is your roof 'solar ready'? (ie, designed to take the weight of the solar panels) Will it be if you don't take this option?

Also, if they make holes in your roof and it leaks, will your builder void their warranties?

Yes roof is solar ready

Talking to solar provider they said as you put it

Do it before I move in and anything happens to roof the builder will take care

Don’t after and the builder won’t do anything if roof has a leak. But would t that fall on the solar installer if roof has a problem?

Is it cheaper to install afterwards?

Is it 3kw or 9kw? Your title says one and your post the other.

We paid about about 60K for a 10kw system around 4 years ago. It was a split installation with some of the panels on the main house and some on the guest house and we have Spanish roof tiles, so quite a bit more labor.

I don't see how it could be cheaper to install afterwards. It always costs more to have to dismantle something, retrofit and then put it back together. Solar should be done along with a new build, to avoid destruction of any parts of your new house.

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish ...

its 3kw - 9 panels from sunpower

is a 3kw system really able to reduce electricity cost by $100/ month. Thats what they are saying. w/o solar it will be $165/month with this 3kw system it will be $50-60

For context, I just spent 30k for a 10kw system, installed. 16k for 3kw is a ripoff

it does not include the 5k tax rebate. so 11k for 3kw? dont do it?

And don't believe everything the electric company tells you! They don't really want you off the grid and saving money! Our break even point looked good based on our meter at the time and our consumption, but when we added solar we had to install a new meter from the power company and it changed the numbers considerably, in their favor. No going back at that point. Of course, the power company said our old meter must have been wrong!

Here’s a simple truism: Skip every single “upgrade” that a builder offers. They are overpriced film flam.

When we had a presentation by a local solar afficianado, he mentioned that your utility rate/agreements, AND the code-restrictions in your area can severely limit and/or increase your payback.

I live in a cheap hydroelectricity area (Manitoba, Canada, the land of the cold north!), and our utility will buy any surplus energy - but only in real-time. This means that while you are work, you sell to the grid, but when you come home in the dark, they bill you for what you use. Since our utility is hydro-based, they can buy power in the evenings for cheap from the USA, and sell it at higher profit during the day.

When you sell, they have to by law, charge you tax on what you export, so you lose there too. Our subsidies just changed/ended, so that further increased the years to payoff.

As well, our utility requires waaay more isolation switches (something like 12 vs 3 in other jurisdictions) and at a couple hundred bucks each, added significantly to the cost.

Also consider that solar panels lose efficiency over time, as does the converter technologies. After about a 10 year return period, you'll be replacing equipment just as you start to break even.

All of the above depends on your area, your utility rates and regulations, etc.

You may have luck convincing a solar person to repair the roof IFF you can prove it was 100% their fault, but such things can be tricky. If the leak causes other damage, the builder may void part of your warranty. Buyer beware. If no subsidies are time-sensitive, you may want to wait until your builder warranty runs out, then install solar, just to avoid such hassles.