Should Homeowners With Solar Panels Pay To Maintain Electrical Grid?

NPR ^ | 11 Dec 2014 | Peter Overby

[Steve_Seattle]

"Yes. People with no children have to pay school taxes."

As do those who send their children to private schools, or home-school.

[Scrambler Bob]

Of course they should pay.

The solar panels just demonstrated that they still have money left.

[Steve_Seattle]

If a house with solar power panels uses the regular power grid at any time, they should just have a meter and be billed on a per-usage basis like everyone else.

[familyop]

Get off of the grid.

http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

http://www.permsteading.com/

http://donkey32.proboards.com/
(more on rocket stove mass heaters)

$1000 Solar Water Heater —Overview
http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/PEXColDHW/Overview.htm
(good learning tool for the system behind the next link)

$2K Solar Space + Water Heating — One Simple DIY System
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/DHWplusSpace/Main.htm

As for PV solar power plants, there are sites all over the Net for learning how they work, how to install them and the best components to install. Get a copy of the National Electrical Code. Study it. Study electrical safety. It’s well worth it. A powerful, self-installed system can use as little as about $60 per month, if you get rid of some of the more outrageously hungry appliances and use better equipment for comforts—especially home-built equipment.

[Bronzy]

Ding, ding..

[GeronL]

end heavy subsidies and tax breaks on solar

[Mastador1]

If they have absolutely no connection whatsoever to the transmission system then no, otherwise yes.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

OMG! One Leftist Utopia Idea just MIGHT be coming to fruition! Solar Power for all! (As IF they invented it, LOL!)

Oh, wait...it’s probably DESTROYING the planet in some manner, like frying some ‘protected’ fly that flies over our solar panels on the roof - so in the next decade we’ll need to BAN solar!

Effing Eco-Weenie Morons.

HOWEVER - I’m not giving up my wind-powered water-pumping windmill on my farm. Eff you! Eff you all! I’ve got mine, so screw the rest of ya, LOL!

*SNORT*

‘New’ sources of energy. Bwa-Haaaaa-Haaaaaa!

*Shakes Head, Walks Away*

[skeeter]

Anyone familiar with the term ‘from each according to their means...’ saw it coming.

[Bronzy]

Huh, we are paying for other people’s medical...duh, yeah.

[familyop]

"We deserve to get some of our money back."

Forcing everyone with solar electric systems to pay socialist investors and a government-linked business is not the way to do it.

"Take away the subsidies and solar panels are an expensive and dangerous eye-soar."

I did not get rebates or tax credits. The PV modules that I bought were not subsidized. They were not expensive or dangerous. And as for "eye-soar," you do not own my land, NIMBY.

[KarlInOhio]

Because I can purchase electricity from a different supplier than the local utility I have to pay for electricity and for delivery separately, along with a fixed monthly hookup fee.

If I were taking electricity from the grid part of the time and putting it back at other times it would be reasonable to pay for the fixed fee and the delivery fee both ways because I would be using the equipment no matter which way the electricity is flowing.

[familyop]

"end heavy subsidies and tax breaks on solar"

Agreed!

[upchuck]

I have no car*. Should part of my taxes go towards street repair, infrastructure maintenance and new road construction?

* made up for the example. I do have a vehicle.

[GeronL]

They shouldn’t have their solar subsidised either

[zek157]

FU and your kind.

[familyop]

Build one of these babies, and watch the NIMBY commies cringe with terror, when they park at the edge of your property to take photos of it for the gossip gang!

Build our 10 foot diameter wind turbine! (including home-built alternator for it)
http://www.otherpower.com/turbineplans.html

It's much tougher than the commercial models. Free illustrated instructions start on the left side of the page with "Stator Mold." Look around the site for tilt tower instructions.

Or better, yet, build the 20-footer!

;-D

[Secret Agent Man]

better analogy is people who’s kids go toprivate school are forced to also pay public school taxes plus private tuition.

[ctdonath2]

Yes, and that’s wrong. I’m paying to send my kids to school (private) while also paying for school (public) I don’t send them to. Gonna have to home school just so I can afford to not send them to public school.

[familyop]

"I have no car*. Should part of my taxes go towards street repair, infrastructure maintenance and new road construction?"

Yes, because even people without cars are using the roads with their bicycles, feet, draft animals or whatever. People with cars are paying big sales taxes, fuel taxes and other taxes, though.

People with no connection to the power grid are not using it. There are many who buy non-subsidized PV modules and receive no rebates or tax credits.