By the time you want to put solar in, the technology may have changed significantly, so best bet...and a good thing to do anyway...is include a couple of chase ways in the home for any future remodeling work...that is pipes that run from the basement to the attic which can be used for running wiring in the future. We put 2 in our house.

Why is more than one needed? Also, there's no basement in the home (rare in Texas). Where should I run them to, the garage?

we did 2 as our house is a ranch so it could be a long run depending on what you are wiring.

If you don't have a basement, you certainly would want one near where the electrical panel is...

I just spoke with DH and he said I lied. He said we only put one in to come out by the meter....he knows better than I.

balor123 - do you have a timeframe for when you think you may get solar? THe answer may be issue depending on whether you are thinking 3-5 years out, or sometime in the future.

Regarding solar shingles, have you looked at the cost of them versus panels?

The home will already have composite shingles and I haven't even seen the HOA documents yet so not in the near future. I wouldn't want to be the only house with them in the area so I'd wait until others decide it's interesting and then only when the roof needs to be replaced. I think that will happen as efficiency improves and price of energy increases so my best guess is maybe 10 years? How much of a disaster will it be to put it in later if I do nothing now in preparation for it?

Slightly off topic, but I think home insurance covers your roof if it's hit by hail. However, I'm not sure an insurance company could be convinced to put solar panels in instead of replacing the roof.

We also just ran a length of conduit from the "attic" to the mechanical room.

They would still get a ck from the insurance com. that they could apply toward solar shingles.