Posted on 09/27/2016 10:23:34 AM PDT by artichokegrower
Rooftop solar panels, as the men who came knocking described them, seemed to Faye Moore like a good deal.
The solicitors who visited 75-year-old Moore’s Pomona home told her they could help finance solar panels that would slash her energy bill. So she signed on.
Her energy bills have indeed plummeted from the hundreds she was paying a month. But the thousands of additional dollars she’ll owe annually in property taxes to pay off her new $33,000 system far outstrips those savings.
“I think I’ve been had,” Moore said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Doesn't sound like a good idea
I am fully interested in getting solar panels installed somewhere, but only if they can feed my own house and not the grid. I saw a great youtube video on a guy who put together a DIY system with four panels and 10 golf cart batteries for under $5000 that can serve as an emergency backup and provide some direct energy in the event of a power loss.
But to feed power back into the grid? No thanks.
Generally speaking, the house to house solar sales are selling a system at 2x or 3x the real cost. I have found 5kw pannels for about $12,000. Solar city wanted to sell me a a 3kw system for $30,000.
No thanks.
And there might come a day when it makes sense in places like Europe,the northern two-thirds of the US and Japan/South Korea.But that day hasn't come.
I have a friend that installs solar for a living here in KY. He has 30 panels on his house.
Both of us feel that it is not cost justified. That’s not the reason to go solar. Yet.
The reason to go solar is to be safely off the grid. It’s a form of independence and gives a nice warm feeling that in yet another way you are immune to the collapse.
i.e. The only way it makes sense is to support the prepper world view. And that is a pretty good reason, frankly.
How many idiots painted their roof white only to find out it’s racist
Agreed. I’ve had a half a dozen of these bozo salesmen come out looking to get their $5k-$10K cut off the top. These companies are basically stealing your $30K rebate from the government. This is the highest markup construction work going right now. When I saw what a scam this was, I started looking into quitting my fulltime 6 figure engineering job to do solar contracting.
“10 golf cart batteries”
How long do those batteries last I wonder before they go flat and you have to buy new ones to replace? IOW a recurring cost, and disposal of the old ones? Not tryin’ to be snarky, just wondering about some of the outlying details.
IMO the technology hasn’t advanced far enough for me to even consider it.....just my 2 cent.
I looked into it.
Not yet ready for prime time.
I’ll look again in ten years.
Betcha those panels won’t last 20 years either...
Another Government boondoggle
1) not worth installing w out subsidies so is nnsustainable
2) each system is proprietary so buying parts later will be a mess. Many of the companies are already bankrupt and no one makes their repair parts.
3) these systems are now owned by people who know nothing of what to do if something goes wrong.
4). These systems will wear out and need maintenance ... Besides finding parts it will be difficult to find technitions that know each system
5). And the worst ... Idiot power companies who are all full of green ($) joy at not having to invest in their own generation will one by one see these systems colapse.
You only need look at the solar water heater programs from a few years ago .... All the greenies were wetting their pants w joy and almost none of the systems are still in use. Worse, people had to pay to have them removed w no subsidy... Add to the land fill freebies hate so much.
Last) we are not building power generation plants and what were a few promising technologies like point of use turbine generators wasn’t on the favored list picked by the stupid people who run government and power companies.
“That all being said, properly maintained battery packs in fleet carts tend to last about 4-6 years while private owners tend to get about 6-10 years out of their battery packs.”
http://www.islegolfcars.com/blog/item/how-long-do-batteries-last
That site is talking about batteries being used in actual carts, not with solar panels, but I imagine the maximum lifetime won’t exceed 10 years either way.
When batteries are better so I can truly be off the grid and still run my 220v shop tools I’ll be all over solar.
We recently spent $30,000 to re-roof our house (it’s a large,complicated roofing job - we had two estimates that were $60K+). The contract for the roofing job had a clause that installing solar panels voids the warranty. So even if the panels were cost effective (which they’re not), I’m not letting some poorly trained installer put holes in my roof.
bkmk
I am neutral about solar, but if I ever bought some, I would fully own them, not go through one of these companies.
I am in SoCal, and get continually hammered with calls for Solar.
The first question is how high is my monthly electricity bill?
When I answer, the conversation ends. We DO NOT have a pool, and DO NOT have Air Conditioning.
Our cooking, heating and hot water are natural gas.
The result is too small of an electricity bill, to justify even the callers to continue with me.
Thinking long run, I believe technology advances will eventually make Solar a big part of our energy sources.
“Not yet ready for prime time”
Just like battery operated cars.....again just my opinion.
Because of state and federal refunds, solar installers jack the prices up. They use you to extort money from the government, or as my wife keeps reminding me, We The People. Remove the subsidies to open the market. I believe the technology to be no more complex than a washing machine or any other modern appliance. I am sure there are many qualified electricians who could install panels and tie the system into the “grid”. Nevertheless, we still need coal, petroleum, and natural gas.
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