Here in Florida, some homeowners Insurance companies have started not insuring homes or just the roofs if they have solar panels mounted on them. They weaken the roof structure and over time will rot the beams and poke
holes in the underlayment..............
True that. Not an issue here in Alabama except for the fact that I had to increase my home owners coverage to replace the solar equipment as well (along with other energy improvement appliances like a variable-speed heat pump and variable speed air handler, and a hybrid water heater). So we have no solar rider per se on the insurance policy, but I couldn't ignore the extra premium needed just by virtue of increasing replacement cost.
By the way, this project was a life lesson in general. We probably all need to review our home owners insurance and make sure our coverage amount is enough to replace the home after years of inflation has increased the cost since we first got the policy.
A related issue (assuming rooftop solar is one's only option and not solar panels on the ground) is the type of roof. My solar panels have a 25-year warranty. Thus if I was replacing a shingle roof every 10 years, the roof replacement cost would increase by the cost of removing the panels then re-installing them after the roof was replaced. But because I just happened to have installed a metal roof the last time my roof needed replacing (for about 15% more the cost vs another shingle roof), I'm assuming my metal roof will outlast the solar panels.
There's a host of other variables one has to look at before doing this project to make sure it fits your situation. Like shade, or panels on the roof is it facing south?, do you and your wife work during the day and, therefore, do most of your power consumption in the evening and have multiple appliances running at once, etc. Most of our power consumption being done in the evening means larger battery cost, which may make it not worth it. Or if most of your power consumption is done bursty (all appliances running at once when you get home from work to catch up on the day's chores, while it's still 98F outside and your AC has to run a lot, etc) means you'd have to spend more to increase inverter capacity and it might not be worth it.
Part of the beauty of decentralized solar vs the way the Dims push it, which is the grid depending on solar, is that with decentralized solar each homeowner can examine his own needs and wants to see if solar is good for him. Looking at it from that perspective, if the Dims would stop their mandates and incentives, then solar would add a free market element vs always buying all of your power from the same source (the utility, which has been overregulated all my life, especially recently with the Dims' war on energy). If enough of us in the south went solar, then the utility might have to improve their product to compete. (Much like our conservative argument for school choice is that a hopeful end result is even public schools would improve to compete.)