Overheard a neighbor say his solar panels paid for themselves in 4 years

I was out watering my tomatoes last Tuesday and my neighbor Dave was on the phone with his brother. He said his 6 kW system from 2020 is already generating free power after 4 years. He lives three houses down and gets way more sun than me though. My roof faces east so I'm wondering if the payoff time would be way longer. Anybody else with a less ideal roof angle go solar and regret it or still think it was worth it?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_davis901mo ago

Man I feel you on the east facing roof thing. My panels look at the sunrise like they're waiting for a bus that's always late. Dave probably gets to brag about his free power while the rest of us are just paying for some extra morning shade.

lilyo301mo ago

Aw man, that bus thing is too perfect. It really does feel like you're just waiting and hoping while all the south-facing folks are already living the dream. My buddy Mike put panels on his east roof like three years ago and he still texts me complaining about how his system barely wakes up before noon in the winter. He's got this whole spreadsheet tracking the hours of direct sun and it's depressing to look at honestly. Last month he finally caved and bought a battery just so he could save up what little power he gets in the morning for the afternoon.