Unfortunately in the US, it’s the installation costs that will get you. 3X what it costs in Australia.
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In my corner of the US, there are local campaigns to fight expansion of a couple of solar farms.
Environmental concerns (PFAS getting into local aquifers, impact of water runoff, hazmat concerns from retirement of the panels when they reach EOL) are being raised…but the objections are really rooted in NIMBYism. Some of the folks complaining about the solar farms also regularly complain about the cost of electricity locally.
OK, not so sure now, as someone might have hired a saleswoman with a MAGAt following:
“We need more MAGA influencers following her lead, sharing the facts about the important role solar and storage plays, and will continue to play, in our nation’s energy future and in our nation’s global competitiveness,” Hopper said.
“… cuz them folks is stupid as bricks, as gullible as a baby.”
from “Inflation” Thread.
Well, panels do wear out.
I’ll watch, as my rates are pretty high, and I think I can get 38 panels on my roof, based on observations of two other houses in my area with the same roofs (one has panels in one area, one has them in another, non-overlapping).
watching… whoa, this is slow. Is this an audition for the new Mr Rogers?
An hour and 30?? Abandoning now. Need more robust summary.
Skipped to the end, as I know all that other stuff. There is no need for the political commentary at the end. Yes, I know all that already, too.
And, it’s not “free energy.” It is an upfront cost that amortizes over 20-30 years. as such, he upfront cost needs to be compared, mathematically, to the other choice of paying for energy on a monthly basis. Was this noted in this 1.5 hour video? Probably not.
Simple math:
- How much electric energy on average do you use?
- What is the rate of said electric energy?
- How many panels would it take to replace that average, or more importantly, to replace the peak amount?
- How much would those panels cost to install?
- How long are those panels expected to last?
- How much maintenance is required for these panels? (I live in a pretty dusty area.)
- What can you do with the energy you don’t use?
- Batteries? What will those cost?
- Power company buyback? What rate?
- Any fed/state/local rebates/discounts?
My brother just got a job as a Sales Prepper (cold calls to set up meetings for actual sales calls) for solar company. Not too interested, but looking for top-quality, (expected) long-lasting company to do the work and to do any maintenance/repairs.
Siemens or SunRun panels. Or this one that sends an e-mail once a day.
If I do it, I plan to get the materials myself, then hire someone to install and get permits. Someone local is preferred, and not a hand-me-down from a contractor.
Are you on a flat rate or time of use plan?
It’s expensive either way.
However, we don’t use a lot of energy. We don’t get too many AC-required days.
Well, you can do the math, but if you aren’t using much juice then it may not make sense. Labor is likely $$$ where you are, and the labor for a small system may not scale down proportionally with the number of panels.
We have basically the opposite problem. Big house, Kansas summers. We are on a time of use plan and it’s $0.24 (I think, would have to check) per kWh from 4-8PM. It might make sense for us to offset that expensive afternoon AC use.
Given your large time of use rate difference, a large battery without solar could be an approach for lower bills.
I have one, I want to say it’s 15kWh or so. For now my utility company controls it, in a couple years they will sell it to me for a couple grand a that’s the plan, use it during the afternoon and charge it overnight. It’ll help, but it’s only connected to 110v breakers so it won’t put a dent in AC use.
For that, I run the AC pretty hard until 4PM when rates skyrocket, then dial the thermostat up so it runs a lot less until rates go back down. At some point I’d like solar but it’s not top priority yet.
Bump for an interesting study:
The short version: panels block wind, cool the soil, and trap moisture. Grass grows. So much grass, in fact, that the solar operator now needs the sheep to keep it from shading the modules and turning into a winter fire risk. The herders get free pasture, the utility gets free landscaping, and a stretch of Gobi that used to be mostly sand is now a working grassland under glass, not unlike the way other clever renewable projects are repurposing land nobody else wanted.
Not included in the short version:
The Talatan numbers are spectacular. They are also a single site, in a specific microclimate, with a utility that has obvious reasons to publish flattering data. Other researchers have already flagged the catch. A separate study of photovoltaic sites across the wider Qinghai-Tibet Plateau found that about 56% of installations saw vegetation cover improve, while 44% actually lost cover compared with surrounding land. Soil moisture explained roughly 62% of the difference, and more than half of the apparent restoration traced back to the water used to wash the panels. Cut the cleaning budget, or push into drier zones, and the lush patches disappear. Lean on them too hard in a truly arid area and the extra plant growth starts pulling water out of an aquifer that can’t refill it.
So, cleaning the panels is a significant contributor to the grass’s growing.
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From other thread:
How many panels? Total wattage?
Asking for a friend.
Getting quotes, will let you know next week.
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Subscribed. I used to check prices every so often but it’s been quite a while. Though it may be tough for me to compete with my utility, who charges me an average price of $0.14 per kWh including all taxes and fees.
Get quotes for the cash price! Many solar installers make more money on the commission earned from the loans customers take out than the panels themselves.
You can always negotiate the loan separately or go to a bank/credit union for the loan