Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

It is very complicated, but for the countries which are major producers, for most companies, it's between 64% and 430%. China (~85% of production) is 140%.

https://www.infolink-group.com/energy-article/solar-topic-it...

But even putting aside the tariffs, I'm in the same boat as you - residential/consumer solar in the US is a disaster - everything goes through shady installation companies, the labor and permitting costs are enormous, it's nearly impossible to buy panels yourself at the market rate.





My 10kW system in India will pay back in 33 months and we saved up cash, so I'm surprised US systems need loans and pay back over 7 years.

I'm in Poland and every solar installation I've looked at has a pay back time of around 5 years. The main reason is subsidized electricity — consumer prices are artificially low. If you take commercial pricing, it's closer to 2-3 years.

India is clearly different to the West in this regard; a typical installation in the UK is much smaller than 10kW, more in the 3-5kWp range, and you're looking at £6000 installed without a battery, and over £10,000 with a battery (circa 10kWh).

A 10kWp installation with a battery will easily cost you £15,000-£20,000, with an annual energy bill of ~£2000 it's easy to hit 7-10 years ROI.

To put some numbers to my specific case, my 7kWp system with 12kWh battery was ~£13,000 in summer 2025, and about 55-60% of the cost came from scaffolding and labour.


I’m guessing your labour costs are very small compared to the panels.

What would you call "the market rate"? You can get pallets of panels right now for ~$0.30/watt at eg Signature Solar (no affiliation, just where I got ours). That might be more than what's available globally, but it's also not a very significant driver of the system cost at that level (our inverter cost more, the ground mounts cost more, the the batteries cost more, the electrician final hookup work cost more, etc).

It's six times what's available globally for "low cost" panels, and three times the "mainstream" price, which is driving the other system components you mention to lower prices. After all, you can power appliances from solar panels without any of those other things.

Without an inverter/wiring/mounts? Do you mean RV-style DC appliances?

Unfortunately, I think Americans are much too heavily invested in current infrastructure to consider going all-in on those…


Yes. Or cellphones, laptops, cordless drills, LED lights, etc., which all run on low-voltage DC.

I guess, but single full size panels generally put out 30-50v, and efficient batteries are usually 48V, so you’d need transformers at least, and the strings coming to our house are generally 350-500V. Newer high voltage battery packs operate at 400V+.

Not to say it’s impossible to run a DC circuit at 12V or less, but wire is expensive, and lower voltage means thicker wire.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: