Are solar panels worth it in 2024?

What’s your dream solar setup? The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/undecided If you liked this, check out 5 Years with Solar Panels - Is It Still Worth It? https://youtu.be/hxj8mNzv8PI?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi7FwYRnWkpCSkAeFOzrgh5h Get my achieve energy security with solar guide: link.undecidedmf.com/solar-guide

We’ve now lived in our newly built efficient house in MA for 2 years. It’s 3000 sf with a garage connected by a breezeway. Many of our choices were similar to Matt’s: metal roof, 15 kW solar with Enphase microinverters, all electric appliances including convection cooktop and heat pump water heater and clothes drier. We’re grid-tied with a propane backup generator. No batteries yet. Our house has a simple barn-like design (2 stories) so all the panels are on the south-facing roof. Cooling the house to 77 in summer and heating to 70 in winter, we ended up more net-positive than expected. That includes charging an EV. Lifetime numbers are 53.6 MWh produced and 8.7 MWh imported from the utility. We have consumed 14.6 MWh and net exported 39.0 MWh. So we overshot by quite a bit, but we wanted to cover the entire south-facing roof with panels for esthetics. At least we’ll be covered for panel degradation over time, for a second EV in future, and for the likelihood that we’ll want to be even warmer in winter as we age. We’ll probably get batteries in ~8 years when the SMART incentive program expires. That program pays us monthly for exported power. Last year that added up to $3000, though it is subject to tax. By the time we’re ready to add batteries, I anticipate that cost will come down and performance might improve a bit over today’s offerings.

So happy for you and your wife getting all moved in! I know what a great feeling it is to be in your forever home. As always thank you for all the great information presented in a easy to understand method.

I love to see your installation and hear from your learnings. Next week I will expand my actual solar carport by installing a solar fence adding another 7,5 kWp.

Thank you for doing so much for the environment and then make great videos about it! You inspire!

I think you'll achieve your net 0 goal based on how well researched your amazing videos always are. I certainly am hoping that you do anyways, as you're more than deserving of achieving what you want with how much you've given to me and so many others who watch your videos in terms of valuable information and inspiration for what the future can look like. I look forward to your update video(s) to find out the results you ultimately achieve. Thank you for all the great information and resources you provide.

Thanks Matt. I purchased my place in central california with a PPE solar solution a couple years ago and one of the first things i did was install a Sense monitor at the junction box. My stats for J-D 2022 were pretty close to yours. My system generated 16.7MWh of energy and we consumed 14.7 MWh of energy with a 34% independence from the grid. Your design looks very well thought out. Nice job.

Very Informative Matt. Thank-you 😊.

Awesome video as always. Giving me so many ideas for my next home! Totally agree, states should step in and regular solar standards NOT TOWNS. I only found out about different town regulations after I had my solar installed, and then my parents had theirs installed. Congratulations on the new home, it looks beautiful!

Literally approved my solar proposal today. We over-sized our system a bit (32 x 410w panels for 129% of our estimated usage) to accommodate EV charging (which was not reflected on current electric bills since we just got the vehicle) as well as our intent to change out our AC+Gas setup for a heat pump in the coming years. I do have some lingering worries that maybe I’ve guessed wrong on my estimates, but we’ll see. My house was built in 2005, and while it’s not as drafty as older homes, it’s also not super energy efficient. My wife and I don’t see this as our forever home, but we still enjoy the thought of reducing our carbon footprint, reducing our utility bills, and increasing our resell value. I love these videos as a great way to consider other factors in our project that we may not have foreseen.

Great video. Glad you touched on battery solutions. I think it's going to be the next growth phase for residential solar owners.

This series is very helpful for planning my net zero project in Alaska.

Looks great. Congratulations! 🎉

Love keeping tabs on your progress. I hope you do end up meeting your goals, you've put too much work and thought into things not to.

Matt, Your original solar video was a big reason why i ended up deciding to have a solar array installed at my new house. Here in Idaho, power is fairly cheap as there's a lot of hydro-electric, but my new house has no natural gas and is purely just electric. We went with a 18kw-dc and 15kw-ac system that is sized to do 120% of my last years power usage, as the panels degrade over their lifespan, roughly 20 years.... as I'm sure you know, my system will still be able to produce more than my annual usage. I'm also set up on a net metering program as well as have a metal roof somit made alot of sense. So far I'm loving it!

Thank you Matt. 😎

Thank you and good morning!

I don't understand why you used IQ8+ (299W) and not IQ8H (380W) for 400W panels. At the peak of the day when your panels output 400W, these inverters are operating at 75% efficiency. I replaced my IQ8+ with Hoymiles HMS-2000-4T-NA (475W) on my 400W panels and every week I see peak output from my panels exceeding 400W. I have data where they output over 500W!!! Clipping is horribly inefficient. I use the Hoymiles micros with my Enphase battery and they work well together.

Thank you for the information.

Metal roof is a must for forever homes !