We’ll soon celebrate the 10th anniversary of our solar electric system. Did our decade-old solar arraays investment save money?
The short answer is YES!
Here’s the back story.
Our system is small with only nine panels on the barn’s roof. When we had it installed our intention wasn’t to produce all of our electricity. It was to tame the sting of high utility bills and produce as much electricity from the sun as possible.
Men installing panels.
Our system was built by the Enphase Company and installed by SiteGen, a part of Paulson Electric. At the time it cost us about $9,000. We received about half of that back on our federal and state income taxes, so our net cost was around $4500.
We are “net metered” with Alliant Energy. This means that electricity moves back and forth through our meter. When we produce more than we use, the excess goes out to provide electricity to other users. When we need more than we produce electricity comes in from the grid. At the end of the month, we pay Alliant the “net”.
When we travel and our electric use is low, we push power outward, but most of the time we use more than we produce. We get a monthly bill from Alliant but it’s always lower than if we didn’t have solar.
Was Our System a Good Investment?
Every month we get a report from our Enphase system through a phone app and an Alliant bill. Monthly production varies based on how much solar energy strikes our panels. Long clear summer days boost production, while clouds and short winter days reduce it.
Overall, we calculate our system averages about $60 worth of electricity a month. In a decade we’ve made about $7200 worth of electricity at a net investment cost of $4500. That’s a good return. Lacking tax credits, it would have taken us another few years to break even.
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- Impressive graph
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- Production
How Long Do Solar Panels Last?
Solar electric companies project the lifespan of panels at 25 years. So, for many years we will enjoy cost reductions on our electric bill. As electric rates rise the value of our investment in solar becomes ever more valuable.
The Indian Creek Nature Center installed solar on its Sunroom 23 years ago. Despite its age the system produced 3055 kilowatt hours of electricity in 2024, its year of best production. There is no sign of degradation in production due to age,” said John Myers, the Center’s executive director.
Here are things we’ve learned from our system:
- Our only maintenance is to use a roof rake to remove snow. Panels make no noise and have survived severe storms intact.
- Annual electric production is a bell curve with its peak during the summer’s longest days and the lowest during midwinter.
- Shade has a major impact. Even one puffy cloud on a clear day causes production to briefly drop as its shadow crosses our panels.
- A big oak tree on our property, immediately east of the panels, got first dibs on sunlight. The tree shaded the panels in the morning. After we removed the old declining tree in early 2025 our morning electricity production jumped upward.
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- Low maintenance.
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- Full sunlight
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Society Going Backwards
The Trump administration and your representatives eliminated tax credits in the latest budget. Next year, credits will no longer be available to help homeowners reduce their electric bills.
Goinig Forwards
Back to the main question: Is investing in solar energy worth it today? Yup.
The payback time is longer but newer panels are more efficient than our decade-old ones and they’ve dropped in price.
We’d do it again, even without the credits.
Want to install solar?
Local companies skilled in setting up systems are found nearly everywhere today. A quick Internet search should yield several companies close to home. For general information check energy.gov solar. We’ve been happy with our Enphase system. Information is at enphase.com.
