Is It Worth Building Your Own Solar Panels

So i saved a large portion by building my own solar system since a commercial solar panel would have cost 400 on up for just the solar panel itself.

Is it worth building your own solar panels. Factors like electricity rates solar panel system cost and financing method all play into how worth it solar will be for you. That means homeowners but not renters can subtract the credit from the federal income taxes they owe in effect reducing the price of their solar purchase by nearly one third. With a solar payback period of between 4 10 years this represents a simple investment return of between 10 25. If you live in an area with high energy rates and a suitable solar rating and can afford the initial investment it s worth installing solar panels in your home while the 26 tax break is in place.

Buying solar panels requires an investment and more decision making than leasing but over the long term the benefits of owning your system are hard to beat. Yes you may have heard of solyndra collapsing and may have even thought at least once in your lifetime how it would be like having your own solar panels mounted in your backyard or on your home s rooftop. The first line of defense against paying more for electricity than you did last year is building your own solar panel system. Most of the claims made by these websites are either false or misleading.

Here is a more detailed discussion on whether solar panels are worth it. This is a significantly better return than the long term average returns for both shares or property. Given that the wholesale cost of solar panels are now often below 1 00 per watt it is just now economic to build your own solar panels. Overall the project was a fun experience and the total amount of money that i spent was around 400 500 which includes the battery charge controller and deep cycle battery.

One of the biggest advantages of installing residential solar panels is a 30 federal tax credit on the total cost of a system. There have been many claims made from certain web sites that say it is possible to build your own solar panels and run your entire house from solar panels for an outlay of 200 or less sell excess power back to the utility grid and even generate an income from solar. Of that amount design and installation labor costs contribute about ten percent of the total bill this ten percent is what homemade solar panels will save you in essence since you ll still have to buy the equipment yourself.