Well... Wait, I have a small (5kWp) system, in a region where is reasonable to have it (French south Alps), it pay back at actual (high, artificially IMO, but far lower than non-nuclear neighbor countries) energy prices but with a new home (insulation and equipment) it pay back in around 11.5 years ad current rate. That's because hot water can be entirely made with it ONLY (not all days but most) since I can get hot water normally heating it only once a day or once in two days (big reservoir, heat-pump + classic resistence, Daikin EKHHP to be more precise, cited because it's not on sale anymore substituted with a very similar unit), I can irrigate my garden only on solar, aircon thanks to local climate (fresh at nigh, hot during the day) run almost only on solar etc. Yearly self-consumption is around 50%, this month is around 72%.
Surely it's not something universal:
- you need to live in an area where solar is interesting, there are many in the world, but normally people do not migrate for that;
- you need a new(-ish) home, well insulated, airtight, designed to consume the minimum possible with actual tech etc and that DO have a (far bigger) cost (than p.v. alone);
- to maximize self-consumption you need automation, so far NOT that nice&easy since most commercial appliance are hard to integrate and limited, and/or WFH to being able to concentrate energy usage when the Sun shine;
- perhaps you need an EV to recharge from the p.v. instead of the grid.
Long story short: if you can't satisfy the above requirement p.v. is not that convenient BUT if you can it is, not so exceptionally but still interesting and if coupled with a bit of lithium storage (very HARD to pay back in monetary terms) it might offer protection good enough against blackouts. A thing to be considered these days. The EV for me have the similar purpose NOT for environmental or monetary terms but to ensure the ability to move by car if there are gas shortages around. It's hard to evaluate such guarantee in monetary terms, but it's still a thing to be considered...
Surely it's not something universal:
- you need to live in an area where solar is interesting, there are many in the world, but normally people do not migrate for that;
- you need a new(-ish) home, well insulated, airtight, designed to consume the minimum possible with actual tech etc and that DO have a (far bigger) cost (than p.v. alone);
- to maximize self-consumption you need automation, so far NOT that nice&easy since most commercial appliance are hard to integrate and limited, and/or WFH to being able to concentrate energy usage when the Sun shine;
- perhaps you need an EV to recharge from the p.v. instead of the grid.
Long story short: if you can't satisfy the above requirement p.v. is not that convenient BUT if you can it is, not so exceptionally but still interesting and if coupled with a bit of lithium storage (very HARD to pay back in monetary terms) it might offer protection good enough against blackouts. A thing to be considered these days. The EV for me have the similar purpose NOT for environmental or monetary terms but to ensure the ability to move by car if there are gas shortages around. It's hard to evaluate such guarantee in monetary terms, but it's still a thing to be considered...