Your roof is the ideal setup: You don’t need to live somewhere where the sun is always shining for solar to be worth it – but you do need to have a suitable roof. The ideal roof for solar is south-facing, has a tilt between 30 and 45 degrees, has plenty of open space, experiences minimal shading throughout the day, and is in good condition. If you have an east or west-facing roof, you can still go solar and expect to save thousands, you might just lose some production. You can take advantage of incentives: The cost of solar panels largely depends on the value of incentives available to you, which varies based on where you live and your tax liability. If you live in a state with net metering and you have enough tax liability to take advantage of the solar tax credit , you’ll break even on your solar investment sooner.