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It's incorrect to say the buildings pay for themselves. Often the energy improvement investments "pay for themselves" through savings. That's a small percentage in the cost of most buildings.
We are speaking in such vague generalities it is hard to be detailed.
I live in a region where I am seeing many homes going on the market asking $25k to $40k, though I have lived in other regions where today homes start at $250k. Home prices fill a wide spectrum. Spending $20k for a solar system, to allow you to go off-grid and stop paying an electric bill. Is small expense for an expensive home, though it would be a major expense on a low priced home, It would be even more if you had financed the purchase.
I recently shifted to solar-power. Some people chat that they can get full 'pay-back' of their solar system in 20 years or 30 years.
I am a farmer. I can't swing a dead cat without hitting yet another tax deduction. The IRS says that I have to depreciate 80% of my solar system over 7 years. So each year I depreciate 1/7, and after 7 years 80% of the cost of my solar will have been depreciated. That has a big impact on the ROI of solar power.
My house does pretty well with passive solar gain. How much does it save me? Is hard to say. It is not like I have an identical house to compare it to. But generally I burn 1/3 as much firewood as our neighbors seem to average. Soon I hope to install a solar thermal system. I hope it will further reduce our home heating expenses. Again doing the math is fairly subjective.
We are speaking in such vague generalities it is hard to be detailed.
I live in a region where I am seeing many homes going on the market asking $25k to $40k, though I have lived in other regions where today homes start at $250k. Home prices fill a wide spectrum. Spending $20k for a solar system, to allow you to go off-grid and stop paying an electric bill. Is small expense for an expensive home, though it would be a major expense on a low priced home, It would be even more if you had financed the purchase.
I recently shifted to solar-power. Some people chat that they can get full 'pay-back' of their solar system in 20 years or 30 years.
I am a farmer. I can't swing a dead cat without hitting yet another tax deduction. The IRS says that I have to depreciate 80% of my solar system over 7 years. So each year I depreciate 1/7, and after 7 years 80% of the cost of my solar will have been depreciated. That has a big impact on the ROI of solar power.
My house does pretty well with passive solar gain. How much does it save me? Is hard to say. It is not like I have an identical house to compare it to. But generally I burn 1/3 as much firewood as our neighbors seem to average. Soon I hope to install a solar thermal system. I hope it will further reduce our home heating expenses. Again doing the math is fairly subjective.
The IRS will allow you to depreciate you solar system at a slower rate if you desire. The economics of replacing grid power with PV is really independent of the house price, whether it's $20k or $200k.
There is one irrefutable evidence that solar power is still not ready for prime time after all these years. I drive by hundreds and hundreds of new suburban constructions and haven't seen even ONE house going up with solar anywhere. Unless the industry comes up with a transparent solution, slapdash like this are not going to make converts.
There is one irrefutable evidence that solar power is still not ready for prime time after all these years. I drive by hundreds and hundreds of new suburban constructions and haven't seen even ONE house going up with solar anywhere. Unless the industry comes up with a transparent solution, slapdash like this are not going to make converts.
There is one irrefutable evidence that solar power is still not ready for prime time after all these years. I drive by hundreds and hundreds of new suburban constructions and haven't seen even ONE house going up with solar anywhere. Unless the industry comes up with a transparent solution, slapdash like this are not going to make converts.
You live in perpetually cloudy Pennsylvania, with very low housing values, of course you don't see any solar panels. You can't throw a rock without hitting a house with solar panels where I live; there are 1000s and 1000s of them, and that's even in my historic neighborhood where we tend to be much more concerned with the aesthetics of our houses, there are eight houses in my small cul-de-sac with a PV system.
It has already been discussed that there are several factors in deciding whether PV system makes economic sense for a particular application. In many cases it doesn't, but if you live in an area with copious amounts of sun, with a generous net metering program from your power company (that is also otherwise very expensive) and own your house, plan to stay and live in area where housing values are high and solar systems are valued then in many cases it's a done deal.
The house pictured is what I and most folks would agree a mess because of the slapped on panels willy nilly. You can't see one solar panel on my handsome 90 y.o. Spanish Revival from anywhere on the street or garden.
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