Installation costs dominate the price. I check every few years, and while the hardware is down to about $5k for me, cost for installation remained $45k-$50k. Which is where it’s been for years. Makes diy very attractive though.

This is bananas. Ten years ago I paid £5.5k for a whole 3.9kW installation, which has now more than paid for itself. I can see why everyone in the US is saying "get a trade job", you can rip off householders to a massive extent.

That cost makes absolutely no sense. It takes one single day for a couple of people to install solar and batteries on a residential house.

Baumol's Cost Disease at work, I guess.

It's a third or fourth of the price in Australia with equivalent labor costs.

It's mostly unnecessary red tape and a broken market that cause the differences.

Australian labor costs are significantly lower than the US, as are labor costs in most countries. Americans are paid pretty well.

Solar installer costs are broadly comparable as Australians are better qualified and even if they weren't comparable the fraction of the cost isn't enough to explain the total difference.

There's various studies comparing the two countries, Tesla did one and found various technical approach changes and permitting reforms. It suggests labor is 7% of the cost in the US. Soft costs around acquisition, sales and marketing can be 18%.

What kind of power we're talking about here? I was quoted €10600 (around half of which will be government-subsidized) for 8 kWp worth of panels + 10.24 kWh battery storage, including project documentation (for subsidies), labor, and materials.

50k? I could fly there, stay somewhere nice, buy a decent truck, put the solar PV on your roof, and make it home with 20k in my pocket to upgrade my solar power with and a truck.

That explains why many tradesman here are always driving new trucks.

How big is that system? Without incentives mine was half that for 8kw.

How hard is it to DIY?

The installation is straightforward, but the problem comes when you want to connect to the grid, because you have to get it approved by the utility. I'm sure getting a DYI installation approved by the utility is _possible_, but I wouldn't count on it. And, you may not know that you got disapproved until you've made the investment and are sort of screwed.

What I did was install solar with batteries and inverters that have the ability to never export power to the utility. That way I didn't have to tell them or seek their approval.

You don’t really make that much electricity in the winter when you need the heat

I picked a random spot in New York state. It looks like the solar generation in January is about 68% of July. As solar keeps getting cheaper, one option is to just install more solar.

Don't get me wrong, there are still issues here, like snow or back-to-back-to-back cloudy days. But the rate of a price change for solar has been pretty dramatic.

That's my challenge in Colorado.

I installed a modest solar system (5kwh) in 2024 and was incredibly happy with the results. On any given 24 hour period it'd offset 40% of my electricity consumption (EV, hot tub being the big loads).

Last year I installed a cold climate heat pump. I'm incredibly happy with the switch from gas as my primary heat source. The solar now only covers ~15-20% of my consumption in winter.

So my solution this year will be to add more solar. In the two years since I installed mine prices have halved. I'm fortunate enough to be able to do a DIY install, properly permitted and inspected, for about $350/400w panel once you factor in inverters, mounts, etc.

It's an amazing time for affordable energy.