Does anyone here live in snow country, and have solar panels installed? I was wondering if the cost of the panels has been worth it to you. Has anyone successfully gotten these and seen their electric bill go down sufficiently to more than offset any finance payments? If you did not have to finance, did you track the cost and see if it was worth it? I am not mocking. I mean hey if it works for you, I am game.
I dont live in snow country but I have a great friend that does and she says her solar panels have saved her hundreds on heating every year. I know for a fact that down here in south Florida it helps a great deal with the cooling bill.
I do live in snow country but do not have solar panels installed. I would think it help more if the days were longer. In the winter, we only get about 8 to 9 hours of daylight. The other problem is most of those short days are grey and cloudy. Another thing to consider is the snow falling and building up on them. We used to have satelite TV and this was a big problem for the dish. You would have to go outside and brush it off to get reception. If it is mounted to the roof, it was not easy to do. If it was cheaper to get solar, I would still consider having it. Winter only lasts a few months!
I have a large yard where, if I had the money, I could have a large array. Still your point about the snow makes sense. I detest cleaning snow off my car, let alone something like solar panels.
Part of the reason snow accumulation is such a problem on satellite dishes is that they are slightly bowl-shaped. Solar panels are flat. Depending on they topography of your property, they can be closer to vertical which would help keep snow off. There are also some federal and possibly state tax credits to help offset the cost of solar installation.
