the inefficiencies of small residential solar arrays -- and is there a remedy?

[Anonymous]

Many homes don't have the solar exposure needed to justify the installation of solar panels. Trees might block the sunlight, or the roof might be angled in a sub-optimal direction. Even with good exposure, the available square footage is usually small.

My own home has poor solar exposure. This is unfortunate because, if my home had good exposure, I'd happily invest $20K in solar panels. Probably a lot of folks are in the same position.

In my neighborhood, there are a number of large buildings with fantastic solar exposure but which lack solar panels. For example: there is an elementary school which has about 75,000 square feet of roof space -- equal to the combined roof area of about 50 houses. Putting solar panels on this roof would provide about the same solar output as installing panels in 50 homes, and it could be done at a much lower cost per square foot given that it would be a single, large-scale installation compared to 50 separate small-scale installations.

Is there a financial solution to this problem? Could an investment product be created in which individual investors buy shares of large-scale solar installations? Or perhaps such an approach already exists?

[Anonymous]

This is me. I had a solar company do up an estimate for my house and they came back to tell me there were too many trees around my house to make it worthwhile. I assume that since they're in business to sell panels, their negative assessment of my house is probably accurate.

I like your idea. I don't know if would help people like me, who don't live within a 50-house radius of the nearest school. But it would help some people.

[Anonymous]

They are called microgrids and are usually used for a small group of homes, businesses, or municipal buildings.

[Anonymous]

alternately, depending on where you live, you can choose renewable power through your electric company, some of which is generated in a manner similar to what you describe (for example: https://www.dominionenergy.com/virginia/renewable-energy-programs)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many homes don't have the solar exposure needed to justify the installation of solar panels. Trees might block the sunlight, or the roof might be angled in a sub-optimal direction. Even with good exposure, the available square footage is usually small.

My own home has poor solar exposure. This is unfortunate because, if my home had good exposure, I'd happily invest $20K in solar panels. Probably a lot of folks are in the same position.

In my neighborhood, there are a number of large buildings with fantastic solar exposure but which lack solar panels. For example: there is an elementary school which has about 75,000 square feet of roof space -- equal to the combined roof area of about 50 houses. Putting solar panels on this roof would provide about the same solar output as installing panels in 50 homes, and it could be done at a much lower cost per square foot given that it would be a single, large-scale installation compared to 50 separate small-scale installations.

Is there a financial solution to this problem? Could an investment product be created in which individual investors buy shares of large-scale solar installations? Or perhaps such an approach already exists?

This is a brilliant business opportunity.