[mikehinton]

We've had our system for 7 years. It has made us conscious about when we use power, as we get charged extra for power use between noon and 6 P.M. But, that's when we generate the most power, so it evens out. In the 7 years we've had the system, we only owed PG&E additional $ for electricity once.

It's a grid-intertie system, which means that when grid is down, we are too. Eventually we'll get an inverter that supports a battery backup as well. We probably haven't recouped the entire purchase price yet, but I'll bet we're close, and the panels should last 25+ years.