Don’t Worry – You’re Covered: The Personal Finances of Home Solar
Class | Registration opens 7/21/2025 9:00 AM
MANDATORY WAIVER: Since LLC does not maintain insurance for off-site courses held outside of the Temple, participants must sign a mandatory waiver to participate. Look for the waiver link in your registration confirmation email.
Higher electricity prices have pinched almost all Rhode Island homeowners. Do higher electricity prices make installing solar cost effective for even a retiree whose life expectancy is less than the warrantied life of the equipment? The answer depends on many factors, such as: How much sunlight reaches your roof? How much solar raises your home’s value (or not)? Can you sell energy to your utility? What tax credits are available? What are the costs of installation? Etc. Even though the course coordinator has a Ph.D. in Economics, he has found that the answers are complicated and depend on the underlying economics and on home solar technology. Nevertheless, his experience has convinced him that an LLC course on home solar can help others decide whether to go solar. The course will be held at the coordinator’s home on the East Side so that his system can be studied by the class.
Format: For sessions #1 and #2, the coordinator will introduce the technology of home solar and the how to determine if an investment is cost effective. For sessions #3-7, three presentations per session will be given by class members on topics such as: common scams by solar installers; how much solar increases home selling prices; and does the quality of solar panels vary across brands.
Resources/Expenses: None.
Robert Sandy
Robert Sandy was a Professor of Economics. He taught statistics courses at the undergraduate and graduate level for 37 years. He has coordinated courses titled Concerts and Conversations, Introduction to Battery Electric Vehicles, and Jewish Style Breads and Rolls at LLC.