Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The first time I installed solar panels on my roof was almost a decade ago. I have since moved and installed them in my new home as well. At this point, I’m already familiar with installing panels and what it’s like to use them. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way.
The Angle and Direction of Your Roof Matter More Than You Think
Solar panels want to face south
When we installed solar panels on our new house, we purchased a system that was a little less than twice the size of our first one, but ended up producing almost two and a half times as much energy. This difference was not due to our installer secretly installing a larger system or the result of defects. The orientation of solar panels simply matters more than you think.
A south-facing roof with an unobstructed view of the sky is most ideal, but my previous house actually faced southwest.
Meanwhile, the back of my new house faces south. Very little shade falls on our roof, so aside from cloud cover, the solar panels just bake all day long.
Many panels are needed to completely replace your energy consumption
Prepare for a large initial investment
When I tell people we have solar panels, the first thing they want to know is if we still have an electric bill. Until now my answer has always been yes. Modern American homes consume a lot of energy, especially due to our central air conditioning and electric water heaters. Offsetting all that with solar energy requires a large investment.
That’s why, for our second home, we installed two separate solar panels. The first one was built when our house was built. Since this was new construction, we had no energy usage history to provide to the installer. We calculated our needs and then figured we would come back when we were ready to expand our system and close the gap. Our first set consists of 28 solar panels, each capable of producing 400 watts, which adds up to an 11.2 kW system.
Since then, we have purchased 16 more panels that provide an additional 7 kW of power, based on our energy usage during the first year of owning the home. As a result, we now have over 40 panels on our roof. Hopefully the two solar panels will offset our entire electric bill, but due to the nature of how net metering works, we won’t know for sure for another year.
Net metering rules make a difference
Whether your electric company credits you for energy depends on where you live.
We live in a net metering state, so each month the power company measures how much energy we draw from the grid, compares it to how much energy we send to the grid, and then charges us the difference. If we take out 1,400kWh and return 1,000kWh, then they charge us 400kWh. If we send more than we receive, then they assign that credit to future invoices.
Let’s imagine that our house uses an average of 2,200kWh of energy each month, adding up to a total of 26,000kWh each year. As long as our solar panels produce 26,000 kWh of energy each year, we will break even and our bill will disappear. The company simply charges us the connection fee and taxes.
Here you can view in the Enphase Enlighten app how our house produced 15,000 kWh of energy in 2024 and 2025. Our second set didn’t come online until the end of 2025, so the 2025 figure is slightly higher.
Calculations vary by location, as some electric companies are not required to credit you for the same amount of energy as long as they charge you for the energy produced. I am lucky to live in a state (Virginia) and work with a power company (Dominion Power) that respects a full 1:1 ratio. Some states and power companies don’t offer any net metering options, meaning you now have to rely on batteries if you want to fully offset your electricity cost, greatly increasing your upfront cost.
Solar energy is one of the best financial investments you can make
Money saved is money earned
Solar panels have an intimidating starting price, but the thing is, you’re going to spend that money either way. You either pay to use the energy that someone else produces or you pay for the infrastructure to produce that energy yourself.
A house our size, with two electric cars, can easily leave us with electricity bills of over $400 a month, adding up to over $5,000 a year. We paid about $50,000 for our solar panels (and received about a third of that amount in tax credits). It’s a big number, but it pays for itself in less than 10 years, especially considering we used to spend a comparable amount on gasoline each month before switching to electric vehicles. And these calculations don’t even take into account that energy costs are constantly increasing!
My wife and I are only 30 years old. That’s many decades of life, hopefully, without the cost of energy and transportation looming over our heads.
Pay for solar panels like you would for a car
Don’t lease or rent – buy them outright
I recommend paying for solar the same way you pay for a car. You either make the entire purchase in cash or get a loan.
During the period when you are paying off a loan to purchase panels, you may be paying more per month than before. This is because your loan payment may be more than the amount you are saving on utilities. But unlike a car, solar panels ultimately make money in the long term and last for decades. Eventually you get to the point where the loan is paid off and then you are left with no loan payment, no electric bill and, if combined with electric vehicles, What equals free gas?.
Without battery, your panels go down with the network
For most of us with solar panels, power outages are still a problem
The panels need to send electricity somewhere, and any power that doesn’t reach your home goes to the grid. When the power goes out, your house is still left without electricity. It would not be safe to send electricity along power lines that someone is actively working on.
We haven’t added batteries to our solar panel yet as they only pay for themselves if you live in an area where net metering is not an option. To us, batteries are simply an additional cost, like a home backup generator. For the moment, we have opted for cheaper large portable power stations instead. In this way, still weather power outages only on battery power and solar power.
My wife and I have spent most of the last decade gradually transitioning to solar energy and electric cars, and that investment has paid off. We’re not stressed in the winter while running our 5-ton HVAC system, nor do we need to factor in the cost of gas to take a spontaneous day trip. Getting those loans was a daunting prospect at first, but it feels great to be on the other side where energy is abundant and free.
