Solar Panels a good idea for Rental House? Can I take them with me when I move?

naturalcare

I was recently inspired by the Power 4 Patriots videos. I'd love to build my own solar panels and possibly even a solar water heater... but I'm stuck living in a rental house for now. Does anyone with experience know 1) whether they are portable... can I take them with me when I move? and 2) does the installation of the panels cause damage to the roof? Not sure if the landlord would be happy with large holes left in the roof!

Thanks from a newbie mom with 3 kids and a really high power bill in California!

joecaption

Wait until you own your own home to do something like that.
Way to much involved, invasive and expencive to be doing on a rental.

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Please edit your profile so it shows your location!
No one here knows exactly where on the planet you may be so how can we ansewer a code, building, or insulation question without it?

GBrackins

and typically if you attach it to a rental property it is suppose to stay when you leave ..... and can be a real mess dealing with permits, landlords, etc.

as Joe said wait til you have a place of your own then go crazy

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Gary

"You get what you pay for, and sometimes free costs more!"

Oso954

Ok, you were given a dream by a snake oil salesman.
Try googling "power4patriots scam" and do some reading.

If you search you can find some of the p4p solar panel directions on the web. They price the materials at $175 for a 65 watt panel. That is about $2.70 per watt. If you do your shopping, you can find manufactured panels for $1 a watt.

Your local library should have some good books on solar systems. You might want to read up on them.

RWolff

Usually to attach anything to a roof involves drilling holes and putting screws in, then there's the hole for the wiring... I wouldn't mess with it on a rental house.
You CAN save a lot by switching to LED bulbs, I posted about the Cree 60 watt equiv bulbs I bought, they use 9-1/2 watts each, check out my post on them in another thread in the "off topic" folder:

LED bulbs

You CAN take those when you leave! they are even more efficient than CFL bulbs, I'm getting rid of all of my CFL's and changing over to these LEDs