Economic Viability of Solar Panels for Single Family Homeowners: Fid-Bau Portal

Economic Viability of Solar Panels for Single Family Homeowners

Shrestha, Pramen P. / Pragada, Mythili

The urgent need to respond to present environmental conditions has led to the increasing popularity of sustainability. This, in turn, has led to the rise in solar panel use, especially in the residential sector. Some changes in the solar panel industry have also made residential solar panel installation more affordable and convenient, contributing to their current popularity. While solar panel use is clearly beneficial to the environment, there are few studies on its economic viability for homeowners. Therefore, this study aims to identify the main reasons for homeowners to install solar panels and analyze the solar panel use in a single residence, with respect to installation cost. Twenty-four homeowners were also surveyed to identify various reasons for installing or choosing not to install solar panels. The survey results showed that the main reason for installing the solar panels was they are eco-friendly. Detailed energy usage of a home with solar panels was gathered for a period of 10 years: two years preceding solar panel installation and eight years after installation. The analysis showed that the homeowner needs to use the solar panels for more than 100 years to have an equivalent annual cost equal to the cost they are paying for the energy during these years. Despite decreasing costs, the solar industry has a long way to go before it becomes economically viable over a reasonable time period and as a common household electricity source.