When you mention after 25 years they would have paid for themselves many times over, based on what criteria? I'd love to revisit this topic -- power costs in Florida are very high.
Edit: Just curious on why the downvotes? Not enough context? Negative sentiment? (not intended, genuinely curious about revisiting solar)
That system should produce about 10,000 kw*hr of energy over the year, so the payback excluding installation would be under 5 years.
Our home is relatively large (square footage and high ceiling heights compound that) and since we both work and teach at home, the cooling systems are in constant demand.
Appreciate the ballpark figures; time to revisit the idea.
Power /bills/ may be very high (due to hot/humid climate necessitating extensive air conditioning). But a quick google shows me power /rates/ in FL are around $0.11 per kWh - which is very low on a global scale (and on the low end of average for the US[1]). Solar costs are coming down on a per-kW basis, so the per-kWh electricity cost is the one you need to compare to find when it breaks even.
[1] https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/
We work and teach from home (pre-Covid) so the cooling systems are in use throughout the day.
People will point out that it's silly to factor out labor and permitting but those costs drop radically on grid scale 10MW+ systems where as they make up nearly 50% of the cost on a household scale system.
It's a larger 1-story home: we've tried to address insulation, low-e glass, and AC SEER ratings. Working and teaching from home = consistent cooling demands throughout the day, every day.
Either you have a poorly insulated 25k sqft mansion or your neighbors are siphoning off your power for an indoor weed farm.