Does it make sense to install solar power panels?

[piyf]

Originally Posted by predatorprey

Lets not forget, hail can break the solar panels.

That's what home owners insurance is for.

[Tommy2009]

This is interesting topic and gave many good post. It is very useful and informative.

[Houston321]

Houston is all about OIL baby. Buy a big SUV, a McMansion, a Boat, and a Four Wheeler. We'll save the solar panels and the bankruptcy for Californians.

[htxdrone]

It's definitely on my long-term (read: maybe in 5 years, if I get to it =) to-do list, but personally, I'm not going to _start_ with solar, and instead start with the battery bank that interfaces between the house and the power co- such that the bank is providing direct power to the house, and the power co is re-charging the bank fairly constantly.

Here's my justification:

Converting AC to DC and then back to AC does consume some power - however, it has a strong benefit of (assuming you use at least moderately-well isolated [not noisy] circuitry) of producing pure sine power (or square, should one so choose?). The net benefit of this is longer life of your electrical appliances and better performance for some of them.

The secondary benefit, and one of the most important to me - is it allows everything to run at normal capacity, even during brownouts and blackouts. If I can build a battery bank that has enough storage to run everything I normally run for an hour or two, or just the critical stuff like the fridge, a light, and a fan for a week - there's no need for a generator during hurricanes, and those pesky rolling blackouts/regular brownouts don't affect you.

Oh, and let us not forget, that we may be going to "peak" pricing before too long. If the bank is designed to support up to 6 hours of continuous run, it could be set up to disconnect during peak hours, run off of battery, and then re-charge after peak hours.

Of course, then you're all set to tap in whatever you want from that point - solar, wind (not viable for me =), or even a NG generator, if prices were sufficiently disparate between the elec. co and the gas co.

!c

[davidtk]

For those living in deed restricted areas, also keep in mind that you may need HOA approval. For example, if your HOA thinks that solar panels are unsightly, I bet there's a provision in the deed restrictions that would allow the HOA to ask you to remove the panels.

I was in California a few years ago and met a guy who was installing solar panels on a home he was building. The house was about $1.5 million, and the solar panels were going to cost around $60K. We never discussed how much of the house's power would be provided by the panels, but even at 100% I bet it would take a loooong time to break even.

[clapyourhands]

Originally Posted by danieloneil01

LOL, a long time to get your money back. This person lives in Houston where they have deregulation. You'll get your money back in a month.

I hope you're exaggerating, or else I'm really confused.