[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I’m pretty sure somebody got a subsidy. And an eye sore is an eye sore. You are imposing an aesthetic cost on your neighbors. A mass of steel on your roof is inherently dangerous and inconvenient, should you need to reshingle or perform maintenance up there.

[familyop]

"I’m pretty sure somebody got a subsidy."

I didn't get the tax credit. The PV modules came from a manufacturer that's serious about producing, competing and getting a profit.

"And an eye sore is an eye sore. You are imposing an aesthetic cost on your neighbors."

Several older couples were recently foreclosed in my area and moved away. They all expressed opinions about their neighbors--opinions based on appearances. They had all recently moved to the Rockies from northeastern states. The remainder of them will likely follow.

A note of interest to some. One of the Prophets told of such people and what will happen to them.

Obviously, real estate will go down for a very long time. Energy costs will go much higher. People who use alternative energy in small, humble, efficient houses are going to win. Landlords with such houses will also win.

"A mass of steel on your roof is inherently dangerous and inconvenient, should you need to reshingle or perform maintenance up there."

It's not steel. The rails and module frames are aluminum. Other than that, silicon, tempered glass, etc. There's no lead, either. Modules are on posts instead of roofs in my locale. They're engineered to withstand more than a 140 mph wind load. They don't cost much.

But if there's a need to move them, I'll put covers on the modules, flip a switch to shut off module current to the controller and use a tool to disconnect the MC4 connectors. It's quick, easy and safe. Folks who don't use the National Electrical Code and electrical safety experience can hire someone to do it at low cost (very little time required).

With the default process, aesthetics, regulations, regulators, HOAs and property prices will soon be unimportant indeed. Small machine shops and other truly productive activities will resume production everywhere.

[familyop]

That’s another closely related subject. Soon, much less centralized and more distributed production of everything necessary for a thriving economy will begin in every community in several countries, and many new communities will rise in rural areas from new, small production starts. The support for the project and hundreds of sub-projects is enormous.

It’s already been in the works for quite a while toward the right moment and has been put to tests in several seed communities. We’ll see men and women off all adult ages making products of real, good use again in a much more solid and secure distributed system made up of many thousands of communities. And they’ll be having multitudes of happy children.

[familyop]

The combiner boxes and conduit are steel, by the way, but they don’t weigh much. You’re an engineer? I’m surprised. An old EE PE recently advised my daughter to go into a technology instead of engineering. She had already decided to attend a machining school for a couple of years because of what she’s seen from engineers stealing from owner-builders through local governments (their expensive stamps on our correct and finished designs to codes).