this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026
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According to Google you need about 300-500 sq ft of panels to power a single family home so it might be simple to start with a 100 sq ft array and gradually build it out to compensate for losses over time and spread the cost. But I'm not a rooftop solar installer
tbh the shittiest part of residential solar is how unsynced it is to work, aside from like boiler, your car is gone during work, ac should be off, fridge eats like 500w at worst, you can maybe use like 5kw (and that's what, for 30-60 minutes per day?) with boiler at best on your own, you can't charge car cause it's at work, and batteries explode costs. so you either go quarter-hog or full hog
Heating in colder climates is probably the big one (at least it is for us). Gas heat should be getting phased out and even relatively efficient heat pumps still need a decent amount of power.
with some shenanigans and thermally massive sinks (say boilers) heating can be intermittently fed, i don't think a lot of people (some industries might) are bothering with that for now though. (so not heat pumps but say overtly massive boiler with radiator and a fan attached to central hvac system to provide heat as needed, and heat pump as a backstop). plus winter solar efficiency by default is what 40-60%?
Having boilers in the home would reduce the need for batteries but wouldn't that be a pretty substantial space and safety issue? Something like radiant floor heating or passive solar might be better but that would have to be built in.
My impression is that these have to be permitted before they're allowed to be operational (at least in the U$, depending on location or whatever). I'd guess you'd at least have to get a new inspection when more were added on?
Most solar installers around me seem to be concentrating on grifting financing/leases, so I'd think they would make this hard to do.
It does genuinely seem like a good idea, though!
The financing thing is a good point, the lease model would incentivize encouraging people to trash their panels once they're paid off