Good stuff Redlite

I have one friend that has these and he claims that he never has to buy power from the grid, meaning that the "pot" that you mention that is built from your meter spinning backwards is never depleted. Did the solar companhy run your consumption numbers to see if that may be true for you? If that is true, it means your entire electricity cost is the just the cost of the leased panels (which I'm guessing for you is less than the $200 per month you are paying for electricity now) and its fixed, right? Seems like a no-brainer to me!

this is an industry where the product line is changing dramatically
due to improvements in Materials. For example light can be picked up
from multiple directions with a new design and they have learned how to "stack"
solar cells one on top of another. Now Graphene enters the arena and it conducts electricity at a rate of 100 % .... and that was flat...so they crumpled it and improved it again. New discoveries emerging everyday it seems like.

Beware of any panel efficiency rating you see. I worked for a company that made Capital Equipment to build and test panels and the numbers used are defined under optimal conditions. Efficiency also drops off over the life of the product and you need to take into account loss due to transmission especially if you re storing. Just my opinion...

Go green
 

I purchased a 4.01 (18 panels) system 6 years ago and never looked back. At the time I estimated it would produce 75% of our electric needs. Once it was installed we became very motivated to become as efficient as possible and turned off most unused electrical items and we actually cut our usage by 25% so we are now netting out. The installation of solar panels actually raises the value of the home by about $30,000.00. As far as being unattractive on the house I love them and when I open my electric bill and only have to pay a $15 line charge they become even prettier. I am entering my breakeven year and then its all savings after that. Good luck with your decision.