OT - Solar Panel?

[DaddyChoc]

for your home... do you use them, are the effective?

reviews/opinions

 

[meyers7]

Can't use them where we live, too many trees. But if you get the right deal, one of the best investments you can make.

 

[Kaizen]

If no government incentive it is not worth to install for me (in Southern California).
The current price is about $20-25K for the house I live. I paid between $60-100 per month electricity.
If the solar saves me $100 per month. I will save $1200 per year. It will take 16-20 years to get my money back.

Note: Last summer I paid 15K to install a new AC/Heat system (with Costco and government rebates I paid only $10K).
Ever since it saves me $100 (summer) to $50 (winter) electricity per month. I think this is a deal.

 

[j66kicker]

Where I live we get so much sun we don't use daylight savings time because we don't want any more sun. Solar City (Elon Musk) has a leasing program where you pay nothing down - they pay the installation and everything. Then any excess power your panels produce in non-peak periods goes back to the grid and is sold to your local power supplier. Your monthly lease payment is less than your monthly savings. So you come out ahead, AND your lease payment will never go up like your savings will when your supplier raises rates.

BUT the particular electric utility in my neighborhood (Salt River Project) does not like this competition and has decided to charge higher rates to solar users. High enough so that Solar City can't work with their customers. So far it's holding up in court. So we allow monopolistic utilities to stifle creative attempts to combat climate change and resource depletion.

So now I'm investigating home power management systems (buy your electricity at cheap nighttime rates, store it for use in the daytime). Elon Musk is also going to be a major player in this with his Tesla venture.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

A cautionary and seemingly unbiased analysis advises caution.

Tough Times May Be Ahead for Residential Solar Panels - IER

 

[Husky25]

Check on the tax credits, state rebates, broker discounts. You also need to have the study done on exposure and exposed surface area. It's not intrusive and they do it while you are at work. If you have the means and credit, I'd recommend buying them. The owner gets the benefit of the credits, rebates, and discounts and the amount you save on the energy sale back to Eversource under lease is only worth a fraction of the other givebacks. I haven't checked this year, but the first year we had Solar, the largest Bill for any month was $104. The smallest Bill of any month during the preceding two years was $107. In the Spring and Fall, when the pool is closed, A/C's aren't running, and the sun is out, we pay the fixed charges only because we've built up a credit towards generation and delivery.

 

[j66kicker]

A cautionary and seemingly unbiased analysis advises caution.

Tough Times May Be Ahead for Residential Solar Panels - IER

Yeah there are issues with costs being unfairly allocated. SRP here is also claiming they can be much more efficient doing solar themselves, on a large scale, than can individual homeowners. Plus it would let them plan capacity rather than being at the whims of homeowners. There are environmental issues too. In many places renewable energy (wind, water, solar), along with safety concerns highlighted by the recent Japanese nuclear disaster, is driving the nuclear power industry out of business. This means fossil fuel generating capacity is being relied on more for backup when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine, actually INCREASING carbon emissions. Germany, who has been a leader in renewable energy, is putting the brakes to evaluate.

 

[Husky25]

A cautionary and seemingly unbiased analysis advises caution.

Tough Times May Be Ahead for Residential Solar Panels - IER

That seems pretty far from unbiased to me and the Rochester example is ridiculous (to say nothing that it is out-of-date, at two weeks short of 3 years old). ROI is based on out-of-pocket outlay ($13K), not retail price ($42K) and my use of the Grid for electricity generated is paid out of the fixed $19.25 Distribution Customer Service Charge. I have to pay that whether I am a net user or provider of electricity.

Another thing I find suspect is the wattage produced. As I pointed out, the article is 3 years old so technology may have improved. It may also very well not be as sunny in Rochester as it is in Eastern CT, but my system has produced over 13,100 kWh since it went on line in December 2014. That is less than 2 full years and more than two full years less than the Rochester example. The other thing that article does not consider is the 15,000 kWh produced via solar panels is 15,000 kWh not purchased from the electric company to generate or deliver. So in a sense, shouldn't the $2,790 figure actually be doubled? Just a few things to consider...

Be all that as it may, solar is not for everyone. It depends on a combination of a number of factors, including feelings about the environment, monetary return, means, and viability on one's property.

 

[diggerfoot]

Every energy source is subsidized in some way, either directly or indirectly by how investments are influenced, whether acknowledged by a think tank as such or not. As for think tanks, they are a throwback to the university system before the Scientific Revolution, emulating the same scholastic approach to knowledge as the Church that ran the university system ... pick and choose what best fits doctrine. Each think tank, conservative, liberal or otherwise, has their doctrine. That has to be understood in evaluating any research any of them produces, which is particularly true for one founded by a former ENRON executive (IER).

 

[itsasport]

I would wait--for now. Solar panel technology is still in its infancy; but, there are strides being made in increasing their efficiency, the % of light they capture by increasing the band width beyond the visible range; and by reducing the production costs.

Well-made panels are guaranteed for 30 plus years. But panels made outside the US are less well-made and the companies might not be around in 30 years.

Battery storage is getting much cheaper, which helps during power outages and being able to save power for when you need it. I think the sales deals with the utility companies will become increasing problematic.

Buy them (for the above reasons)from a company with a long track record and install them yourself (they can be put on the ground for easier cleaning and maintenance.)

 

[Frodo]

A cautionary and seemingly unbiased analysis advises caution.

Tough Times May Be Ahead for Residential Solar Panels - IER

Totally bogus 'report'. To start, the Institute for Energy Research is not a research organization at all, and is, in fact, much more of a lobbying arm of the petroleum industry. As pointed out already the Rochester example, if the numbers are even honest, is a real outlier and not representative of the industry. My solar installation from Sungevity is 12Kwhs for 24K. A neighbor who's Sungevity system has been in operation for a few months now estimates that his payback period could be as short as 6 years.