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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3514 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 6, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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You should be able to self install them. It is extremely simple.

Yeah, simple if you're already comfortable replacing shingles, splicing into your houses wiring, understand the variety of products that go into sealing a roof, and trust your work poking holes in one.

That's like 2% of homeowners. Plus you probably need an electrician anyway if you want to legally sell power back to the grid. Sure, it's doable, but it doesn't change the general accuracy of his estimate.

It gets tricky if you want to grid tie. In many places, the electrical interconnect can only be done by licensed electricians and must be certified and approved by the utility. The electricians have no real incentive to make things easy on the DIYer, especially if they are signing off on code compliance, and the utility has no incentive to make things easy on customers trying to reduce their utility consumption.

In the US nearly all the incentives require professional third party installation, also I'm not sure how easy home insurance would be to get on a self installed rooftop solar.

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