My name is Rand and my wife, Carolyn, and I are members of the 350 Mass Greater Franklin Node that launched this website. We live in Mendon but have strong connections to Franklin because we have been attending church in Franklin for more than 20 years. Over the last decade we have systematically eliminated the major components of our carbon dioxide emissions, and saved a pile of money in the process. We are sharing our experience here because we think it is relevant to anyone undertaking a similar journey in Franklin. 

We considered solar panels in 2006 and got an estimate, but it was too expensive back then and the payback time would have been too long. In 2012 Carolyn co-led a town initiative called Solarize Mendon, aimed at making solar panels more affordable by bringing many buyers together for bulk purchasing and installation. By then better incentives were available from both Massachusetts and the Federal Government. In 2013, through Solarize Mendon we installed a ground-mounted array of 32 solar panels totaling 8 kW of capacity. We chose a ground-mount because of our house’s east-west orientation; the ground-mount faces due south. Each panel has its own microinverter to convert DC electricity to AC. That is more expensive than using one big inverter, but it enables the array to go on producing electricity even if some of its panels are shaded or not working. A buried conduit carries the electricity to the house, where it goes through a “net meter” that runs backward whenever the panels produce more electricity than the house is using.

This system went online in October 2013 and paid for itself in 2020. Since then it has generated a profit of about $13,000. It produces 7-8,000 kWh per year of free electricity. Some other basic parameters, and how they would be different today:

Purchase price: $47,500. This would be substantially less today, because panels are more efficient and cost less. An 8 kW system would need about 20 panels instead of 32. Also our ground mounted installation cost more than a rooftop installation would. Note that there is no Massachusetts sales tax on solar systems. According to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the average cost of a roof-mount 8 kW solar system in 2023 is about $28,500 before tax credits and rebates.

Massachusetts tax credit: $2000. Today this is $1,000. See this Massachusetts Clean Energy Center table.

Federal tax credit: $14,560 in 2013. Today the federal tax credit of the purchase price is still 30%. If this exceeds your Federal tax liability in the year you install, you can carry the excess credit forward to future tax years.

Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECS): $23,000 as of 2022. This was a market-based incentive program whereby you earned a credit for every 1,000 kWh you produced. Utilities would purchase these credits to meet their obligation to obtain a certain percentage of their electricity supply from renewable sources (the so-called Renewable Portfolio Standard). This system has been replaced by the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program, which pays you a more predictable monthly amount based on your production.

Production: 71,000 kWh 2013 through 2022, which would have cost us $21,000 to buy over that period. If you buy a solar system outright, expect about half of the return on investment to come from reduced or eliminated electricity bills, and half from the SMART program.

Payoff: 7 years.

Bottom line: If you are a homeowner planning to stay in your current home for more than about 7 years, solar panels are an excellent investment. Zillow estimates that homes with solar panels sell for about 4% more than homes without, all other things being equal.