My uncle told me solar panels were a waste of money back in 2018

He said they'd never pay for themselves in our cloudy city. I went ahead and installed a 6kW system anyway on my house in Portland. After 6 years my panel output is still strong and I've saved around $4,200 on electric bills. He finally admitted I was right last month when his own power bill hit $300. Has anyone else had family give bad climate advice that you ignored?

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan89821d ago

Honestly I think you got lucky and most people wouldn't see the same results. Portland gets way less sun than people realize and a 6kW system there probably only generates like 4,000 kWh per year tops. Your $4,200 savings over 6 years works out to about $700 a year which sounds decent but you probably paid $15k plus for that system after installation costs. You're still in the red on this thing and won't break even for another decade if the panels last that long. Plus those savings only look good because Oregon has high electricity rates, but if rates drop or your inverter fails you could be looking at a big repair bill. Your uncle might have been wrong about the exact numbers but his basic point that solar is a risky gamble in a cloudy climate was actually pretty smart.

faith_carter21d ago

My buddy Mark put solar on his house in Seattle back in 2017 and his dad told him he was throwing money away. Mark's dad kept sending him articles about how solar was a scam in the Pacific Northwest. Fast forward to last winter, Mark's dad's furnace died and he had to drop $8k on a new one plus his electric bill was through the roof. Mark just sent him a picture of his zero dollar electric bill and his dad finally shut up about it. The funny part is Mark's dad now wants him to come over and help figure out if solar would work for his house. Sometimes you just gotta ignore the older generation and do your own research.

diana_black21d ago

Guess my grandma was right, I really do live in a place where even the sun forgets to show up.