What do you mean by "solar"?

Solar panels? Can’t imagine a reason why not! The next new thing though is solar roof shakes or shingles - I read about that a few months ago but cannot recall details. Adding solar will soon be a new build requirement &I bet it’s put in place in CA first!

​This is absolutely what I'd do if I was doing a new build. I'd also at least have the pre-wiring in place for a future electric car charger, as an option.

Several friends and coworkers have added solar panels, a Tesla roof, and/or electric car charging in the past few years. The ones doing new-builds who were currently driving ICE vehicles still went ahead with pre-wiring for a future electric charging station since it'll save hassle and money when they want it in the near future.

Friends who've had solar panels have had good experiences. The ones who had the Tesla roof installed said the price did increase a lot recently and they were on a huge wait-list before it was finally installed.

Depending on where you live & frequency of power outages, might think about adding generator like the Generac that are wired into house & power up automatically.

You might consider a standing seam metal roof. It's easy for the solar installer to clip the panels to the standing seams without penetrating the roof, and it's long-lived, although more expensive.

Is your house designed to support electric solar collectors at the optimum position?

It's generally a good idea, but you need to have a technical assessment done that will look at your location, your solar exposure, and the best orientation for the roof to maximize solar output (obviously something that should be figured out before you begin to build). And you will want to know the economics, the payback period, and what your utility's policies are about tying you in to the grid. And I suggest that you get such an analysis from an independent consultant, or the power company as they will not have a vested interest in giving you optimistic projections to help sell you equipment.

All good advice given. It is helpful but not mandatory to do at build time. I have done it both ways - both at the time and a few years later. If done at the time, you make wiring easier and can optimize location of things. But it isn't a struggle either way. It is a bit like doing a pool at the time of house construction without the landscaping and mess issues. Solar install is like 3 days so it isn't that bad either way.

Advantage for new or newer house is that roof is new. Also, less likely to have overhanging trees with a new house.

Planning the house to use less electricity is probably a more important "new house" thing because retrofitting is very difficult. So that should be the bigger priority I think.

Batteries are not a good payback issue in the majority of cases. It does help with power outages though. I do think the car as battery backup makes a whole lot of sense. Depending on where you live, you could go drive somewhere and charge the battery if you had a long power outage. Try doing that with standard solar battery backup...

Tesla currently doesn't allow that kind of backup but I think Ford (and others) are planning on it.

We had the conduit for solar panels roughed in for our new home but will install them at a later time. We also had electric installed in our garage for future charging station. We aren’t ready to invest in these things now but this way it’ll be much easier in the future. Good luck!

Relevant question: does using an electric truck as an emergency power source require a transfer switch, like a generator does? Ford never mentions that in their F150 Lightning ads.

I believe it would require a transfer switch. You basically need one any time you are switching from one power source (line) to another (panels). There may be ways to wire everything through an inverter and avoid the transfer switch, but why?

David, being able to take our ”house” batteries alsewhere to charge is a huge advantage over say a Tesla wall system. Ford is marketing their new Lightening truck in part as a battery solution.

Strong depending where you are located. In our case we installed a 4.4KW array on our barn and another one on the ground. During the winter because of snow the array on the barn is dead. So if your area is getting a lot of snow I strongly recommend to not install it on the roof.

Floyd- Do you mean your roof array is out of action since it has snow on it, or do you mean the snow has permanently damaged it?.

kudzu9: the panels are okay but covered in snow so no producing power at all. Unfortunately I can't clean them.

Floyd-

Thanks for the clarification. It's an issue I hadn't thought about before in considering panel installation.

Floyd, how steep is your roof? Mine is 45° and the snow just slides off.

We have a 4KW PV system in snow country. The loss of production due to snow is minor. With winter comes lots of clouds and short days so the production is down anyway. Our panels are on a garage with a 12/12 metal roof, so snow slides off whenever it warms up just a little. Yes, do it.

mtvhike: our barn has 6/12 pitch roof which is 26.5deg. and because of cold weather/wind, the snow is frozen all the time and builds up, so no a change of sliding. Also, partial coverage of the PV will result in dramatic loss in efficiency. We are planning to move the array on the ground in the summer, so as I said, based on our experience, the recommendation is to install it on the ground if you have estate. Also, the array which we have already on the ground is installed on the adjustable rack where I can change the angle depending the season for maximum efficiency. See some pictures here: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/new-ground-rack-install-2x-6pv.29916/

@Northernaz

You should incorporate the solar PV in the planning stages of the house even if you install it later.

Roof orientation, framing, electrical, etc. all should be optimized for future PV installation. Don't tack it on after the fact.

Consider ground installation or outbuilding installation if orienting the main roof isn't a thing.

I agree with the generator option if you really want backup - batteries aren't a good value right now.

Plan on using a hybrid electric water heater. Standard resistance water heater doesn't play well with PV. The cheapest kilowatt hour is still the one that you don't use.

Wire the garage for electric vehicle.

Are roof panels your only option? Do you have space for towers?

Here is a picture of my barn. In our case the snow is not melting or sliding off so easy. Even on a sunny days the snow will stay there for days. Maybe is not applicable to your situation but good to consider when you take the decision:

If you are not sure now but think you may change your mind later, you can get the builder to install a 3-4 in pvc pipe from the attic to your utility room. Then if/when you install solar you will have an easy path for the wiring.

You have to get a trustworthy solar guy who will analyze what you really need for your home. We had ours done in our previous home. He had a program that showed the sun shade areas of our roof. Solar panels do not work optimally if there is any shade hitting them, its a waste. we had a very efficient layout and he didnt promise to make our bills zero, he was honest about our limitations. Our bills were less than $200 in NY we had a large home and large pool. Our neighbor on the other hand, had them plastered everywhere they could find on the roof, yes even in shady areas. Find an honest solar company. Fast foward to our new build in sunny Florida. We had a consult and because of the price of the panels, the current utility prices and the roof restrictions it wasnt going to pay back the investment soon enough. Our first set of panels had a great rebate, now they are so exoensive. Also leasing is not a good idea for resale. Ours were paid for and they were an asset for our home. Also consider what it will cost for a new roof and factor in removal and replacement . There is so much to think about before you do this and its great to read so many experiences.

You can go solar anytime but at the build phase is better IMO Yes to the plug for the electric car but as for pwer outages IMO a genrator hooked into your system so the power is on even if you are not home. I use solar to heat our pool it saves a ton of money and easy to install and free heat. We have friends with lots of solor and they seel back the excess to the electric company but where we live that is not an option so for us not a vaible solution since a good solar system can generate lots of excess that would be a good way to get back some of the installation cost. The biggest issue is where you live where the panels can go so IMO a long south facing roof and how much sun you get in a year. Talk to a good soloar supplier and get as much info as possible .

In CA, the recommendation is to install solar this year before the CPUC changes net metering rules (anticipated next year). Not sure where you are, but this may be something to consider.

Has the OP left?