[Biggd]

Originally Posted by Cobalt

These are all fair points in a rising rate environment. My neighbor and I both have completely electric homes. Both of us have Bryant Evolution 23 SEER heat pumps. He went the solar panel route, but does not have access to natural gas. I have access to natural gas, and requested an estimate to install a natural gas furnace in the attic that can be mated to the Bryant. I do not have the proposal as of this writing, and these posts pushed me to look at my neighbor's utility bills and request a proposal.

He installed a new roof before going with solar. He owns the system so no liens on the property if you borrow the money. Before credits, he spend close to $45,000 for the panels and new roof. His roof had five years left, and would need replacement. This is just another potential cost in conjunction with solar panels. Clearly, you don't want to install over an older roof.

In responding to the original poster, I believe a natural gas high efficiency furnace may prove to be the less costly, and a better option to save money. Also, I would argue it will add more to the resale value of the property as compared to solar panels. Just my view.

I agree with you whole heartedly. I haven't seen proof that solar panel installation on a roof increases the value of a home. I think most people view it as an ugly feature on a home, I know I do. I have a friend of mine that works for a solar company and he handles the complaints. He's a very busy boy! A few years ago when we had that real bad winter that's all he did was handle roof leak complaints and they recommend to every customer to replace the roof before installing solar panels.