By - JerryRigEverything is a great tech review pro, but he is no solar professional.
- The fact that he stands and walks on solar panels clearly suggests he has no idea how fragile the solar cells in those panels are.
- No one in the video is wearing fall arrest gear. Do they think the roof is too low they can't fall? Just terrible!
JerryRigEverything is a great tech review pro, but he is no solar professional.
The fact that he stands and walks on solar panels, with his full weight, clearly suggests he has no idea how fragile the panels are. In another part of the video (around 9:31), you can clearly see another guy kneeling on the panels.
Solar cells crack easily when you walk or kneel on them. But when they’re packaged in the module, it can be impossible to see this damage. Learn more in this video from NREL.
Also, no one in the video is wearing fall arrest gear. Maybe they think the roof is too low they can’t fall!
With the necessary criticism of the chaotic DIY installation process out of the way, let’s look at the numbers.
Jerry says he installed an 8.06kw solar panel system. It cost him $13,300 (before incentives). With the federal incentive for 2020 (26% tax credit) and his state tax credit ($1600) it brought the cost down to $8,243.
His energy costs are approx $0.11 per kWh on average. Using a solar calculator he was able to project that the system will generate about 12,000 kWh per year. Which is about $1,319 worth of energy. His system will ‘pay itself off‘ in about 6.2 years with incentives, which would have been 10 years without the incentives.
Over 30 years, the panels will generate around $35,000 dollars worth of energy—that is, if they haven’t already been damaged with all standing and kneeling.
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