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some power companies are going more and more solar. what people fail to realize is even if your system did not cover 100% of your demand, what ever it does produce still reduces your total bill
of course it does, the question is whether the investment is worth the return. If your solar system has a 10 year life and it takes 12 for you to break even---------not a good deal. without the govt subsidies, no one would install solar panels.
my system paid itself off in 3 years. Subsidies, SREC credits and power generated. the system is estimated to have a 25 year life.
of course it does, the question is whether the investment is worth the return. If your solar system has a 10 year life and it takes 12 for you to break even---------not a good deal. without the govt subsidies, no one would install solar panels.
my system paid itself off in 3 years. Subsidies, SREC credits and power generated. the system is estimated to have a 25 year life.
It didn't pay for itself.. TAXPAYERS put you into the electrical generation biz and are paying a portion of your bill... Did you pay CASH? or finance it? Insurance?
I have a hard time believing the math...
How many years does your roof have left??
I'm in favor of solar energy and its untapped potential.
There was an episode on a show titled "Doomsday Preppers" in which a man bought around $95,000 worth of solar panels. Every year he has no electric bill, and he sells around $5,000 worth of electricity to electric companies. In time, his investment will pay off. I would like to see that on a grander scale.
I'm in favor of solar energy and its untapped potential.
There was an episode on a show titled "Doomsday Preppers" in which a man bought around $95,000 worth of solar panels. Every year he has no electric bill, and he sells around $5,000 worth of electricity to electric companies. In time, his investment will pay off. I would like to see that on a grander scale.
So would everyone. why isn't the left wing obama administration subsidizing power companies to go solar? why did they let the envirowackos block a solar panel farm in california to save a lizard?
my system paid itself off in 3 years. Subsidies, SREC credits and power generated. the system is estimated to have a 25 year life.
It didn't pay for itself.. TAXPAYERS put you into the electrical generation biz and are paying a portion of your bill... Did you pay CASH? or finance it? Insurance?
I have a hard time believing the math...
How many years does your roof have left??
good points. the systems I have looked at have a 10-15 year life --max. and if you get a hail storm-------done.
these things all sound good until you do a realistic financial analysis.
It didn't pay for itself.. TAXPAYERS put you into the electrical generation biz and are paying a portion of your bill... Did you pay CASH? or finance it? Insurance?
I have a hard time believing the math...
How many years does your roof have left??
good points. the systems I have looked at have a 10-15 year life --max. and if you get a hail storm-------done.
these things all sound good until you do a realistic financial analysis.
hail does nothing to them. drop a bowling ball on one, it doesn't break. those things are tough as hell. here's my deal. after 3 years the system is already paid back. I have no utility bill, so that cost is now a savings or a net profit. I generate about 14 SREC credits a year which I get about $500 per credit. that's about $7000 a year profit. I get paid for the excess. at this point, even if I didn't get the SRECs, even if I didn't have the excess to sell back, I still have no utility bill. it is totally worth it
You can go off the grid completely by using generator with turbine style windmill - along with your solar panels.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/b...do-it-yourself-power.html?smid=re-share&_r=1&
Alarmed by what they say has become an existential threat to their business, utility companies are moving to roll back government incentives aimed at promoting solar energy and other renewable sources of power. At stake, the companies say, is nothing less than the future of the American electricity industry.
According to the Energy Information Administration, rooftop solar electricity the economics of which often depend on government incentives and mandates accounts for less than a quarter of 1 percent of the nations power generation.
And yet, to hear executives tell it, such power sources could ultimately threaten traditional utilities ability to maintain the nations grid.
They have good reason. In California, as intended, net metering has proved a strong draw for customers. From 2010 to 2012, the amount of solar installed each year has increased by 160 percent, almost doubling the amount of electricity that rooftop systems can make, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. With federal tax credits and a rebate program for installation costs under the California Solar Initiative phasing out, determining how much to pay customers has become even more critical.
Net metering right now is the only way for customers to get value for their rooftop solar systems, said Adam Browning, executive director of the advocacy group Vote Solar.
Mr. Browning and other proponents say that solar customers deserve fair payment not only for the electricity they transmit but for the value that smaller, more dispersed power generators give to utilities. Making more power closer to where it is used, advocates say, can reduce stress on the grid and make it more reliable, as well as save utilities from having to build and maintain more infrastructure and large, centralized generators.
But utility executives say that when solar customers no longer pay for electricity, they also stop paying for the grid, shifting those costs to other customers. Utilities generally make their profits by making investments in infrastructure and designing customer rates to earn that money back with a guaranteed return, set on average at about 10 percent.
Thoughts?
good points. the systems I have looked at have a 10-15 year life --max. and if you get a hail storm-------done.
these things all sound good until you do a realistic financial analysis.
hail does nothing to them. drop a bowling ball on one, it doesn't break. those things are tough as hell. here's my deal. after 3 years the system is already paid back. I have no utility bill, so that cost is now a savings or a net profit. I generate about 14 SREC credits a year which I get about $500 per credit. that's about $7000 a year profit. I get paid for the excess. at this point, even if I didn't get the SRECs, even if I didn't have the excess to sell back, I still have no utility bill. it is totally worth it
do you have a battery back up system? or do you just forgo electricity at night and on cloudy days?
For the record-----I don't believe your claims.
The average home is fed by a capacity up to 48000 watts of power. (200 amps at 240V)
The average home - in my area - only consumes 134 watt hours per day.
If I installed a 40000 watt solar array it could produce 228000 watt hours in mid spring with a 0.5 solar day. If I only installed a 10000 watt system it could still produce 57000 watt hours on the same day.
It will not produce power at night and it will produce more on days with full sun than on days with clouds. In an area just 100 miles from me they get 359 solar days a year (4 days without sun). In another area just a bit further away they only get 140 solar days a year. It would take that area a lot longer to make up for the cost of a 10000 watt system.
The electric companies must have power available to all their customers 24 hours each day. They can't rely on solar to do that. Even with wind generators (that require maintenance and cost more than solar) they don't produce power when there isn't enough wind.
If you are willing to go off-grid and supply your own power then you will have to find a way to get power when the other sources are not working. Batteries are very expensive. Five 48 volt batteries that have a capacity of 600 amp hours will run you about $3000 each and will supply only about 140000 watt hours between charges. If they are never discharged more than 80% and are charged and maintained properly they will last between seven and ten years. So in the life of your solar system you will pay $30,000 for batteries, $100,000 to 120,000 for a 10000 watt system plus the costs for the charge controller, inverter, and battery chargers.
The initial outlay for a whole home system is very high. Can you imagine what the cost would be for an electric company that serves 200,000 to 500,000 homes?
the whole purpose of "green energy" is the ability to raise prices
The average home is fed by a capacity up to 48000 watts of power. (200 amps at 240V)
The average home - in my area - only consumes 134 watt hours per day.
If I installed a 40000 watt solar array it could produce 228000 watt hours in mid spring with a 0.5 solar day. If I only installed a 10000 watt system it could still produce 57000 watt hours on the same day.
