Solar isn't what they'd like it to be. I also have solar. Solar assisted heating/cooling, a solar hot water heater and a photo voltaic (PV) array. And I live in FL. The first two knocked my electric bill down by between 60 - 70% (went live 8/2014). Other things I also did to knock the bill down were, adding insulation to the attic crawl space, changing out the lights to LED, changing windows and sliders to insulated ones and changing out the pool pump to a variable speed pump. The PV - a 5kW system (20 panels) did the least for my bill. PV efficiency degrades every year by some percent and it isn't that efficient to begin with - maybe 20%? I've noticed that with the same weather circumstances to a year ago the panels produce about 2 to 3% less than they did when they were new a year ago (went live 1/2015). I've been told the life expectancy on solar panels is about 25 years.
I bought because the combination had about a 7 year payback (with income tax credits of 30% rebate of price) and it is a big selling point for the house if I decide to get rid of it.
Last month I owed about $30 in electricity costs, the previous two months they owed me about a total of $1.10, I sent them more than I used both months. I've been watching this industry for well over a decade and IMO PV just isn't ready for prime time.
Thanks, it’s kind of my thought also. I’m going for more insulation.
There is an ongoing back and forth here (probably elsewhere) about paying for the transmission lines also.
In the background is the manufacturing of the panels. What are the by products.
The current technology could be as deep as the Hurtgen Forest (for those that remember that)