Everything You Need to Know About Going Solar at Home
Last Updated: Feb 23, 2025Your neighbor just installed a row of gleaming solar panels. You hear radio ads for solar energy. Your favorite politicians speak of the promise of renewables. All indications are that solar energy is now affordable for most residential installations. Are you next? I recently took the plunge with my garage to remodel, so from my experience, I thought I’d share some suggestions on how to start down the solar path and select a solar installer.
Before you start, it’s best to get a residential energy audit completed before getting solar bids since you may be able to identify several low-cost retrofits (like switching to LED bulbs) that can reduce your electrical use. You may then reduce the solar array size (and the project cost) to meet your electrical needs. Rise is an excellent resource for tips on making your home more energy-efficient.
Table of Contents
- 5 Key Considerations to Getting Started
- Where Should I Put Solar Panels on My House?
- 7 Questions to Ask Installers
- Taking the Plunge!
5 Key Considerations to Getting Started
Motivation
Before you start searching for solar installers, you should ask yourself a few questions, not the least of which is "why do you want to have solar panels?" Most of us fall somewhere along the spectrum between "to reduce my carbon footprint" and "to save money." It's possible to meet both goals, and you should go into your project keenly aware of the extent to which you'd like to do either.
Some homeowners have another goal: to get their homes "off the grid," meaning all the power they need will be supplied by the sun, and they do not have to depend on (or do not have access to) electrical power lines provided by a utility. This will mean having batteries to store electricity for use when the sun is not shining. There are many more considerations; this article addresses "grid-tied" solar panel systems, which are more common.
Budget
Do you have a total cost in mind? And what is a reasonable payback period—that is, the number of years in which your electrical cost savings exceed the project's cost? How much money can you afford to pay for the project, and would you be open to financing the project? Many installers have financing plans.
Solar panels themselves are relatively inexpensive, but the installation of the panels, your inverter, emergency shut-offs, production, and bidirectional meters is labor-intensive and required for all projects, no matter the size. So, there are significant economies of scale with solar projects. As you add more panels, the cost per installed watt decreases.
There are also some considerations to make your home solar-ready, which you might want to chip away at over time to limit the size of the one-time investment. Remember that the more energy-efficient your home, the less you can expect to pay for a solar system to power it.
Where Should I Put Solar Panels on My House?
Think of where solar panels would fit on your home and how they would function. Do you have a flat or south-facing roof? Are there any extruding items on the roof (vents, chimneys, etc.) that would prevent installing panels? Are there objects on the south side of your home that provide shade for your panels? For instance, a neighbor’s roof or a tree may block the sun while the sun is low on the horizon in winter, while a utility pole partially shades the panels in summer. Significant shade on solar panels will dramatically affect their performance. If necessary, a firm may use an instrument to determine your site’s solar potential more precisely.
Life of your roof
If the most logical place is on the roof, consider when you last replaced roofing material on the area where you intend to place panels. Suppose you have to replace your roof shingles over the solar panels' expected lifespan (about 25 years). In that case, you will need to remove your panels before re-roofing and then re-install them at considerable expense. The ideal scenario is that you've re-roofed within the last five years, so your panels and roofing material simultaneously mature/degrade.
Your electricity usage
Every installer will need to see at least one full year of electric utility bills to determine your overall energy usage. They should then provide options for the number of solar panels that can fit on your home, with a corresponding percentage of your electricity that the panels will provide. Do you have enough space to cover 100 percent of your electricity? Google’s Project Sunroof is a good resource for comparison purposes, but it will not be exact.
The rate a utility reimburses you for excess solar power is known as net metering. Depending on the state you live in and the rules, it usually doesn’t make sense to install solar panels in which your total annual generation of kilowatt-hours exceeds what your house uses. Be sure to include the electricity needed for an electric vehicle if you have one or plan to have one. Ask your installer about this.
Speaking of what to ask your installer, now that you’ve done your front-end homework, you’re ready to start asking for bids on installing solar at your home. A simple Internet search should point you to several reputable firms. I suggest lining up at least three site visits and asking your installer these key baseline questions:
