Solar on my home?

[walrus]

Not many installations are going to payback in less than 10 years today, many may be 15 or more..

People should pay attention to this, my findings on PV also. Took Solar install class at local tech school, buddy and I, both electricians, were going to go at the solar market until we figured out what payback was. Hard sell at that time frame. Interesting class anyway, got NABCEP certified. The only way to get a payback quicker is do it yourself.

 

[ozyborn]

My sister lives near the Idaho and Washington border, up in the mountains. Fully off grid. Her solar array is on poles next to the house and turn with the sun. She has to go into her battery room every day and check levels. Has a diesel power generator as backup. Works for her. She found out just how much of and energy vampire everything is. Put everything on surge protectors to truely turn it off when not in use. No idea on her costs or upkeep. But she loves it

 

[brianh]

I am on my 4th year of a 9k system it does about 85 percent of our power in 5 more years it will have paid for itself I have a smaller ground mounted system 1kw that also is grid tied but has batteries for when the grid goes down for our lighting.

I bought another set of ten 320 watt panels for a grand have to install them next. Its worth it to me, and I did not do it for economic reasons as much as just wanting it. Fossil fuels will not be cheap and around forever.

 

[ManorGarage]

I have a 10 kw solar array on my homes roof and 50kw oh my business roof. As to whether it’s worth it in Long Island NY it is a no brainer as we have the highest electric rates in the nation. In other areas it probably isn’t. My business uses way more electric then a 50kw array can generate but that is the most you could put up at the time I did it and qualify for all the credits and rebates.

My house is a lot more simple to show the justification. I can run my pool heater all summer and my house and almost never pay anything other then taxes and fees which amount to about 12 bucks a month. I paid for it out of pocket but had I financed it it would have been $143 a month for 15 years. My old bill ranged from 200 to 400 in the sumner. So that is a huge savings when amortizing everything out.

It all depends on your local electric rates. I know people in other states that pay next to nothing. My home in Florida for example I wouldn’t put solar on because at the electric rates down there it isn’t worth it yet. If the day comes I see I can save even a dollar a month then I’ll do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[American Locomotive]

So Not Worth It. Period.

First, the solar panels arent your major expense, nor are the inverters - it's the storage cells/batteries that are costly! Factor battery replacement every 5 yrs which, for many that live in darker areas (In Canada the sunny 'days' in the winter only account for ~8 hrs/day), batteries are critical to providing power when needed.

The battery banks that I would personally need cost ~$25,000 Canadian - paying that every 5 yrs means that I will NEVER break even vs. buying from the grid.

If you have a stream or creek on your property, and 100+ feet of elevation difference, look into micro-hydro instead

Very, very few solar installations have battery storage. The vast majority are grid-tied.

Battery storage is only needed if you want to go off-grid - which is silly for the most part.

 

[ratdoggy]

I have a 10 kw solar array on my homes roof and 50kw oh my business roof. As to whether it’s worth it in Long Island NY it is a no brainer as we have the highest electric rates in the nation. In other areas it probably isn’t. My business uses way more electric then a 50kw array can generate but that is the most you could put up at the time I did it and qualify for all the credits and rebates.

My house is a lot more simple to show the justification. I can run my pool heater all summer and my house and almost never pay anything other then taxes and fees which amount to about 12 bucks a month. I paid for it out of pocket but had I financed it it would have been $143 a month for 15 years. My old bill ranged from 200 to 400 in the sumner. So that is a huge savings when amortizing everything out.

It all depends on your local electric rates. I know people in other states that pay next to nothing. My home in Florida for example I wouldn’t put solar on because at the electric rates down there it isn’t worth it yet. If the day comes I see I can save even a dollar a month then I’ll do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep....Long Island definitely gets hosed on rates....
This coming from a former Long Islander
My electric is probably half what it was on LI (house twice the size) solar doesn't pay for me at all here