ELI5: Why Do Residential Solar Panels Have to Be Installed on Rooftops?

Yeah - it's a much easier and cheaper investment but you'd be lucky to find a $200 system that would be capable of saving you $25 a month - cheap systems like that don't generate anywhere near as much power as the bigger professionally installed systems. They're also less durable so they probably wouldn't last anywhere near as long as a rooftop solar system.

But you are right in the sense that it would be an easier investment, just not as good as a long term investment. Because installing solar power is a long term investment. Sure it might take you 10 years to generate enough power to cover the initially installation (that number is coming down by the way - if you get the right system for your needs it can be 5 years) but once you've covered the install costs every kilowatt of power they generate on top of that is basically free power.

It's about deciding what system suits your needs and whether or not the initial cost will ultimately be worth it over the entire life of the system.

If you don't need much power at all than sure a cheap system might be what would be best - but if you want a decent amount of power for a decent amount of time than a full system might be better.

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