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 $30,000.
No thanks.
And there might come a day when it makes sense in places like Europe,the northern two-thirds of the US and Japan/South Korea.But that day hasn't come.
I have a friend that installs solar for a living here in KY. He has 30 panels on his house.
Both of us feel that it is not cost justified. That’s not the reason to go solar. Yet.
The reason to go solar is to be safely off the grid. It’s a form of independence and gives a nice warm feeling that in yet another way you are immune to the collapse.
i.e. The only way it makes sense is to support the prepper world view. And that is a pretty good reason, frankly.
How many idiots painted their roof white only to find out it’s racist
Betcha those panels won’t last 20 years either...
Another Government boondoggle
1) not worth installing w out subsidies so is nnsustainable
2) each system is proprietary so buying parts later will be a mess. Many of the companies are already bankrupt and no one makes their repair parts.
3) these systems are now owned by people who know nothing of what to do if something goes wrong.
4). These systems will wear out and need maintenance ... Besides finding parts it will be difficult to find technitions that know each system
5). And the worst ... Idiot power companies who are all full of green ($) 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.
bkmk
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.
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.
These sound like undercover Mormons - who always want to put a lien on your life and wallet.
THe article mixed up too things that are both important, the first more than the second though. THe first that the panels are so expensive that over their lifetime, they can only pay off if you pretty much use all the electricity they can generate all the time. Which really nobody does, and storage to cover peaks is way too expensive.
But the property tax is the bigger deal. See, you can get subsidies for the systems, and tax breaks. But suppose someone handed you a $33,000 system in a county that charged, say, $1.20 per $100 in property taxes. (not uncommon I think). That “free” system now costs you $360 a year in taxes, which for me is about 4 months of my electric bill. I’m not costing the county any more money by having this system. But they get more from me, because I’m “richer” because my house is “more expensive”.
For every ‘crisis’ there is a con(job)! Remember Rahm Emmanuel’s axiom, “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste!”? I am ever so strongly reminded of the plethora of ‘gas saving’ gadgets that came out in the ‘gasoline crisis’! It became a regular comedy line about having to drain gas from your car instead of filling-up!
Here is the Golden State and the color is green; green energy and green money! The con artists promise the former but want their cut of the latter and with the state doing the selling job, hey, it is an easy con! Selling a decades-long payback to senior citizens is almost criminal on the face of it. Yes, there are some who will benefit but the usual rule applies, if it is more complicated than a Fuller Brush and sold door-to-door, just say NO!
From what I’ve seen/heard, the electricity costs go down but one usually has to put more money in for repairs and never reaches a break even place.
Harvesting solar power can be cost effective, but not with photovoltaic cells at this time. I incorporated passive heating and cooling in the house I built, and it works quite well to reduce my energy needs.
The Ancient Greeks understood how to take advantage of solar heat in the winter, and reject solar heating in the summer.
It cost very little to nothing more than regular construction costs, and there is no maintenance required except to change from summer setting to winter setting.
Solar supplemental heating of the hot water system is just as easy to setup, but I do not use that much hot water, so did not include anything for hot water.
As far as a roof anything goes.Solar,TV whatever I am not a big fan of drilling holes in a good roof.
I see houses out my way completely cover with panels.
What do you do idk you have a roof problem cause the Solar Guys were butchers?
There is a farm down the road with this Drive In Movie size panel in the field that follows the sun.
That seems to be the way to go but appears to be a mega buck set up??
It will continue to be a good idea as long as Fed and State governments continue to rob Peter of his tax money to pay Suzy Solar to install panels. When the “public financing” schemes end, the economic viability of solar ends with it.
When I was in Florida, I put solar panels on my roof to heat the pool water. Worked great. Little energy needed, driven by the pool filter and gravity. The pool was screened in and the water got cold. Worked great. Far less expensive than a gas heater.
how much does electricity cost in places like
Hawaii, Puerto Rico, USVI, Guam.
might be worth it for avoided-cost.
Put in the back yard to stay away from
property tax issues.
can you do some of the work yourself?
I would say if you have the upfront money to purchase them yourself, all the power to you. I'm not against solar panels but the pricepoint is still too high in my opinion. I think eventually they will get more efficient and less expensive. I'd also like to store unused power in batteries as opposed to sending it out on the grid.