What solar panel should I get?

Use $45000 to install solar panel for Microfit program in ontario and get the return need 10yrs base on 20yrs contract?

  • I get some quote from 2 companies to install the solar panel and sell the energy back to them $0.54, it is lower than last year $0.8, therefore it will take 10yrs to get the return of $45000, then the other 10yrs that I can get about 200-400/month. average about 8% return, I will live in this house for 10yrs, but hard to say for 20 yrs. is that make sense to spend this much money and after 10yrs,if I sell & move out I cannot get the money any more.

  • Answer:

    If money is your primary motive and you don't plan on living there for more than 10 years, then no, it doesn't make sense. Your $45,000 can go into another investment vehicle and actually earn a profit.

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They generally have to use vodoo economics to make those solar deals work out at all. A solar panel has to at least make back every year the interest cost.  This is because you make the investment up front, and have to pay the solar company up front, but the return only trickles in over time.   So if you are paying 5% interest on the money, that $1000 panel has to make at least $50 in electricity just to barely pay the interest.  In the real world you'd like it to also pay for maintenance, repairs, and pay down the principal.    And to be really honest, you'd have to include the full burdened cost, without including the govt subsidies.  After all, that is not free  money, you're just paying it back in taxes and don't realize it's a cost of solar power.   You also need to think about opportunity cost.   If you tie up $45,000 in solar power, that's $45,000 that isn't making you any money being lent out or invested in some other way. If you do the math in this realistic way,  there is no solar panel that even comes close to break-even.  Solar prices have to drop by a factor of 4 or so, or the cost of  electricity has to rise by the same factor.  That will probably take at least 15 years before the first solar panel makes a single net cent.

George Gonzalez

HI There... Your best option is to use a lease to buy arrangement - this way if you sell your home in 2,3,5 years- you don't loose any money on purchasing the system, as the lease to own transfers to the next owner. Kinda hard to explain here - but if your actually interested send me an email and I'll tell you how it works. mike(AT)joinrendezvous(DOT)com

Mike Brunet

Well primary motive is to support solar program and also I want to find some investment that is always 8%-10% return on investment is not that easy, if someone can suggest me something that is almost no risk and keep getting 8% return then I will forget about this solar panels. otherwise this solar system is a win win. And that might be the main reason I want to see what other think of this idea, and more objective view to make the final decision.

David Wong

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