[mango23]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

I never understood why I never see any solar panels on homes and never hear anybody talking about solar panel energy. Florida is known for the over abundance of sun. My only conclusion is that, just like the tourism industry, the utility companies enjoy their monopolies. If Florida wants to start making some serious changes than this would be one huge step to making Florida more attractive. Other states such as Texas are beginning to focus on wind energy Texas Wind Energy

But I guess the "old" Florida doesn't want this either LOL!!

I am not sure if the electric co's down here will pay you for the electricity you produce. Solar has been around for a long time but is about to make huge strides in cost and efficiently. They have them now where they are like 1/2 inch thick and just lay almost flat on your roof. I am interested in wind power. I want wind power on my property when I get moved. I will be checking into it and it will be a factor when I select a place. Some places give you a real hassle and even prohibit them. I saw a story on the TV where a guy had spent like $25,000 (wind) on a set up the city will not let him install.

[Synergy1]

I have a solar hot water heater and Pool heater. Each are expensive to purchase but almost nothing to run. The panels have water running through them and as it get hot the water is cirulated in our swimming pool and our Hot Water Heater. The HWH accepts and distributes water from the roof to our regular HWH. What is different is th at a large box circulates the roof heated water and the water from the HWH (without combining the two) and we get hot water at times as high as 150 degrees. The water heater is the same as anyone can purchase except for a tank for mixing hotwater from the roof panels comingles with a group of "fins" and the water is super heated....TOday's water heater is reaching 148 degrees and the outside dtemp is 89 degrees. We save about 20% on our monthly electric bill but the installer says we should save 33% of our total bill. We are satisfied with the 20% otherwise we would require more roof panels and a scalding flow meter to prevent scalding.....

A Solar Panel that generates electricity is still costly in Florida and I called many suppliers. The warranty on most all of them is 20 years. The cost for us to save 85% of our $400/ month electric bill would be upwards $85,000...Rebates come into play after we install the panels and a year later the IRS and State would provide us with a total rebate package of around $40,000. It would take over 132 months or 11 + years to save 40k + and that is without financing fees..

So my question is where does one come up with $45,000 to save $340 a month and the guarantee expires 9 years after it is paid off....

I have seen solar panels that are bendable and can be installed in almost any kind of surrounding including roof to wall...Problem is the maker only sells to huge companies now and the public cannot take advantage of the new technology. One day and hopefully in the near future things will change for the better of helping people gather the sun's energy for a reasonable price.

[Synergy1]

The city where I live has a power plant next to the ocean and our city wanted to install wind turbines in a plot of land close to the plant.

Problem is that the land is suppose to be a sanctuary for birds so the wind turbine ideas were nixed.

ALso there is a site that I discovered my cost of using solar panels would be $142,000 and rebates would equal $20,000 + $42,000 or our cost would be $62,000....This system would pay for 50% of a $350.00 electric bill therefore, the breakeven year would be year 21....

...'Still way too high to invest in a solar roof/ground generating system.

[ngrome]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

I never understood why I never see any solar panels on homes and never hear anybody talking about solar panel energy. Florida is known for the over abundance of sun. My only conclusion is that, just like the tourism industry, the utility companies enjoy their monopolies. If Florida wants to start making some serious changes than this would be one huge step to making Florida more attractive. Other states such as Texas are beginning to focus on wind energy Texas Wind Energy

But I guess the "old" Florida doesn't want this either LOL!!

Yeah, really. California and Texas have windmills to harvest their natural resources... I've said it before, any available funding in this state is not invested in technology, that's slowly changing, but not as fast as it could be. The $$$ is still in tourism.

[floridadon]

As several have shown the cost for solar electric does not yet make it practical in Florida. Solar hot water for a pool is much more cost effective ( and I have it).
Many have mentioned wind energy. A look at the wind maps for this state make wind doubtful in large areas of the state. NREL: Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, and Analysis Tools - Wind Maps
The other negative with wind and solar is the damage that hurricane force winds can cause. It took me weeks to find solar panels for my pool that were wind rated. Now I know of several brands, but they would not survive the hit we took from Charlie in Port Charlotte. Like all technology, answers will be found to allow panels to better survive the hurricane force winds.