On Tuesday, December 31, 2019 at 12:14:12 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 31, 2019 at 12:05:03 PM UTC-5, Michael Terrell wrote:

The payback only appears to be eight years. There is interest involved in the initial costs. Also the solar panels will raise your property taxes.

There is that. There is the false assumption of $2,500 in avoided utility bills - possible in some parts of the US with good sun, no snow, and dry-but-dust-free weather. Oh, and the service life of 35 years. Sure. All good.

And, of course, EnergySage wants to sell you solar panels on commission from local installers. Naturally, their figures will be highly optimistic.

The whole point here is that you're assuming that you're on your property for longer than eight years. All costs are figured up to the industry recognized eight-year break-even point. So, your assumption of other costs that you are claiming (or that you could recoup from government subsidies to you - something that you strangely don't mention) is included in that 8- year time period.

So if you don't plan on staying past 8 years, don't install - even though even your resale value will increase.