Residential Solar Panels
How expensive and cost prohibitive are Solar Panels for residential construction?
If it’s new construction, the panels are easily absorbed into the cost of the house, and would barely be noticeable. What’s another $15,000 for solar electric when the house is $300,000 or more? That’s less than the commission paid for selling it. If it’s just Solar Hot Water, the price tag could only be $2000 – $4000.
Also, solar adds value to the home, so it’s possible that they will pay for themselves when you sell. With home prices fluctuating so much, though, it would be hard to tell for sure what the effect of having solar was. In general, the guide is to take the annual energy savings, and multiply it by 20 to get the increase in the value of the house. So if the panels can save $1000 a year, theoretically the house could sell for $20,000 more than it otherwise would.
Prices are softening, may be dropping soon. Someone in your neighborhood got a fantastic deal – $5 a watt, including professional installation. I don’t know if this is a one-time thing, or a trend. We were quoted about double that just 2 years ago.