How Many Years To Pay Off Solar Panels

How comparison shopping can improve your solar panel payback period.

How many years to pay off solar panels. Comparing quotes from multiple solar installers can actually help you go solar with a shorter payback period than the national average. To claim the credit you must file irs form 5695 as part of your tax return. This tricky question of how long it takes for solar panels to pay off has kept homeowners up at night ever since solar panels met roofs. Is just above 8 years.

The typical solar payback period in the u s. Filing requirements for solar credits. When considering that lifetime any payback period less than about half that time or 12 5 years can be considered decent. The years to payback isn t fixed.

We ve garnered information from across the internet and compressed it into a bite sized formula. Here s the bad news. Here s how the figures break down for cities in the. If you end up with a bigger credit than you have income tax due a 3 000 credit on a 2 500 tax bill for instance you can t use the credit to get money back from the irs.

If your cost of installing solar is 20 000 and your system is going to save you 2 500 a year on foregone energy bills your solar panel payback or break even point will be 8 years 20 000 2 500 8. Photovoltaic solar panels are designed to last at least 25 years and many modern brands will last much longer than that. After your investment is paid off your solar panels will continue to generate clean electricity for free and will continue to do so for as long as your equipment lasts. Until now that is.

Solar panels are one of the least cost effective ways of combating climate change and will take 100 years to pay back their installation costs the royal institution of chartered surveyors rics. You calculate the credit on the form and then enter the result on your 1040. The cost of ownership includes the maintenance costs which must be discounted to find the npv. Data from the energysage solar marketplace shows that in 2020 solar shoppers who compare their options in the marketplace can achieve payback on their solar investment in about 8 years.

Given that many solar panels and inverters come with 25 year product warranties you can expect more than two decades of trouble free operation from your solar array.