Welll... Tandem perovskite cells have been tested up to 35% effective while your traditional ones are 20-25%. So for same labour cost you'll get 50% more returns...
Tesla powerwall 3 13.5 kWh - $9,300
EG4 Wall Mount Indoor Battery 14.3kWh - $3,300
https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-wallmount-indoor-battery-48v-...
I used to watch teardowns. It is all the same junk inside. It is a commodity you don't need Tesla or BYD to make you a pretty box really.
Here it is in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W4dTw_hXdU
These have come a very long way in recent years and the price will continue to drop but the same applies. You don't need to wait as you'll be saving a negligible amount going forward.
If you know what you are doing all in <$5,000 to go off the grid.
The marketing, installation and paperwork triple or even quadruple the price as people way $whatever to not deal with it. Being a sparky is way more lucrative than even a plumber.
We picked the wrong career I tell you.
Here's the same fellow from above showing off the latest panels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v33nbi7gKcY
From his perspective it is down to $0.27 per watt.
In order to fill up those 14Kwh batteries you'll need fewer than 10 panels (400watts per panel, x4 hours sunshine). So less than $1,000.
The inverter is less than $1,000.
And the battery is heading to below $3,000.
YouTubers like MKBHD have videos up where they paid six figures for their setups and wonder whether it is worth it due to the long payback heh. I know not fair comparison whatever, we're just talking.
I have no idea what to do about NIMBY type problems but you can setup an off grid cabin somewhere with all the creature comforts very very easily now.
If being a sparky didn't require apprenticeship i'd definitely consider that, the amount of money i've paid for these services have convinced me I'm not in the right field and i make high six figures as an engineer :(
Do home systems do thermal control?
I think if they get perovskite degradation under control, tandem cells with 30%+ efficiency are on the horizon.
Also, future cells still can get a whole lot thinner and lighter, which decreases material costs and overall requirements on mounting hardware (only a little, you still need to deal with wind loads).
But I agree, especially for home owners there's no reason to wait. Still, if you're in the business of building a gigawatt scale powerplants, there's still a lot of things to look forward to. Also, ground installation of panels still has a lot of untapped automation potential.
Trending flat as of late with single digit percentage reductions in price to be expected year over year.
At these prices the actual panels for most houses would be below $1,000 wholesale. The vast majority of the cost is elsewhere.
It is great that it keeps getting cheaper but at this point the returns are diminishing. If you're thinking of buying something there is no new tech or anything on the horizon worth waiting for just go ahead.