Whether solar is worth it in your area currently largely depends on the size of the government subsidies. Without subsidies it is only about a break even proposal on average, worse some places, better others.

The upfront cost is the biggest barrier, once you have a system in place, you’ll likely never replace the whole thing at once again. You’ll do the batteries, or the panels, or the wiring, or individual pieces of each if you prefer. But rarely will you do all of it in the same year again.

So if you don’t have any subsidies in your local area, it might just not be a good idea yet. It could still be, but you’d have to work out for your specific house if it is. And you’d have to take out a loan, assuming your credit/leverage is where it would need to be for that to be possible, and you can afford the repayments.

I can’t say it’s common for people to have savings when the data clearly shows such a high percentage of people live paycheck to paycheck. But in my family we were raised to abhor living paycheck to paycheck, so we’ve all taken to having savings instead. It’s much harder, and a completely different mindset. Basically you have to ignore the thought that money sitting in the bank “isn’t doing anything”. It is providing peace of mind and reducing stress.

Stress is one of the most expensive things in life. Not having whatever nice stuff you could have with that money, newer phone, better car, bigger house, doesn’t make your life anywhere near as bad as always being stressed. Live below your means. It’s very much worth it. The cost of stuff tends to rise exponentially compared to it’s value. The more you get, the more it costed to get more. Something half the price is usually still 80% as good.

It’s so nice to be able to buy stuff out of pocket with a fraction of your savings. Or to have money on-hand when an unexpected expense crops up.

Having said all that, some people don’t have anywhere to go down, they already drive a car that costed less than 5k, or better yet don’t own a car. And they live in a house that meets their needs but doesn’t exceed them. They only upgrade their electronics when they need to, and update them to last year’s midrange. If doing all that, and still living paycheck to paycheck, then you might consider if where you are living is worth it. There might be better overall options. It’s getting much easier to socialise with long distance friends and family on the cheap. Your skills might pay relatively better to the cost of living somewhere else.