Solar power has been the topic of lots of sales pitches, door to door knocking solicitation, mall and hardware store kiosks and advertisement, but does it work and is there a return of investment? There are other benefits that are offered with solar as well; like tax credits, and the ability to sell the system with the building as an asset.
I recently purchased a home and started the solar process immediately in order to claim the 2017 tax credits, as they change year to year and 2018 was less credit being offered. From start to finish, the whole process took about 4.5 months and once the system was approved by the electric company, I was able to begin producing solar energy same day by turning on the system.
The sales decision was easy, the company sends in a consultant who looks over past electric bills, complete some measurements and emails a design. I would guess if you want a smaller system, you can ask for that to be designed, however they try to fit a system on your home that will compensate for the amount of energy you use.