments here that appears to be no great exception. Here in Belgium i paid about 1.25€/kWp in 2021. Why is the difference in cost so high? I dont think it can be the cost of the solar panels because it is such a commodity product, so it must be the cost of installation.

[@Seventhviper]

Thats a lot of power! I do live in a small one bed flat (apartment) but I only use 3,000kwh a year. So you’re generating almost enough for my annual usage each couple of months and that's with bog standard electric space and water heating, none of that fancy heat pump stuff.

[@johnpoldo8817]

I wanted to get solar for our Florida condo association to offset common area electricity usage. We’ve got a very generous amount of daily sun. But at $0.13 /kWh, I can’t justify the expense. Payback period is much too long.

[@donnamarie3617]

We are very happy with our solar power, and power retailer. In the last 365 days we have bought 1946.3kWh of power for a total cost, including all charges, of $NZ634.98. Yes, that is the total cost for a years power including connection. But wait, there's more! In those same 365 days we have sold 5064kWh for a total account credit of $NZ860.86. Thus, over these last 12 months we have created a credit on our power account of $NZ225.88. WINNING! Any questions? PS all electric home, no alternative fuels, and also no traditional batteries.

[@Lorofol]

I feel like we get waaay more value out of your reviews of your personal experiences. Please give us more content like this!

[@kasmstamps1897]

What we are installing (fate permiting). 13.2 kW panels (30x440W 10N10w10flat) 10kW inverter hybrid ready no battery at this stage but planning in getting ev with V2L. System is export limited to 5kWh. Feed in tariff 6cents kWh. System potential to generate 16000 kWh per year (live at 33degrees south). $9000AUD after subsidies, installed, paid from savings. Yep. Lucky country.

[@BrianPhillipsRC]

Nice video! Love the content, about to install 27.2kwh backup batteries on our 18kw solar system. It's gonna be epic! Thanks for doing what you do, and great information!

[@bene4623]

For what its worth, I'm running Ruixu batteries and we're quite happy with them. They shipped with a great rack and were very easy to integrate into my Solark inverter.

[@boringsoftware2093]

Short Answer: 1. YES 2. YES and 3. YES the problem is: how to combine it with affordable and reliable wind power systems? (to all feed a 48V battery)

[@sierraecho884]

You plan is pretty cool. If you have the space and sun etc. why not ? I wish I could do that but for me it does not make any sense whatsoever. Next step would be to couple a heating unit with a stirling engine. This would be perfect for you during the winter, since you will have to heat your home as well.

[@dhrekkin9055]

Love keeping tabs on your progress. I hope you do end up meeting your goals, you've put too much work and thought into things not to.

[@jasonrhl]

I never understood why build a house with a roof with no thought on the solar install. If I ever got to build the roof would be perfect orientation and size to to cover with panels.

[@ridethetalk]

Great to see your new roof is a light colour - my guess is Colorbond Surf Mist Back in the early noughties, New Scientist had a full page ad which stated that, if every roof on the planet were white, the planet would be 1°C cooler...

[@tigerphid9677]

I remember when the environmentalists promised us "free" energy from windmills and solar panels. But after hundreds of billions in every type of subsidy (federal, state, ratepayer, etc.), we find that these energy sources are way more expensive and vastly less efficient than nuclear. Windmills have a very high failure rate, which pushes up their costs in many hidden ways. And suddenly we are being told that solar panels are not enough, that they need battery banks to boot, and expensive power grid upgrades. What else will we discover? How about the massive problems with electric cars...

[@scottssolutions3849]

I have been Net Zero for almost three years. 17.6kw system. I don’t have all fancy stuff and I am all electric.

[@tatianasokolova9468]

Thank you - very descriptive and answers lots of questions

[@jamesray9009]

congrats on the new place .. I was about to remodel my home till I found the perfect wall system and so I discovered I wanted to wait lil bit longer because of new building science

[@RandomPerson-y9c]

Definitely some good nuggets of information in here! Thanks

[@johnp5250]

I'm surprised you didn't go with a more natural set up but I'm sure you had a style as well.

[@maouse333]

So, if your utility savings are $1500 a yr, and the system cost was $55,300, I calculate a 36.6 yr pay back. And the panels are “ warren teed” not guaranteed for 25 Yrs, and the roof integrity only 10 yrs-does that make sense ? What happens if panels degrade over time, or damaged by hail, and get dirty requiring cleaning, or leaks develop in your roof, or if the company goes out of business-like so many when government subsidies get dialed back?

