Posted on 05/20/2012 7:21:57 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
LARGO — Last summer, Mike Zwalley put a $65,000 solar energy system on his roof. The system — a 30-gallon solar water heater and 44 black panels that convert sunlight into electricity — cut Zwalley's electric bill from $300 to $400 per month to $10 to $20.
About two months after Zwalley installed the system at his waterfront home off Indian Rocks Road, his next-door neighbor planted three cypress trees, each about 10 feet tall, along his property line.
Zwalley, a 58-year-old car salesman, was not happy. He had asked the neighbor, Wade Gibson, not to plant the trees there.
Zwalley found several websites that estimated the trees would grow to between 70 and 100 feet. At that height, they could cast shade on Zwalley's solar panels.
Gibson told Zwalley that he did not think the trees would get that big, but if they did, Gibson would take care of it, according to Zwalley.
That answer wasn't good enough for Zwalley. He called city management. He called state legislators. He called legal experts. They all gave him different forms of the same answer: In Florida, the law is not on your side.
It would be in a few other states, though.
As energy costs continue to rise, legal experts say courts should expect more battles over solar panels and a property owner's rights, or lack thereof, to sunlight.
"We're going to see more and more, and if it's on your rooftop or in your back yard, you're going to be concerned about your neighbor growing trees," said Scott Anders, director of the Energy Policy Initiatives Center in San Diego. "And growing trees is a good thing, right?"
If Zwalley lived in any of the following places,...
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
How long before a hurricane comes and takes the solar panels and the trees out? This might not be a problem for very long.
Not the best comparison for the past few years, and probably less so going forward as the whole system collapses upon itself.
The rest is tripe - this is the crux:
Pay $65,000 & save $300 per month - and I seriously doubt even that projection as it doesn't even address batteries and equipment maintence & repair - even if you believe all of it.
By their own numbers that is an 18 YEAR break even point
Wherever and whenever "alternative energy' is involved, they suddenly they don't care about trees or pollution or endangered species.
So dude is saving (for now) $300/month, meaning he’ll get his $65K back in about 19-20 years. Of course, the panels will have worn out before that, but who cares, right?
I saw this sign next to some property for sale in Central Hoosierland
I'm assuming this guy has all electric with no gas. He has little heating required except HOT WATER.
Depending on your lifestyle that can be expensive, and even an old fashioned copper pipe solar heater can whack that cost back big time!
He may have overspent. Or maybe he has a couple of chillun' in there who use an iron lung half the day.
There’s no mention of the fact that:
1. There is a 1/3 Federal tax credit to the cost of the system
2. Florida gave $10-20K cash rebates for the systems
So, Federal and Florida taxpayers are already probably subsidizing this individual’s reduced monthly utility bill. If I was an apartment dweller, I’d be pissed.
How do I know this? We took advantage of the same credit and rebate to pay for our 5 kilowatt system.
Only if treated as a single investment opportunity by a business. This is an individual and properly treated the ROI computation will be quite beneficial to him.
Can that setup really produce that much kilowattage? Or is he comparing his highest bill in July with ac running, to his lowest bill, say during really mild weather?
Will this contraption actually run his air conditioner?
I’ve still got one very tall poplar and I learned my lesson about screwing around after they die. I ended up with one in my bed with me.
I’ve got lots of other trees but they’re all pine and good strong maple and hickory.
We had a similiar event in our area, except it was a self inflicted enviro wound.
A nice but not the brightest couple decided to help the earth and installed a huge, expensive and similiar solar system.
They failed to consider the growth of the 100 + year old native oaks on the south and west side of their property. In a couple of years the oaks on their property were blocking most of the sunlight.
They tried to get permission from the homeowners group to cut the tops of the native oaks, which kills oaks in about a year.
One of their neighbors across the street is a rabid and powerful greenie. She got some of her green lawyer and enviro buddies to warn the solar dreamers not to prune or top their oaks.
So each year their expensive and tax supported solar system was less effective then the previous year, which wasn’t very effective.
Two years agao, the ultimate blow came when their roof started leaking, and the roofing company said the installation of the solar system voided their 20 year warranty. The roofing company had warned the home owners, verbally and in writing, that their warranty would be null and void with installation of the massive solar system.
We have the same roofers, and they backed up their 20 year warranty with no /’s. Then after their warranty expired, they have fixed 3 problems at zero cost, where I felt their original roofing had installed some errors. The roofers are good people to deal with unless you do something like install a solar system on one of their roofs.
Last year, the neighbors had their worthless solar system torn down and removed, and a very expensive new roof was installed by an different roofer. The new roofing company had the neighbors sign a waiver if they decided to install another worthless solar system on their roof, their roofing warranty was null and void.
In 30 years, the guy could be dead, or living on the moon.
$65k seems like a lot of money, but I guess he needs a lot of capacity. He would be better off to not go solar and hope his neighbors trees grew tall enough to provide some shade.
Yeah, I've had close calls however in the long run they are worth it for they are GREAT shade tree's.
1) He should have probably invested in insulation or something. It’s ridiculous to be paying $300 to $400 per month for electricity... I’ve yet to pay even close to that in Maryland, and it gets a heck of a lot colder in the winter.
2) Trees provide shade. Shade helps to keep the house from getting as hot in the summer. A house that doesn’t get as hot doesn’t require as much cooling.
3) Ditto to what others said on the price tag. It doesn’t sound like he’s saving money at all.
The glare off Mr. Sun’s roof must be blinding. Nice of him to paint it white while the rest of the neighborhood has conforming roof styles. I’d plant a row of 50 ft. trees between my house and his.
We can’t forget that solar panels aren’t guaranteed for life. Most manufacturers say 20 years. Since most are made in China, I would doubt they get 20 years out of them. In other words, this DB will save nothing. His neighbor probably planted the trees to hide the ugly solar panel roof.
Berkeley, CA has an ordinance that allows a homeowner to cut his neighbor’s tres if they have grown to a height that they block his view of the Bay.
Not saying I agree, or disagree, just saying that’s how it is (and glad that I don’t live there any more.)
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