Rooftop solar vs utility solar

[orthopa]

If I was in non-snowy state, I'd probably get rooftop solar. Losing 3 months during snow cover and potential panel/roof damage in New England winter scares me so far. I'll be late adopter and see if solar tiles/slates will become cheap enough soon: http://www.solarcentury.com/uk/c21e-tiles-and-slates/

 

NY, NJ, & MA are some of the bigger markets for resi. solar. snow typically is not a huge issue for solar production (they price this into your rate typically, and solar irradiation is much lower in winter anyway, so you'll still save money).

 

Finally...typical solar leases come with warranty on roof penetrations. They won't install if your roof is too old/wrong material/poor condition.

 

I live in NY too and wanted to add while NY does have brutal winters with short days, summer days are very long, 14+ hours and the angle of insolation is beneficial during the long summer months.