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Can anyone who installed solar panels on their house comment please?
Although very expensive to install, the companies below claim Solar Systems will pay for themselves* through Federal & NJ State State rebates and big reductions in monthly electric bills as well as increasing the value of the house.
*No I wasn't born yesterday Solar Power NJ, New Jersey Solar Solutions Inc
Residential Solar Power Home Systems (http://www.akeena.net/cm/Residential_Solar_Power/Home.html - broken link)
Anyone know at what rate the power company buys back the electricity?
To me it still looks like very nearly a 20 year return on investment. I see a $2000 tax credit from the fed. If you do a grid tie system then you can avoid batteries but 1 KW is still 4500 bucks. Even if your only cost was the panel...
1 kw * 5 hours a day = 5 kwh * 30 = 150 kw/h a month * .15 cents per KW/h = $22.50
$4500/$22.50 month = 200 months or almost 17 years.
4500-(4500*.30 )(tax credit) = $3150 / 22.50 = almost 12 years.
It seems like the best thing to do to make the most sense would be to max out the tax credit incentives, then stop.
What else is going on with rebates?
Last edited by joe moving; 03-19-2008 at 06:33 PM..
Ran out of grant money, about a year ago iirc. Solar became very popular in NJ, with approximately 30-70% being rebated. To qualify, you needed to fill out a number of forms, usually would take 6 months + to get the rebate - the solar installers would take care of this for you. The program got backed up with a massive number of applications. It became first come first serve until the money ran out for that year, and then your application would carry over to the next. With the amount of solar being used, they started the renewable energy credit program instead - I haven't looked much into that, but you effectively are given a credit which can be sold to energy companies.
Electric companies are required in NJ (among other states) to get a percentage of their electricity from renewable energy sources, so they can be very helpful in setting up a solar system. If you want something that looks good on your roof, look up BIPV - Building Integrated Photovoltaics.
Can anyone explain this SREC stuff to me in English?
NJ or PSEG or whoever is paying about $500 per 1000 KW/h (1 SREC) this turns out to be something like $1500 per year, on a 2 KW system. With 30% tax credit, it brings down the pay off period to about 10 years. (20k - 30% - $1500/year).
I do not believe that this $1500 credit is related to the amount of money you get for net metering, and/or the money you don't pay for electricity - so assuming you make, say $1/day worth of electricity, that's another $365. Figure 14,000 (for 2 KW/h system) / $1865 ($1500 SREC + $365 worth of electricity)= 7.5 years.... am I missing something???
There is so much information on the NJ website, it would take all day to read it & process it. But here is what I've gotten so far......
(I too am interested in Solar power & saving money)
Average residential cost to go Solar = $56,000
Not all Solar power systems will keep you up & running in a blackout
The NJ website gives you a two page list of (don't quote me) approved/reccommended/qualified Solar Power installation companies in NJ
You can get a 10 year loan (not sure how much) with an interest rate of 6% (?) from either the Utility Company or NJ State.
You can get a rebate from the State of NJ but it does say that the rebate ended- I am confused.
You can sell back your "energy" to the NJ State via the internet and they will sell it back to the Utility companies
Please don't quote me on this snippet of information.I read through the websites very quickly & this was the non-specific information I grasped. It is very confusing. Perhaps I need more coffee. This is alot to take in....
Solar power is one of the largest farces hoisted upon the public. It takes more energy to produce a solar array than the solar array can produce in its expected life cycle. I am all for alternative energy, but only if it makes sense. Solar does not.
I did not mention price, I mentioned efficiencies and energy costs. The energy used in the production of a solar panel will never be returned by the panel in its usable lifetime. Meaning, that if you never built the panel and used the energy to produce electricity, you will be ahead of the game.
Yesterday, our savior, Obama, was at an Air Force base where he touted that the panels installed will save $1MM per year in energy costs. Problem is, the installation cost north of $100MM. Average life expectancy of a Solar Panel? 15 to 20 years. So we spent $100MM today to save $20MM over the next 20 years (excluding maintenance, etc. let's just assume all that is free). And as an added bonus, we burned more energy making these panels than they will ever return. So the news is that these panels will save x tons of carbon footprint, negleting to mention the fact that it took about 1.5x to manufacture those panels.
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Lots of reading & info.
