Sarcasm aside, you’re right that solar can be a hefty upfront cost. Going DIY can save you on install costs, but often you’re getting the panels at a less favorable rate than a contractor buying in bulk, and you’ve generally gotta do it all in cash.
Most halfway decent solar vendors will be happy to walk you through options free of charge. You can get quotes, alongside real savings estimates based on your roof orientation. They should be able to provide you with a quote, incentive breakdown, and payback estimates for:
Owned solar, where you pay everything upfront and recoup over time
Leased solar, where you pay only a small portion down, with monthly lease payments
Power purchase agreement, where depending on your location they essentially can act as the middleman with your utility. The savings here are usually near zero, but you get to run solar at home.
Typically if you can afford a $25k upfront cost, the long term costs are pretty negligible.
If you’re paying cash, then your monthly expenses are only going down due to your reduced electricity bill, so your savings potential is going up further.
Additionally the panels are warrantied for at least a decade, with a performance guarantee for 20+ years. If they’re installed on your roof, many also include a guarantee on the roof work.
Proactive solar maintenance is really just keeping things clean, which costs very little.
These small costs do add up if you’re barely making ends meet and on a lease plan that costs roughly the same as your old utility bill, but for the group paying upfront, ¯\(ツ)/¯