this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2025
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Do you think rooftop solar will get cheaper after the tax break is gone? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) by wetbeardhairs@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net
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I just had another solar installer come by. Like usual, they refused to show me a fucking itemized bill of the total install cost. The math they presented was utter horseshit. But when I read between the lines, I was able to come out with a $3.50/W installed price (6KW system for ~$21k) and that let me do some calculations. In their idealized, guaranteed, projections the system would pay for itself after 7 or so years. Not the worst, tbh.

Anyways I think $3.50/W installed is... high. The panels are now bought in bulk for less than $0.3/W. Of course there's the interconnection, inverters, wiring, panel mounts and brackets, labor, and profit.

But on my home with a projected 6KW system that comes to $1.8k in panels leaving $20k for the rest. I've got a feeling that will come down by necessity once the tax credit goes away.

Does anyone work for an installer? Where is all of that money going?

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[–] Thorry@feddit.org 5 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Looked up the invoice for you (rounded the numbers for simplicity):

Panels (8x) including micro inverters, all of the mounting hardware, cables etc. - $2500 Hardware for upgrading the electrical panel - $400 Labour, various items, delivery costs - $600

IIRC it was 3 dudes for about half a day. Two dudes for the panels and an electrician that checked what the panel dudes did on the roof and upgraded my electrical panel.

I felt like it was a pretty good deal. Panels could have been cheaper, but I wanted the full black ones. And a single inverter would have been cheaper than micro inverters, but the panels are partly shaded a lot of the time due to a tree. Calculations I did showed the extra price of the micro inverters would be worth it to get the most out of the panels.