[@tjs114]

That was sloppy of your solar installer if they didn't know the regulations for your town. Even my small town of 5,000 people has a solar installation worksheet that is given to everyone applying for a permit to install solar. It is literally a 10 item checklist for the process after getting the permit. Many smaller towns in the surrounding counties have similar checklists so the installers know exactly what is needed for a given town. Since my town is so small, we don't even have a local building inspector and are reliant on county inspectors who are in town one day a week, so on the worksheet, when the installer has the racks and conduit run, they are required to take several specific pictures that are then emails to a county inspection address so they can be attached to the permit.

[@UndecidedMF]

I wouldn't call it sloppy. My installer apologized for making an assumption during the process, but in their defense, it was their first time installing in my town (I'm slightly outside their normal coverage area). But every town is different and has different requirements and processes. Not everyone hands out a checklist like your suggesting (I wish the process was more standardized).

[@edbiernot4852]

Sad to hear you borrowed for system but maybe with predictions on grid going down

[@matejkotnik9675]

I have tiny backup solar and batteries. We have hetpump for heating in winter. But big solar for us it is not financially viable anymore. In europe we are facing a scam forcing solar cause yearly netmetering is being canceled next year, and promising that early adopters keep yearly contract. Others will get converted to monthly solar metering loosing investment. We need lots of electricity in winter but not much in summer, solar in winter is not cuting it for running heatpump. Lots of people grabbed solar scam and grid got loaded with 1MW of solar, operators afe now prohibiting conection of solar. So solar ended up being hopeles here for savings.

[@seanoconnor8843]

Solar panels without a battery for not useless but not far off. Btw. I would have liked to see you build a proper house. A wooden shack construction is only going to end up in a skip in a few years. It is a good feeling to have somewhere you can live in for the rest of your life.

[@notreallydaedalus]

Im always impressed when I hear the arguments people come up with to solve the problem of over-regulation with more regulation.

[@nathanlonghair]

I always get SHOCKED when I hear energy consumption from Americans 😳 Now my villa household is only 2 people, but our ANNUAL consumption is just over 3000 kWh. I don’t have an electric car though, I imagine Matt does - but still.

[@santiagoalmiron9596]

Yes, it is insane. I do not get why they spend so much. In the summer, with the AC turned on most of the day, I spent like 400-450 kwh per month

[@JBoy340a]

First, nice looking setup. I like the metal roof and panels. We end up with a credit at the end of the year, so is that net zero? I mean, financially, it is, but we also have peak and off-peak, and in the summer, we get a nice credit for sending kWs back during the peak rate times. We have a Tesla Solarroof with 2 Powerwalls, Model X and Model 3. We sometimes charge at home, but we often charge at a Supercharger since they are located where we go, like to a Target, bagel shop, etc. Without that charging, our load would increase considerably, and we would not be net zero. But, if we had ICE vehicles, we would never charge at home, so I guess we would be net zero?

[@RubyRoks]

Just a random heads up, your A-roll footage has some really distracting stuttering. It's something i expect you already know, but i appreciate your videos and figured i'd mention it to maintain their quality.

[@UndecidedMF]

Yeah, sorry about that. I'm not exactly sure what happened with this one, but I'm working on making sure it doesn't happen again.

[@ezde711]

So, I was under the impression that a tax credit is the amount of money you can remove from taxable income. So in this case, $16,615 is an amount of money from within your total income that the government wont take taxes from, not a sum of money you receive in your refund check. And since the usual amount of tax for income is like 20% to 30% the amount of money you actually save is between $3,323 and $4,984 which means the actual price tag is still above $50k. accountants please confirm

[@aaronfraser5378]

no, it is a tax credit, not a deduction, so you get the entire 30%.

[@brucemangy]

you should have started by reducing that INDECENT power consumption .. i use 1500 kWh a YEAR ...

[@matejpavelka4153]

the one panel covered with the tree shade will be almost permanently shut down

[@R0WDY]

I installed a 7KW solar system for under $8000 in Australia. 1 out of every 3 houses in Australia have solar systems. I cannot understand how it costs $53K for your system.

