In countries like Germany, balcony-mounted solar panels are all the rage. But from breaker-masking to voltage mismatches, America’s grid isn’t ready for it—yet.
While I agree with your sentiment, I’m not sure the cell tower is a good comparison. Very few if any cell towers are installed on a residential single family roof. Leasing part of your plot of land or space on a commercial or multi unit building is a completely different problem than giving a company rights to part of a frame residential home. Who maintains the roof? Who insures the roof? What insurance company will write that policy? It’s already getting more complicated to insure rooftop solar because claims are climbing. Now you’ve got a roof leased to someone else with solar panels on it? Seems to me like any commercial venture would skip all that and go straight to buying or leasing land. Land with no homes. This is the US after all, we have plenty of that laying around.
Companies are offering rooftop solar owned by the residents because they want it, they want the benefits. The problem is that it’s rapidly growing and a great target for scams. Especially considering the age demographic of homeowners who have paid off enough of their mortgage that they have collateral for said loans. These companies should be regulated and vetted somehow.
While I agree with your sentiment, I’m not sure the cell tower is a good comparison. Very few if any cell towers are installed on a residential single family roof. Leasing part of your plot of land or space on a commercial or multi unit building is a completely different problem than giving a company rights to part of a frame residential home. Who maintains the roof? Who insures the roof? What insurance company will write that policy? It’s already getting more complicated to insure rooftop solar because claims are climbing. Now you’ve got a roof leased to someone else with solar panels on it? Seems to me like any commercial venture would skip all that and go straight to buying or leasing land. Land with no homes. This is the US after all, we have plenty of that laying around.
Companies are offering rooftop solar owned by the residents because they want it, they want the benefits. The problem is that it’s rapidly growing and a great target for scams. Especially considering the age demographic of homeowners who have paid off enough of their mortgage that they have collateral for said loans. These companies should be regulated and vetted somehow.