Solar Panels
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Anyone here have solar panels on their home? I am getting a proposal from a local (we're in Northern California, the land of relentless summer sunshine) company in the next few days. My wife is all for it; me, not so much. The payback period is pretty long, and the variables (guesses) to calculate that are many. OTOH, my 401K is yielding a whopping 0.4% YTD, so even a long ROI curve is better than that.
My other signature is witty and insightful.
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Anyone here have solar panels on their home? I am getting a proposal from a local (we're in Northern California, the land of relentless summer sunshine) company in the next few days. My wife is all for it; me, not so much. The payback period is pretty long, and the variables (guesses) to calculate that are many. OTOH, my 401K is yielding a whopping 0.4% YTD, so even a long ROI curve is better than that.
My other signature is witty and insightful.
I've been tempted for years and everything I've read lately says the best idea is to wait just a few more years as there are some far more efficient ones coming down the pipe line. That being said if there was a government grant or something to cover a big chunk of it I'd do it now just for the fact that our power goes out so much in the winter it would give me an excuse to do a whole home battery backup thing as well.
Yesterday they said today was tomorrow but today they know better. - Poul Anderson
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Anyone here have solar panels on their home? I am getting a proposal from a local (we're in Northern California, the land of relentless summer sunshine) company in the next few days. My wife is all for it; me, not so much. The payback period is pretty long, and the variables (guesses) to calculate that are many. OTOH, my 401K is yielding a whopping 0.4% YTD, so even a long ROI curve is better than that.
My other signature is witty and insightful.
i saw a quote one day that i feel sums it up "i'll buy solar panels when the factory making them is powered by solar panels" :) we've had what - 30 years of solar panels ? and how long does it take to pay for themselves? I'll pass unless theres a special reason for having them or until they are cheap enough to buy on their own merit.(i.e. not government subsidies) Bryce
MCAD --- To paraphrase Fred Dagg - the views expressed in this post are bloody good ones. --
Publitor, making Pubmed easy. http://www.sohocode.com/publitorOur kids books :The Snot Goblin, and Book 2 - the Snotgoblin and Fluff
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Anyone here have solar panels on their home? I am getting a proposal from a local (we're in Northern California, the land of relentless summer sunshine) company in the next few days. My wife is all for it; me, not so much. The payback period is pretty long, and the variables (guesses) to calculate that are many. OTOH, my 401K is yielding a whopping 0.4% YTD, so even a long ROI curve is better than that.
My other signature is witty and insightful.
I'm building a small solar PV generating station right now at work; it won't be profitable, but it will demo a new thin-film technology from a well known company. Prior to this activity, I was working with a guy in Lake Havasu who needed help with calculations, evaluating some options for starting a solar PV home installation business in his area. He was able to obtain, direct from China, panels priced at $1.73/W. For a 10kW system, without battery storage, the total cost including inverters, switching and installation came to around $25k per house. This made no economic sense without government and industry incentives, though. The Feds will give a 30% tax credit for such systems, which helps, but doesn't provide enough to make customers jump at the chance. Arizona gives a trivial tax break, so not much help there. The deal maker was the industry rebate. In his area, Unisource is the power provider, and they are offering $3/W rebates for up to 10kW per home. That means it's free to the homeowner, with room for $5k profit for the installer. I hope he pursues it - I'm no longer working with him, so I'll never know. But not all utilities offer such generous rebates, and without them there is no economic argument for solar power on private homes, especially if you want the lights on when it's dark outside. The battery industry isn't doing squat for renewable energy, in terms of increasing power density at lower cost. It's made some strides in the past few decades, but only at ever more extravagant expense. There are lots of good moral reasons for wanting to do one's part, of course, but if you're looking for cheap power, this isn't the way. :sigh:
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Anyone here have solar panels on their home? I am getting a proposal from a local (we're in Northern California, the land of relentless summer sunshine) company in the next few days. My wife is all for it; me, not so much. The payback period is pretty long, and the variables (guesses) to calculate that are many. OTOH, my 401K is yielding a whopping 0.4% YTD, so even a long ROI curve is better than that.
My other signature is witty and insightful.
Yeah, my parents had one installed ~18 years back, long before it became fashionable. Didn't do the maths (I was less than 10 then), but it's paid for itself many times over. [EDIT]I'm talking about a solar-powered water heater, not an electricity generator if that's what you're asking about.[/EDIT]
Cheers, Vikram. (Got my troika of CCCs!)
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Anyone here have solar panels on their home? I am getting a proposal from a local (we're in Northern California, the land of relentless summer sunshine) company in the next few days. My wife is all for it; me, not so much. The payback period is pretty long, and the variables (guesses) to calculate that are many. OTOH, my 401K is yielding a whopping 0.4% YTD, so even a long ROI curve is better than that.
My other signature is witty and insightful.
It's about the environment, not the money.
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It's about the environment, not the money.
Yeah? So I guess we're all supposed to conclude that the environment isn't worth the money? If it were, the money would follow.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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I'm building a small solar PV generating station right now at work; it won't be profitable, but it will demo a new thin-film technology from a well known company. Prior to this activity, I was working with a guy in Lake Havasu who needed help with calculations, evaluating some options for starting a solar PV home installation business in his area. He was able to obtain, direct from China, panels priced at $1.73/W. For a 10kW system, without battery storage, the total cost including inverters, switching and installation came to around $25k per house. This made no economic sense without government and industry incentives, though. The Feds will give a 30% tax credit for such systems, which helps, but doesn't provide enough to make customers jump at the chance. Arizona gives a trivial tax break, so not much help there. The deal maker was the industry rebate. In his area, Unisource is the power provider, and they are offering $3/W rebates for up to 10kW per home. That means it's free to the homeowner, with room for $5k profit for the installer. I hope he pursues it - I'm no longer working with him, so I'll never know. But not all utilities offer such generous rebates, and without them there is no economic argument for solar power on private homes, especially if you want the lights on when it's dark outside. The battery industry isn't doing squat for renewable energy, in terms of increasing power density at lower cost. It's made some strides in the past few decades, but only at ever more extravagant expense. There are lots of good moral reasons for wanting to do one's part, of course, but if you're looking for cheap power, this isn't the way. :sigh:
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
You get a 5 mr Wogger sir Bryce
MCAD --- To paraphrase Fred Dagg - the views expressed in this post are bloody good ones. --
Publitor, making Pubmed easy. http://www.sohocode.com/publitorOur kids books :The Snot Goblin, and Book 2 - the Snotgoblin and Fluff
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It's about the environment, not the money.
which bit of the "environment" ? Bryce
MCAD --- To paraphrase Fred Dagg - the views expressed in this post are bloody good ones. --
Publitor, making Pubmed easy. http://www.sohocode.com/publitorOur kids books :The Snot Goblin, and Book 2 - the Snotgoblin and Fluff