that’s ten times what it costs to install domestic solar, battery storage across all of Europe including major cities. Why is it so expensive? Panels are ~$200 each online and an inverter is $5k for a really good one.
In Texas, you must also have enough battery power to run your HVAC for at least 12 hours, which is extremely expensive here (~$80k est. for my moderately-sized home), given how hot it is. Without a substantial battery system, you will lose power when everyone else loses power.
My $100k approximation is what I was quoted by multiple solar and battery installers here and is also in line with what my local friends, family and colleagues have paid for their systems.
As an anecdote of what happens if you don’t have enough battery storage: One of my close friends who has a whole-home system (2300 sqft home) actually still had to keep his HVAC turned off on day 2 of the recent derecho outage a few months ago because his $125k battery system could not store enough power due to cloud cover. They took out a second mortgage for that solar/battery system in 2023. He still loves the system and it mostly works fine, but it’s not perfect and it was still $100k more expensive than a 24kw Generac natural gas generator.
So, if you can find a vendor that can install solar and battery storage for a system that can keep our HVAC going in one of our multi-day outages here, please send me their information! I will definitely call them and get an estimate!
that’s ten times what it costs to install domestic solar, battery storage across all of Europe including major cities. Why is it so expensive? Panels are ~$200 each online and an inverter is $5k for a really good one.
A quick google search shows prices more in line with my expectations (sources: https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/solar/solar-panel-costs-texas/ and https://www.energysage.com/local-data/solar-panel-cost/tx/)
In Texas, you must also have enough battery power to run your HVAC for at least 12 hours, which is extremely expensive here (~$80k est. for my moderately-sized home), given how hot it is. Without a substantial battery system, you will lose power when everyone else loses power.
My $100k approximation is what I was quoted by multiple solar and battery installers here and is also in line with what my local friends, family and colleagues have paid for their systems.
As an anecdote of what happens if you don’t have enough battery storage: One of my close friends who has a whole-home system (2300 sqft home) actually still had to keep his HVAC turned off on day 2 of the recent derecho outage a few months ago because his $125k battery system could not store enough power due to cloud cover. They took out a second mortgage for that solar/battery system in 2023. He still loves the system and it mostly works fine, but it’s not perfect and it was still $100k more expensive than a 24kw Generac natural gas generator.
So, if you can find a vendor that can install solar and battery storage for a system that can keep our HVAC going in one of our multi-day outages here, please send me their information! I will definitely call them and get an estimate!