Tiger:
Appraisers are discussing now how much to devalue homes with solar, one of their major concerns is disposal costs because of the rare earth metals in them.
When I was house hunting I rejected any house that had solar. Because of the neighborhoods that I wanted to live in, only tile roofing is available. The installation methods do not impress me and the damage done to the roof bothered me. I don't walk on tile roofs at all. So I really don't know how bad it is but sending a bunch of car salesmen on the roof equates to a mess. Seeing what they do to asphalt shingles is an eyeopener.
Ten years from now a broken panel will not be replaced because that panel hasn't been produced for five years. Mix and match does not work with this stuff. How about those shot roofs? The solar has to come off and be reinstalled. The solar goes in a garage and the inspector is none the wiser. The re-roof gets a final and the roofer puts the solar back on the roof. The last time the roofer installed solar was never. What could go wrong? More to the point, what could go right?
Because Elon Musk bought Solar City people that I have talked with are confident that PV is a bright spot in an otherwise tepid economy. Mr. Musk has plenty of experience owning companies that operate in the red. I don't discount his intellect and accomplishments but he is perhaps too smart for our own good. He wants to put people in a tube and blast them between LA and Frisco at 800 MPH. He plans on populating Mars. Quirky fits. So he bought Solar City for a captive market for the batteries that he must also produce for Tesla.
Any industry that can't survive without the government floating their boat is doomed. It is a matter of time and technology catching up. Sooner or later people will wake to the reality that by the time the solar is paid for, it is worn out. Year fifteen will produce a third of the energy that it did when new. New technology can wipe out the old in a heartbeat. Solar City has developed a roofing tile that will replace panels. I expect Solar City to abandon the residential panel market and pursue small commercial panel systems.
Solar workers are cobblers. They cobble the pieces together. It is the wild west out there. Do you people pay attention to the pictures I bring you? I wouldn't let them on my roof for any reason.
Knowing all of that I wonder how the huge solar farms penciled out. Betting on a power source that struggles is okay for Humboldt County pot growers....the rest of us can strike a deal with a power company. And what about the power companies? How can they survive if every customer is out to break them? Some jurisdictions require solar on all new houses.
Do you know anyone with PV that cleans the panels? I know exactly one and he is an electrical engineer. Did you know that "periodically" the array must be inspected for "loose or corroded parts, which if found must be immediately replaced". Oh you weren't told that. UL2703 requires that. It also requires that the entire system be erected using a torque wrench on each fastener. That never happens. So much of what is required never happens. Hell's Bells, the racking isn't even labeled so good luck finding parts.
I was invited to join the standard making panel for UL2703. The industry rules there. After about a year of it an office manager banned me from further participation. I was less than impressed. There is too much money about. The NRTLs are for profit. That sums it up
Had the government sat this one out the landscape would look entirely different
