Quote Originally Posted by tmckay2 View Post
Personally I'm looking for something with a big up front cost but that makes you basically self sufficient unless you go over production. Probably doesn't exist.

The problem with buying your own system vs a 20 year contract on something like this is the rate that technology is changing. In 20 years, we could (and probably will) see tremendous changes in the efficiency of solar panels. Right now, you're pretty lucky if you can get 22% efficiency out of your solar panels, but some new technologies have produced as high as 47% efficiency in a lab environment.

Just my speculation based on what I know, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see commercially available panels available for the same price you'd pay now with 30%+ efficiency in 10 years or less. The real upside to that is that the best stuff now will be dirt cheap in 10 years.