Margaret Oflynn was 71 when she decided her electricity bills had become unreasonable. She called the first solar installer she found online, signed a 25-year lease agreement the same week, and later discovered she had no ownership of the panels on her own roof.

This particular mistake, signing a lease instead of purchasing outright or financing a purchase, is one of the most common errors older homeowners make with solar. A lease means the company owns the equipment. If Margaret sells her house, the buyer must take over that lease, which complicates the sale considerably.

The assessment step most people skip

Before any conversation with an installer, a homeowner needs an independent roof inspection. Installers rarely volunteer this. Panels last 25 to 30 years, but a roof that needs replacement in 7 years will require removing and reinstalling all equipment, which costs between 3,000 and 5,000 euros.

Orientation also matters more than people expect. A roof facing north in Ireland receives significantly less solar radiation than one facing south or southwest. Some homes are simply not good candidates, and an honest installer should say so.

Reading the actual numbers

Installers typically present projected annual savings. Those projections assume average usage, average sunlight hours, and a stable electricity price. All three vary. Asking for the payback period in years, not in projected savings, gives a clearer picture of whether the investment makes sense for a specific household.