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Years ago, I had a friend who built a new house and spent $50,000 to power the entire house on solar panel energy. Unfortunately, he never figured that, after only 13 years in the Arizona sun, he would have to replace almost all of the solar panels and much of the piping on the roof because of exposure and sun damage. So instead of saving money, he had to spend $23,000 to replace everything that was deteriorated.

So ROI isn't what it first appears. It will take more than 30 years and probably unending into the future, to ever get money back on your sister's "sustainable" solar system. You might be able to reasonably recover your original investment in a solar water heater system because it's much cheaper but systems for the entire house are very expensive and not a cure-all for "free" electricity.

At $150 month average on my electric bill this last year, I could go 14 years paying for electricity with the $25,000 she is spending on a solar system. Doesn't make economic sense to me but then I'm not a liberal.