[@Petrix155]

Why don't you use solar water heater. Might be interesting doing video on that.

[@eriksoderquist4218]

I often wonder why the target always seems to be "net zero" rather than targeting for some overproduction to account for future growth

[@George-jm4rn]

Cost for installing solar in Indiana is prohibitive. It's not an option if a reasonable payback is desired.

[@timofthomas]

Jealous of those 400W panels lol - ours are ten years old and only 250W panels. We can't change them under the UK micro - gen schemes either without losing a chunk of cash from our existing FIT payments as the older FITs were more generous than the current schemes. I am contemplating additional systems though using the garage roof or our flat roof or both which could see an additional 25+ panels and a battery system, which would enable us to go mostly grid free for significant portions of the year - even in January - when it isn't cloudy in the winter our generating hours are shorter but the efficiency is much higher due to the temps so we frequently match or exceed our summer power generation per hour.

[@ruthberman6488]

I live in central MA and had 36 solar panels installed in 2016 w SREC program. My question is...... it seems that when I sell back excess output to National Grid, I don't get as much value as when I use it directly myself. There are quite a few FEES and charges tacked on so wouldn't it make more sense for me to plug in my electric car while there is full sun, rather than sending extra to the grid and charging my car at night when I have all the added fees for using Electricity from National Grid????

[@billdillard885]

My tile roof is near the end of its useful life… (23 years in Florida). I would prefer to do roof and solar at the same time which is why I was drawn to Tesla…. My first experience however was a disaster. The Tesla PM was in Las Vegas. Had no experience in construction including roofing. Original quote almost doubled for combined install and there all sorts of stories going around regarding poor Tesla performance. I pulled out 18 months ago. Does anyone have recent experience with Tesla that indicates they’ve improved… or is the an alternate for Roof/Solar retrofits with a single party responsible?? I’m a cash buyer… new solar with battery back up will eliminate the requirement for a generator here in Florida.

[@bvsnook]

Have you noticed your IQ8+ micro inverters clipping your 400 watt panels all the way down to 300 watt maximum output? Ours do using Qcells 405 watt panels.

[@douglasburnside]

My home is the opposite of net zero! It is more than 60 years old, masonry construction, single pane windows, no insulation, total electric. I used 11,335 kWh of electricity in the past 365 days. I generated 13,389 kWh. Had I paid the grid provider for those kWh, it would have cost me $4,068. My electric bill is essentially zero because of my solar system. ($1.60 per month to cover the fee for being grid-tied.) I'm sure there is a good reason, but I don't understand why you felt you needed a solar system with twice the capacity of of my 8kW system. Before I installed solar, I studied my electric bill history, and sized my system to be off-grid capable when the apocalypse arrives. My calculations say it will be, but for an extended outage I will need to cut back on power profligacies like the swimming pool pump and garden lighting if I want the batteries to last. Are solar panels worth it? Even on a net zero home I would have to say yes.

[@1782Farm]

Matt, How many vendors submitted quotes (in order to keep your favorite installer honest)?

[@regplate2923]

I just don’t get the whole solar panel gig. What use are they is you spend a huge amount of money and they don’t supply all your electricity needs. I want to run my oven, hob, dishwasher, washer , dryer etc etc. I said this to two suppliers and they looked at me like I was insane. No way they said. One of my friends proudly said it runs their kettle. Now, that’s insane.

[@bigpuffyfluff]

Sounds like you got a notification at 13:38! 😅 great vid.

[@UndecidedMF]

Yep! I forgot to turn off notifications when I recorded. 🤦

[@67comet]

I got solar this summer ($58k also - minus federal tax breaks - Utah gave me $400 - they are so generous). Rocky Mountain Power seems to be pretty shady on their bills. I haven't seen if it's financially beneficial yet.

[@jrob8931]

The main problem here in Indiana is how cheap electricity is. I would love to go solar, but it makes no sense when my cost is .12/Kwh, and I have way more money than time. And NO the answer is not to artificially make electricity expensive so that the poors can't afford it.

[@lloz9665]

Hi Matt. How much was the increase in your house insurance policy and taxes?

