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Indeed.

For example utility scale solar can be less than 30% the cost of a residential solar installation, but also adds profit margins, interest rates and distribution costs to a residential customer.

In the later Ringworld books Larry Niven introduced solar 'panels' sprayed onto any surface and wirelessly broadcasting power. The DIY installation costs would now be almost zero.

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What’s the cost of domestic installation on a new house? I was looking at some builders adding a roof the other day, putting panels on at the same time wouldn’t add much in labour.

It is cheaper, especially if you build the modules into the roof, as you then don't need the roof materials. It still suffers a little from being specialist, and so more expensive regardless of material costs.

But it’s a tiny amount, the work isn’t that specialist or hard to learn, the scaffolding is already in place. One or two days labor at most?

The cost of domestic installation on a new house varies wildly worldwide. In the USA labour and permitting cost dominate, rooftop solar installation costs are almost double what they are in Australia or the Netherlands, where they have the highest percentage of rooftop solar installation.

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