When solar panels are a better investment than stocks

With the right rebates, solar panels can offer a return on investment far higher than you'll find in the S&P 500.

Thu, Jul 01 2010 at 10:39 AM EST

Photo: Wayne National Forest/Flickr

If you live in New Jersey, own your own home, and have a spare $25,500 kicking around, the best investment you can make, dollar for dollar, could be a set of solar panels.

Put that $25,500 in the stock market and you'll see a return on investment of around $43,000 over 15 years.

If you take that same $25,500 and buy some solar panels for your house, you'll see $108,000 back as a return. Even the most cold-hearted bottom-liner can't argue with numbers like that. An investment in solar panels offers none of the downsides of the stock market and will prevent a bunch of greenhouse gas emissions to boot.

New Jersey is such a solar-friendly state because of a rebate payment system state officials have set up for solar panel owners. Read One Block Off the Grid's (1BOG) post on why New Jersey is the best place in the country to go solar.

Visit 1BOG's solar estimator tool to see how well you'd do installing solar panels on your house.

Disclaimer (1BOG did it, seems like a good idea): I am not a financial advisor. If you have money to invest, talk to an actual financial advisor or three before deciding what to do with it.

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