[@chlistens7742]

will you hit your goal... well that depends on you somewhat. If you are falling short you might decide to monitor lights more.. or less temperature change in your house (less AC/Heat) and monitoring how much computer usage you do... there are lots of little things to help get you closer or farther away deepening on what you do... do you leave the door open when you bring groceries in the house or how often you chat with people through an open door. Also if you start to drive signifyingly more.. or less it can change your numbers. Do I think you will make it yes... do i think you will make it without any excessive lifestyle changes yes also.. why because you already monitor things so you have a better idea on how things work already and for the most part you know how much energy you will use because you know of all the phantom loads your equipment from your old house has. Phantom loads can be a killer in some places... For instance i recommend a hard switch before phone charger bricks and the like. There are tons of variables that can change everything...even clouds and rain and snow. Another thing that can blow your curve is the number of power outages and what you do when you have one. Or you may have relatives or such come over or you may change your EV's (car wreck or such) so much to predict but Yes I think you will make your goal

[@UndecidedMF]

Great feedback and suggestions! I hope you're right that we'll hit the goal without much effort, but I'm already starting to look for ways to streamline our energy use further. Not because we're behind, but because ... well ... I'm finding it fun to cut out wasted electricity use. 😂

[@flashfader]

I’d like to see a more detailed breakdown of the ROI. Not sure I believe 7 yrs ROI especially when adding expensive batteries. TBH solar doesn’t really make sense to me unless you are doing it yourself.

[@mattcurless5198]

Love that exposed SER

[@jonatamaniuk]

I genuinely wonder if my dream setup could even be achieved. I would want to put together a system that could at least during summer steadily fill up a bank of batteries that could last a full week with regular use, including for recharging an electric vehicle. That way even well into the winter months I would hopefully only minimally use the grid some days or weeks, and would not need to worry much during extended black-outs. My guess would be the energy needs of myself and my partner would likely not exceed 1500KW/month as we both have fairly energy efficient habits, don’t yet have an electric car, and work from home the vast majority of the time. With this said, we would still keep ourselves on the grid, both as a back-up and also to benefit from any potential financial benefits from the power company.

[@AgentOffice]

I'd estimate 100k

[@mrobvious1100]

So many people actually believe that it's dollar-for-dollar with it comes to taxes add tax credit. I used to tell my friends, if you owe, go back and deduct round numbers like 1,000 or 1500 or $2,000 from your adjusted gross and see if you go from owing $2,000 to zero. I can never quite understand people that say I keep owing money so I'm going to give a couple of thousand dollars to charity so I can write it off. It took me almost a year to get my grown kids to stop saying the government gave me x amount of money last year. The government did not give you a damn thing the government returned the extra money they should not have taken from you. They used your money to fund Independence cards illegals and Wars. Try to owe them or at least Break Even every tax year

[@Snerdles]

I tried to go solar in 2021 when I was doing a couple of ther upgrades to my house. I wasn't even planning battery storage yet and even with incentives all of the quotes I was given had payback periods in the 20 year range. Adding in a battery made that change to never. My main problem is that the roof area I have is small so I would need to figure out a way to get more panels, like maybe over my deck, in orde to get the labor to equipment ratio down some. No wonder so few people around my area have it. It sounds great until you change from looking at the marketing material to reality.

[@rickh8380]

The real downside to solar is what do you do with the panels when they no longer work? Can they be recycled or are they just tossed into landfills?

[@marvinrupp114]

In Germany a panel costs about 120€ each at the moment. Here nearly everybody tries to get as much panels in their roofs as are possible (yes i know, our houses are a little smaler) cause each kWh you dont need from the grid is worth 0,40€. I love solar but i see a big need caused by to much energy in summer, of long term storage need which is not a well supported thing here. Hope we get better at this.

[@rpinut]

In the Netherlands it's the same. But how about net metering? Is it possible to cancel out the production and consumption of the energy you supply and receive, just like in the Netherlands? If you go over your consumption with your solarpanels you don't receive any meaningfull money, like €0.06 while if you purchage it form the grid it will cost €0.40

[@marvinrupp114]

@@rpinut if you bring it into the grid you only get 0,08€ each kWh

[@vikkris]

Metal roof could be noisy during rain

[@jingyu447]

Hi Matt, I'm CEO of Fortress Power, will you be interested in reviewing our Avalon wholehome energy storage solution which has built-in load shedding and level 2 EV charger integration?

[@carlodanese9120]

The cost of photovoltaic panels in the US is ridiculously high...good for you anyway!