[ClarkGrisowld]

Saw an article saying a CA couple spent $25,000 to convert their home to all solar....$13,000 after tax incentives. Will save about $3000 a year on their energy bill. They estimated 7 years to get a return on their investment. Sounds about right. Of course, given what the markets are doing these days the break-even is more like 2 years.

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by MR77

Its a slap in my face when I do all I can to keep my power bill low like keeping the ac down, changing over to energy efficient bulbs... etc and then they increase the rates again. Wonder why I even bother.

Wow...you sound wired! Get grounded, man.

[Las Vegas Mommy]

Crap..............

[delgadobb]

Originally Posted by ClarkGrisowld

Saw an article saying a CA couple spent $25,000 to convert their home to all solar....$13,000 after tax incentives. Will save about $3000 a year on their energy bill. They estimated 7 years to get a return on their investment. Sounds about right. Of course, given what the markets are doing these days the break-even is more like 2 years.

??? Sounds like a little over a four year payback ($3K/yr savings, $13K cost after incentives) using simple math. Unless, of course, you're looking at stuff like net present value & more complicated math. Either way, it's kind of a no-brainer for them.

What little research I've done so far leads me to believe a full-blown solar system for my house would run $25-35K with traditional solar panels. Tax incentives/rebates would knock about $10K off of that. In my case, since I don't yet know my annual energy costs, I can only guess about $2,500 per year (maybe more if NV Energy gets their rate hike). Let's say my install costs $30K, I get $10K in incentives/rebates for a net cost of $20K.

If I'm paying $2,500/yr for electric & that goes to $0, I'd be happy with a 8-year payback - that's assuming I plan to be around a long time, which I would in order to realize the savings. Even if I sold the house, the solar should increase the value of the home - at a minimum, help it sell more quickly. One nice thing I've learned is that (at least in theory) your property taxes can't be increased because of this kind of improvement. So, your house value goes up, but your taxes don't (in theory).

There's some broad assumptions above, obviously. Not everything will be accurate - at the same time, I'm trying to investigate new solar technology that is *supposed* to cost 30-40 cents on the dollar compared to traditional. If that exists & it's reliable, for me it's a no-brainer to install.

If I can make it work, I'll share whatever I find with everyone here & we can all give NV Energy the single finger salute!

[MR77]

Originally Posted by jfkIII

Wow...you sound wired! Get grounded, man.

touche

[StevanK]

I'm a solar contractor in Las Vegas Nevada and the cost of and average system is $45,000 ( 4 bedroom single family home) Its a big upfront cost and the average person CANT afford it. Its sad...
Power, Water, Fuel should be regulated and NOT ran like a corporation thats only goal is to make $$ This is **** we NEED to survive ITS BS! Welcome to America </2cents>

[horseplayer]

Natural gas is selling for 75% less than last July.

[Swigchow]

What would be the disparity of the NV Energy bill between Summer and Winter months? If it is about 55$/month now, how much higher would it be in Summer?

I was very surprised how low it was considering I am used to our Northern climate energy bill.

[mojavedxer]

Time to start shopping for windmills.

[sheriwx]

Didn't they just get a 17% increase in April? (Or something like that, I don't remember the exact story)