My First Week of Making Solar Electricity

A homeowner and building science writer recently had rooftop solar panels turned on at his Georgia home, and his first week of results offer a real-world look at what to expect from a home solar system. He installed a 9.72-kilowatt system with 26 panels in December 2025, partly to catch the 30 percent federal solar tax credit before it expired at the end of that year. It took 135 days from installation to getting utility approval to actually operate the system, since the utility had to test it first.

In the first eight days of operation, the system made just over 300 kilowatt-hours of electricity, with a peak output of about 8 kilowatts on sunny days, close to but not always reaching its rated capacity. To size the system, he looked at his household's electricity use over several years (roughly 12,000 to 16,000 kilowatt-hours annually) and used a free online tool, PVWatts, to estimate output before choosing panels and an inverter.

One complication: his utility does not offer full net metering, meaning he is paid about half as much for the solar electricity he sends back to the grid as he pays for power he buys. That makes it more valuable to use the solar power himself, such as running laundry during sunny hours, rather than selling it back. He plans to add a battery later to store extra daytime power for use at night. His experience is a reminder that solar economics depend heavily on how your local utility handles selling power back to the grid, which varies by state and provider.