BuildItSolar: Solar energy projects for Do It Yourselfers to save money and reduce pollution - StumbleUpon. The Smart New Way to Go Solar. Posted by Dave Llorens on September 8th, 2010 It Sounds Crazy, But It’s True Here at One Block Off the Grid, we’re constantly striving to demonstrate not only how much money solar can save, but also make for households, so we decided to conduct a little experiment: let’s say you, the homeowner, had $20,000 to invest today. What would happen if you decided to put panels on your roof instead of putting it in the bank? Now bear in mind that, rates of return are different in different areas, so we looked at exactly how this would play out in three different markets: San Francisco, Long Island, and New Jersey. Our conclusion: investing in solar trounced the bank in every city tested.