Anyone have solar panels on their roof?
#16
(07-22-2018, 04:05 AM)Gibbcutter Wrote: It it wasn’t for the rebate from the federal government, solar is a financial negative. Someday it will be worth it but we are not there yet.

Even then it will be a whole different product than what you are looking at now.
John T.
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#17
(07-22-2018, 04:05 AM)Gibbcutter Wrote: It it wasn’t for the rebate from the federal government, solar is a financial negative. Someday it will be worth it but we are not there yet.

That is a pretty broad statement.

Federal rebate is 30% last I checked. So, with or without, you still at the same order magnitude of cost. Certainly it makes payoff longer without though.

Solar costs work in Hawaii and California with or without the rebate due to the high electric rates. For reference, my old house in California paid off solar in 3.5 years with rebate. It would be a no brainer without a rebate. Typical paybacks are about 7 years in California. Without the rebate that would be 10 years. Still well within the 20 year useful life of solar panels.

It is important to do the math for whatever location you would consider using solar ans the results can be surprising. For instance, solar can make sense just about anywhere on unimproved rural property. If it is going to cost $20 - $25k to bring in power, battery backed up solar starts making financial sense.
Rocket Science is more fun when you actually have rockets. 

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government." -- Patrick Henry
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#18
Even for us here in Hawaii, solar is not cost effective. Payback time would have been near 20 years for us.
By that time, most everything would have needed replacement.
VH07V  
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#19
(07-22-2018, 04:22 PM)EightFingers Wrote: Even for us here in Hawaii, solar is not cost effective. Payback time would have been near 20 years for us.
By that time, most everything would have needed replacement.

I think you need to sharpen your pencil. Solar should work in Hawaii unless things have changed. Solar is everywhere there. Your electric rate should be $0.30 to $0.35 /KWH which makes solar really cost effective providing connection fees/gov't fees and such don't break the bank. Hawaii has higher electric rates than California and better sun. I'm sure costs are a bit more due to the location, but it should be affordable.

My understanding is that, at least in certain areas, utilities are having a problem dealing with the huge amount of solar power being backfed into the grid.
Rocket Science is more fun when you actually have rockets. 

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government." -- Patrick Henry
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#20
The things that make the difference are we don’t have or need a/c or heat where we live. In fact we only close the windows when we go on vacation. We also have a gas stove, dryer and on-demand water heater. Gas is expensive, but cheaper than electric by quite a bit.
We do have solar attic vent fans, tho’. Our highest electric bill so far was about $85 for one month.
VH07V  
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