Comment by hx8

The argument essentially breaks down to "smart people buy more solar panels, dumb people buy less solar panels". I think this argument is simplistic. I imagine the primary indicator of how many panels per capital a region will have are either the total amount of sunlight it receive, the total value of local incentives, or perhaps the regional cost of grid electricity.

My highest energy months are the ones with the least amount of sunlight, and my highest energy hours are during long nights, because my primary energy expenditure is my heat pump. This use case is common for people that live in colder climates, which is a large number of people. This causes me to require a much larger base kwh solar install and battery capacity than other homes in other environments.

If we assume a potential 8% ROI in the market, you would need to offset more than $100/mo in electricity usage for every $15,000 you spend in solar install before solar becomes a better investment. The numbers just don't crunch well for many of us.