Resources for Deciding Whether a Home Is Ready for Solar
Work through this page with an inspection report in hand, and leave with a direction rather than a sales pitch. The helper asks five questions a reader can answer from the report or from memory. It ends in one of three plain directions. Its reasons and assumptions are printed under the result, so the reader can see what it rests on. Under the helper you will find what each question checks and the points to settle before a proposal arrives. The last part covers the places where people usually get stuck.
Working through a home's readiness, in order
Take the five questions in order, because each one narrows the next. Start with the roof and the panel, since they settle most of the answer. Answer from the report wherever it names an item, and from what you can see where it does not. The result is a next step, not a verdict on any particular system. The assumptions printed under each result mark where it stops applying to a home. Keep the report beside you while you answer. The helper gives a reader a direction to take into a conversation with an installer or an inspector.
Use the report's wording
Where the report names an item, copy its words into your answer. Where it does not, say what you can see and what you cannot. Vague answers produce vague results. A short note of what you checked is worth more than a guess.
Read the result as a direction
It names a next step and nothing more. It does not decide whether any particular system is worth buying. A direction is a place to start a conversation, not the end of one. Treat it as one input beside the report and the installer's own site visit.
Check the assumptions
Each result prints what it rests on. If your home does not fit those limits, the result does not hold for it. Read the assumptions before you act on the result. A limit you cannot check is a reason to ask the inspector.
Ask before anything is sized
A proposal sized before anyone has seen the roof and the panel rating rests on guesses. Ask the installer what was measured and what was assumed. Ask for the panel rating in writing. Compare proposals only when they state the same assumptions.
What the helper counts, and what it leaves out
- 5questions, each answered from the report or from memory
- 3directions a result can point to, and no others
- 0cost, savings or payback figures printed in a result
What each question is checking, and why an inspector asks
Each of the five questions stands for one item an inspection report can settle. The roof and the panel come first because a defect in either changes the order of the work. Shade shows how much of the roof can carry panels usefully at all. Tenure decides who can make the change, and the plan to stay decides how much the terms of a contract matter. Together they point to one of the three directions. The result shows which answer pushed it that way.
Where people usually get stuck
The first stall is a report that lists an item without ranking it. Ask the inspector which findings need repair now and which need monitoring. Read the summary before the detail, if the report has one. An item marked for monitoring is not the same as one marked for repair. The helper separates minor wear from recorded damage for the same reason.
The second stall is a proposal that arrives before the roof and panel have been checked. A proposal sized to an unchecked roof can put the work in the wrong place. Ask whether the installer has seen the roof and the panel rating in person. Ask whether the proposal names the capacity it assumes. A proposal that cannot name its assumptions is not ready to compare.
The third stall is a subscription that looks simple. Shared-subscription terms differ in how credits are shared, how long the agreement runs and how it ends if you move. Read those terms before you sign, and ask for any term you do not understand to be explained in writing. Compare two offers on the same terms rather than on the headline. Check your state's current program before you rely on any incentive an offer mentions.
Additional resources
- U.S. Department of Energy: Community Solar Basics — how a subscription works, who it suits and which consumer protections to look for before you agree to one.
- DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency — look up the state and federal solar incentives that apply where you live.