Do roof solar panels make sense in Seattle/Western WA?

[DJKirkland]

It definitely makes sense here - in fact, the homebuilder I work for in Bellevue will be installing solar panels (and electric car chargers) in all new homes going forward.

[Arcos]

The purely economical question is not just whether it saves you money on your utility bill, it’s how much it saves, how long it takes to get a return on your investment, and what the opportunity cost is (you could have put that same money in the stock market and made 8% per year.

There are some benefits to having a local source of power for blackouts, and some benefits in terms of reduced green house gas emissions. But if it’s purely economics, I’d want to see hard data on whether it is worthwhile, before I’m convinced.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If the object is to have power during black-outs, then a whole house generator is probably cheaper and a lot less ugly. Solar isn't going to give you power during a black-out unless you have a battery system, which is not cheap.


The biggest downside to solar that I can see is the problem of all the collectors on your roof when you need to replace the roof.


For a big plus, if you could run your electric car 100% on electricity collected on your own roof.


As for economical, it takes solar a very long time to pay back the cost of installing it, Pretty close to the life of the system, so I don't think economy is a good reason to get solar.

[freepelican]

If you research what's going on with solar in countries like Germany (which is supposed to have a climate somewhat similar to western Washington), you discover that you don't really need to live in a super sunny place to get to 100% solar powered on most structures. For the record, I'm no expert on this but it is something that solar experts who have traveled the world pointed out to me when I was researching this several years ago.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by pagetrip29

I thought that solar panels were not as useful in western WA due to long cloudy winters but now a days I see many new homes being built with solar panels. I contacted couple of solar companies and they make it sound like its a good investment. I understand that they have to sell their business but I am not sure if it makes practical sense to install solar panels?

My main motivation for installing solar is to save on utility bills. Any one here has personal experience with solar panels in western WA? Is it a good investment?

Thanks.

Financial sense? In an area with a lot of rain and cloud cover, and that it's far enough north that it gets about 8 hours of daylight (and far less when the sun is high enough to make solar cells efficient) in the winter? No. If you want to virtue signal, and don't mind forcing taxpayers to pay for your signal of it, perhaps.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

If the object is to have power during black-outs, then a whole house generator is probably cheaper and a lot less ugly. Solar isn't going to give you power during a black-out unless you have a battery system, which is not cheap.


The biggest downside to solar that I can see is the problem of all the collectors on your roof when you need to replace the roof.


For a big plus, if you could run your electric car 100% on electricity collected on your own roof.


As for economical, it takes solar a very long time to pay back the cost of installing it, Pretty close to the life of the system, so I don't think economy is a good reason to get solar.

Well, unless you're at work during daylight hours....

[mateo45]

WA State is still offering 'incentives' for residential solar (currently $5K for up to 12 kW), in addition to the Federal Income Tax Credit, neither of which is likely to last forever. So if it's something you're seriously considering, and reasonably 'pencils out', then it makes sense to do it now rather than later. And as already noted, offsetting your power bill with 'net metering' is more practical and less 'maintenance intensive' than going totally solar, which would also require the added cost of 'battery backup'. And even the worst case is you might simply need additional panels to offset the loss of 'efficiency'.

Here's a good calculator for estimated costs and savings by system size and county....
Current solar panel costs near you in WA State

[MechAndy]

My Sequim composition roof is aging.
In the next few years I will replace it with a metal roof and a solar system.

I like metal roofs.
They last a long time.
I haven’t seen any with moss growing on them and they are more fire resistant.

We have a solar powered drip system and keep the panels in the shade.
I was leery about that at first but the manufacturer said it would be just fine.
That system has been working great for years so I’m thinking my overcast won’t be that much of an issue.

[pnwguy2]

As others have mentioned, solar panels do work in cloudy weather, just not with the same proficiency. So it comes down to whether it is cost effective. The solar salesperson will probably not give you the best stats on this.

[fnh]

Solar panel use heats up as installation costs fall (article published May 27, 2021)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/reale...fe4_story.html