solar panels for electricity

[Michinori Kaneko]

Has anyone installed solar panels on their investment properties? I've looked into this per someone's suggestion, and looks like there are some federal grants and loans that allows you to install, and also if the panel generates more $ than your property consumes you get credit (or payment) from the utility company on the excess electricity. You also get tax deductions on installation and the assessed value of the property cant include the value of the panels. so there are many benefits to it, but i'm just trying to figure out if savings/cost has been a beneficial return for anyone who has done this. Thank you.

[Stacy Schmidt]

I'm a little late to this discussion, but I thought I'd add my experience. We are in Minnesota and had a 5.5 kW system installed on our primary residence at the end of 2017. We are on track to have it paid back by 2029 (so, about 12 years). That counts the federal tax credit as well as a credit from our local utility. It does not assume any increase in rates (which is likely to happen, and would shorten our payback period). The panels themselves have a 25-year warranty, and the inverter has a 20-year warranty (the standard warranty was 12 years, but we got the extended warranty). Even after 25 years, the panels are still supposed to be at something like 80% efficiency (so it's not like they're just totally useless after the 25 years). Yes, the inverters often need to be replaced in 12-15 years (it will be at least 20 for us before we need to pay to replace it, since we got the extended warranty), but for our system that's only a couple thousand dollars. By that time, the system will have paid for itself and then some, so we'll gladly pay another couple thousand for another 10+ years ($10,000+) of "free" electricity. 

I'd love to hear from someone who installed them on a rental property. I was thinking that if we installed them and used them towards the common area electricity (lighting, washer/dryers, etc.) on a bigger multi-unit property, it might make financial sense.