To solar or not to solar ???

By David Tisue The Surveyor

Solar can be a great alternative to electricity. Here in Colorado, we get plenty of sun. in fact, along the Front Range, we get around 300 glorious days of sunshine every year. Harnessing some of those beautiful rays to help pay your energy costs can be a tempting concept. Not to mention the idea of creating less pollution and being kind to mother earth, solar is a worthy option for your power usage. In Colorado alone, the solar industry has created more than 6,700 jobs, with that number growing exponentially as the popularity of going solar increases. Currently, the Centennial State ranks 14th in the USA, so there is plenty of room to grow, especially in residential solar installations. In addition, new legislation to encourage more people to install solar on their roofs was signed into law in 2022. Among its provisions is a 30% tax credit that could spur more Americans to “go solar” over the next several years. So, what is involved in installing solar on your roof?

Going solar can help you save at least 80% on your electricity bills. Although the initial investment may seem exorbitantly high, installations can cost anywhere from $16,000 to over $60,000, depending on the project size. There has been a 43 drop in solar cost over the past five years, and the 80% drop in the last ten years has made home solar power cheaper than ever. With the amount of sunshine Colorado gets, the payback time can be as short as nine years, and the out-of-pocket cost does not include state and federal solar incentives, which can bring down the total solar cost by nearly a third.

Researching solar can be a daunting prospect. There is a ton of information and misinformation out there, not to mention those pesky doorto-door solar salespeople who won’t stop knocking at our doors. Seriously, they just need to stop. It’s driving my dog crazy, who always thinks someone is coming to visit her and gets so disappointed when it is, yet again, another solar person. Even when you actually do reach out with questions, they want to hard sell you. Personally, a hard sell makes me want to run for the hills. I just never trust their motivations. That being said, I have wanted solar since I moved into my new home in Berthoud.

I had a great conversation with Namaste Solar, based out of Boulder. They walked me through a typical installation and cost analysis. There is a 3–4-month lead time, typically taking 1-2 days for the installation. Namaste does all their own installations, making them all in-house. When solar panels are installed, there is no damage to the existing roof. It costs around $5,000 to remove panels when replacing a roof. So, having a roof in good shape, to begin with, is key. Modern solar panels have modern inverters so that if any one area of a panel fails, the rest of the system continues to function. It typically takes about 12 years for the panels to pay for themselves, though, with the cost of energy skyrocketing, that may be sooner.

Then there are the batteries, which most solar panels can be hooked up to, a whole system ideal for going completely off grid. However, batteries can be very expensive, and with supply issues still ongoing hard to come by. Technology is also changing so rapidly that today’s batteries will be obsolete in 3-5 years, making a battery wall a hard choice at the moment.

What if you don’t like the look of solar panels on your roof? Well, there are also solar shingles that look just like regular shingles and can catch those beautiful rays without the look of panels. These shingles work similarly to solar panels. Though the shingles are slightly less efficient than panels, they both convert the sun’s rays to electricity. The shingles can be installed on a larger surface area negating the difference. Solar shingles are about the same size as traditional roofing shingles, weighing about 13 pounds per square foot. The thin tiles are less than an inch thick and it takes about 350 tiles to complete a typical solar roof installation. They look remarkably similar to regular roofing shingles and are becoming a popular alternative.

Both solar panels and shingles are rated to withstand golf ball-sized hail, and panels and shingles are rated to last about twenty years. Over that time, they will more than pay for the installation cost. With the sharp rise in the cost of electricity, many people now see huge savings. My neighbors, who had their panels installed three years ago, now see power bills that are remarkably lower than everyone else in the neighborhood. Including payments for the installation, they are still way ahead of the rest of us with their power bills. Their bills are relatively the same year after year. That alone makes solar a tempting prospect. There are many solar installers out there. I encourage you to do your own research and choose what is best for you.

Namaste Solar can be reached at Namastesolar.com.