We have solar panels. They're on the back of our house which is a low ranch. They're visible from the back yard but not too bad. We had a hard time finding a company that would install panels on cedar shakes.

We have solar but not on our roof. All of our power is supplied from 3 solar towers.

We have solar panels on the roof as well. They are very unobtrusive.

We had them on a flat roof in our old house. They heated our pool water.

We have a whole house solar system on our FL house. We got the maximum you could get w/o buying extra liability insurance, which is 10KW in FL. It was one of the best investments we made. Our electric bill was insanely high in FL and it is now extremely inexpensive. We aren't in the house in the summer so don't run the A/C but we do run the pool filter, etc. The monthly bills in the summer when no one was there used to be $280/month but now we only pay $17.50 which is the connection fee to stay connected to the power company... AND we bank about 1,000 - 1,800 KW over the summer that completely covers our electric bill for around 2 - 2 1/2 months when we get down there.

Ours are in the back, on a roof that's kind of behind our lanai cage so you do not see them ever unless you are floating on a raft in the far side of the pool and look up. It worked out very well.

I'm curious about how long it takes to recoup the cost of the solar system. Or do you rent the panels?

Yes we have 5kw on our roof.

My brother just got them and says the estimate is they will be paid for in 8 years. They did get a tax break from their locality so that helps. They live in the Midwest.

Our estimate was for a 9 year payoff. We paid cash for ours and so we got a 2% discount. We also got like a $10K tax credit from the federal government.

jellytoast since our solar was part of a new build, we have no prior electric use with this house to gauge a pay back period. That wasn't a huge consideration for us - kind of like buying a hybrid or electric car, part of the motivation is 'doing the right thing' and stepping into a new dynamic of fuel use. Our system is sized to (hopefully) supply all our power needs with little to no overage (net zero) and so far, 19 months in that's what we're getting. DH engineered and installed our system from components he sourced so we don't have those costs to recoup - and contractor pricing for materials helps as well. Like beagles, we got a tax credit but I don't remember what it was and pay 13.65/month for the privilege of doing business with Duke energy and be connected to the grid. If our use exceeds what we produce during a billing period and we don't have credits banked to cover it, then we'd see that cost on our electric bill - hasn't happened yet. Our credits roll over month to month for a year, (May to May) and any unused credits at that time get washed away so the goal is to have as few as possible at that point. Because our panels are on towers instead of a roof, they are adjusted throughout the year to get full value of the sun as the angle of the rays change. So close to the summer solstice they are almost flat and during winter solstice at their most vertical adjustment. We have a 2400 sq ft single story house with a full unfinished basement. Summers are hot - our AC was on non-stop this year from May into early Oct. Winters aren't brutal like the midwest can be but we certainly see our share of single digit mornings before a warm up into the teens, but average more in the 30's to 40's. New build, well insulated, good windows/doors, efficient appliances, good HVAC etc all contribute to our system being able to cover our needs. On an older house the benefit is still there but it's not as integrated so first make the house as efficient as possible, then do the solar.

DLM, do you have any pictures of the towers? I'm curious.

Glad to see that so many here have gone solar. We will be buying the panels vs. renting and the expected payback period is 5-7 years. We are still weighing bid options, hoping to get it done this year for the tax credits.

writersblock here's a pic at dusk looking up from our creek - not the best but you can get an idea. By the position of the panels I'm guessing this was May-ish.

Oh, I see, thanks. I was thinking of some kind of square tower with lots of panels rather than just individually mounted ones. Yes, there's a big hydroponic greenhouse up in the middle of the state that has one of those--very cool.

Beagles, I'm in TN and while we don't get as hot/humid as Florida, we are probably close. I'm curious how you don't run AC in the summer? Meaning how do you not have problems with humidity inside the house? We have a rental house and when we don't have renters in the warm weather, we still have the AC set at a lower rate so it will come on if needed. Just curious.

We've never had any issues and we've never run the A/C in the summer when we aren't there. What would the humidity do exactly?

The only thing we used to have a problem w/ is batteries because they get too hot. So, we just have to remember to take the batteries out of the remotes before we go and that we'll need new batteries when we get down there.

Tinam, look into getting a humidstat. You set the humidity level and the A/C only comes on when it must to lower the humidity.