I live near the ocean in San Francisco. Foggy summers might make solar panels seem like a bad idea. But ours have worked great.

Installed in 2008, and we haven’t paid for electricity since—just the monthly $12 grid connection fee.

The trick? The fog is mostly July and August. April, May, and June are sunny enough to carry the year. Production dips in summer but balances out.

This year, we’re adding an electric car (not a Tesla, thanks). Curious to see what it does to the numbers.