The economy of residential solar, an example

Lou Ann Hammond of CarList has written an article about the economics of installing solar for her home, with the intent of being ready for a plug-in electric vehicle should they ever see mass production. She includes an analysis of the capital costs, rebates, tax credits, and various ROI calculations. Everything is specific to Southern California, and some of the tax information and credits change in the next year.

Based on her numbers, it certainly appears that a residential solar-electric system can be a good investment that has a reasonable ROI, assuming a lifetime on the panels of 25 years.