I have spent the past 18 months researching and keeping track of residential solar array technology. Although
originally I wanted to go off the grid, recent developments and careful thought convinced me to go the grid-tied
route with net-metering. The utility needs to install a meter that can account for power into and out of your home
and usually will do so for free. Most states require that the power you put on the grid must match that you take
off in terms of whether it involves peak or non-peak time of day. Peak power you send to the grid can offset
peak and non-peak you extract from the grid, but off-grid production you put on the grid can only offset off-peak
consumption. I think those rules apply in most places. Check with your utility. Remember that the Feds provide
income tax writeoffs of $1000 per kilowatt of solar capacity you install, up to 6 kilowatts. You shoud therefore aim
at the next higher integer number of kilowatts beyond what you think you'll need, if you are below the 6 kilowatt
power level. Costs for the panels (by far the greatest expense) can run anywhere from $2 to $3 and more for
silicon crystal (as opposed to thin-film) and the recent advent of microinverters, either seperate for each panel, or
what's coming soon, installed on the panels themselves, are the other significant expense. Mounting rails and electrical
wires, breakers, etc are insignificant, cost-wise. Labor required is pretty minimal as is knowledge required. Micro inverters
make installation so simple that a seven year old with access to YouTube will have no problem at all. If you want to
figure out how much power your array will harvest, look up the solar irradiance figures for your locality (it doesn't
have to be all that close - virtually all locations in North Carolina, for example, show pretty much the same solar
irradiation levels). Make sure you get a building permit and have it inspected, to cover your ass should your house burn down
and the insurance company suspects that your array is to blame. If you have the appropriate space, mount the panels on
the ground by building framework there. It makes everything so much easier and allows you to tilt them to the very best angle.
panels (and microinverters to come) are warranteed for 25 years, but produce power way beyond that. My estimate for
North Carolina , assuming installed by myself and taking the Fed subsidy, shows that I can reasonably expect the power to
cost between 5.5 and 6.5 cents per kilowatthour.