[Jonty30]

I think solar power is a good investment, under two conditions:

a. you are in an area with lots of sun. The more sunshine, the more power is produced.

b. You can use the power as it is produced. If you cannot use it all, the unused power is essentially wasted as we are not at a point with very good storage technology yet.

Solar panels optimal life span is about 20 years, with usuable lifespan being upwards of 30-35 years.

[UnBubba]

We're on Long Island. This area has good and bad years when it comes to sun light, however, the stats are well documented.

We definitely use more power (about 3.2 MW/year) than a solar panel project will generate (about 1.4 MW).

Thank you for your thoughts.

[Pikachu_Dad]

He is in LONG ISLAND. That is NOT a place with a lot of sun.

The Mohave desert - 7.7 kWh/m2/day.
Montpelier, Vermont - 3.43 kWh/m2/day.

Long Island should be in the 3.4 kWh/m2/day range. Perhaps less due to being on the coast.

Assuming 15% efficiency of the cells, then the harvest is about 0.5 kWh/m2/day.