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I would like to know have you ever thought about getting solar panels on the roof of your home? If so when and why?
Absolutely I have - but listen to this crap; the neighborhoods I lived within had HOA rules preventing them from being installed because "architecturally they are offensive." It's the same baloney about windmills too. It's an awesome way to save $ and even produce enough energy to make $, but the laws aren't favorable for most people. In the future you can bet I will purchase property in an environment where I can do it, I just so happened to not have given it enough thought for past purchases.
I am considering it in the future hoping prices come down as the technology advances. I have heard of companies that will give you the panels for free if you give then half the rebate checks from the power company.
It's a shame HOA rules prohibit them, I would move to a trailer park before I would move to a HOA subdivision where you give up the right to control your own property in exchange for the right to control everyone else's.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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With 100' trees and very little sun here, it's not practical. I do have 3 smaller units in use. One is running the fan in my greenhouse which is in the only spot that gets sun here, another is on my shed to run a trickle charger for the riding mower battery, and another runs the rope lights on the deck arbor.
I have only recently started looking into it. The payback here is about 11 years. I feel like the only reason not to do it is if the price drops enough that waiting makes more financial sense. Of course we don't know how much it will drop in how much time. The incentives are going away too or dropping too for the most part, also.
I have only recently started looking into it. The payback here is about 11 years. I feel like the only reason not to do it is if the price drops enough that waiting makes more financial sense. Of course we don't know how much it will drop in how much time. The incentives are going away too or dropping too for the most part, also.
To the OP - ever thought about saving on your electric bill?
My pay back was two years - may electric bill was $10.95....(below)...
Didn't receive June's bill - went on line to manually enter. Received error message, would not allow a negative number to be entered.....
I have only recently started looking into it. The payback here is about 11 years. I feel like the only reason not to do it is if the price drops enough that waiting makes more financial sense. Of course we don't know how much it will drop in how much time. The incentives are going away too or dropping too for the most part, also.
I wouldn't wait. The prices on solar panels have dropped 80% in the last 5 years, and they're not likely to drop a whole lot more until there is a major technology improvement... which could be years away. And as you said, the incentives are expiring or getting maxed out in different areas, so waiting could actually cost you more in the long run.
We have a ALL electric grid home and a off-grid home in the same county.
For May our all electric grid home bill was $30.00. For our off-grid home it was ZERO.
But I did pay $10,000 for new batteries last year. I am probably looking at another $10,000 for replacing the other facets of the system this year. Annual my solar house costs are probably run around $2400/year and that is for just electricity, does not include heating costs for water or the house. For the grid house our annual costs for the ALL Electric house a $950.
Solar is NOT cheap.
Granted I live in the greenest place on this earth: eastern Washington state. But carefully check your costs of solar versus the grid....strip out the tax subsidies. Do you really want your neighbors paying for your solar electricity??
Anyway....here is what BMW said about eastern Washington;
Dr. Klaus Draeger, a member of BMW’s eight-member board of management, said the carmaker chose Eastern Washington for its cheap hydropower and to create a “green” supply chain using sustainable energy.
“To produce carbon fiber you need energy, you need electricity. We have here very competitive electricity costs,” said Draeger. “At least as important is to have this energy as renewable energy. The energy here is clean energy.”
Echoing the green environmentalist message, Inslee lauded the project as “an international effort to revolutionize our transportation system and develop a clean energy system to literally save the planet.”
“Today the center of advanced technology in our effort to build a clean planet is Moses Lake, Washington,” said Inslee. “There is no greater step forward to reduce carbon pollution than right here.”
Your cost are high because you live off grid. Grid connected solar is competitive in many areas with the retail price of electricity. You are also in an unusual area for retail electricity prices. Your experience has no relevance to what most people face.
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