Quote:
Originally Posted by PR_Tom
Every solar installation is different, and every state has different rebates and tax breaks. In NY state with a full decked out system designed to get an average (3bd, 2bath) home off the grid, you get 45% of the upfront costs back. So a system like that is going to run you around $30k. To heat and cool that around here, it's going to run probably $300 to $400 a month. This isn't some municipally owned utility here, it's not cheap like yours (which is amazingly low!). Thats something like a 10yr break even if you really went for it.
It's just trading that set price for the amount you'd pay out over the period it takes to break even. So for someone like you, it might not make economic sense. After that though, it's no cost but light maintenance and maybe a battery now and then. When you consider breaking even, you shouldnt neglect to consider the time afterwards when you're beyond zero and paying down any number of other potential debts instead of paying a utility company.
If someone a year ago had been able to sell you 10,000 gallons of gas at last years price, it'd be crazy not to have done it right? I see it that way with solar/wind/geothermal for homes. Just seems to make all kinds of sense for a lot of people. It's just tough to be able to drop such a wad of cash up front. But it is a smart investment.
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That might make some sense BUT factor in that you'll be paying interest on that $30k. Do it as what home improvement type loans/ second mortage? 6% interest, 6% tax
trust me I'm a huge fan of alternatives to using up more oil. I drive a civic hybrid and have put over 40k miles on it in under 1 year so I do drive more than the "average" person does. I do the math on everything and just a month or so back I did the math on solar power. IF my state would pay for half of it I'd still take over 15 years just to reach the break even point so I'm just not going to bother until they refine the panels greatly. This technology still has a LONG ways to go. Just like all of us earlier hybrid drivers are paying a premium and later the parts will just drop in price. Solar panels are a good 10-15years away from being something worth using and by then the tech should have increased efficiency and greatly reduced cost so you should be able to get the same results for well less than 25% of the cost. BUT solar power is one of the great government coverups that they just don't want you to know about/use. If the government got behind it 10 years ago we'd have those cheap highly efficient panels a LONG time ago.