221–230 of 233 posts
They use 20 years and in the past I have heard that the average time for home ownership is typically 7 years. I don't know the true figure today (wasn't able to find it when I just searched) but for most people a 20 year payback is way to long and I would imagine this certainly contributed to lack of adoption of solar in addition to other factors obviously. Edit: Note this: https://www.google.com/get/sunroof/faq/#fin…
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It hasn't reached most of the US either... Give it some time!
In most of Europe, the website just returns 404. This is like... the worst link ever. I’d prefer if a mod would replace the URL with a link to either the About page or the video. Or to an archive.org cache of the site. Linking to a site that 404's for almost everyone is inacceptable.
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Energy wise, I wish my lot were less shady. I spend 0kWh per year on AC (days over 90 are rare), but heating is another matter. Which reminds me. If anyone knows a good way to retrofit an house with no ducting and no natural gas for any form of efficient heating, let me know.
No access to natural gas? I'm assuming you live too far from the gas lines to make a new gas installation possible? That said, I had a instructor who's friend bought a house out at the beach 30 years ago. He didn't know what to do about heating. He decided to put a large diesel tank on his property, and use that fuel to run a boiler. He installed baseboard hydronic tubing. He was very happy with the heating set up. H…
Presumably you have to piss off a cop in your diesel-powered vehicle enough for them to test your tank.
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20 years doesn't change their price today.
No, only make the world better for our kids, with a small premium to pay today instead of loaning from the future...
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This was true several years ago, but the cost of solar has come down substantially even without considering tax subsidies, and is continuing to decrease at a healthy rate. For example, Sunroof estimates that a 5.75kWh system would cost $21,500 before subsidies (about $15k after, but we're ignoring that), and that it will save you (gross) $60,000 over 20 years in utility bill costs. You can either: a) Invest that capi…
What we really need to do this is the breakdown in cost between the hardware and the labor required to install and certify the panels. The hardware is likely to continue to fall rapidly, but the labor costs is likely to fall much more slowly (or at all). At some point even if the panels are free the labor required to install them means that the prices will reach a plateau.
Can anyone with more knowledge of solar technology speak to this? I know nothing about solar technology developments. I am interested in adding solar to my house some day, but concerned about spending a lot of money today for solar panels that will either (a) be much cheaper in 5-10 years, or (b) be replaced by much more effective panels in 5-10 years. Assuming that the economics of it are the only motivation for goi…
If you do go for solar just make sure you install it before December 31, 2016 as that's when the 30% Federal tax credit expires (note: this is if you buy, not lease the panels. Leasing does not earn you the 30% credit).
Can anyone with more knowledge of solar technology speak to this? I know nothing about solar technology developments. I am interested in adding solar to my house some day, but concerned about spending a lot of money today for solar panels that will either (a) be much cheaper in 5-10 years, or (b) be replaced by much more effective panels in 5-10 years. Assuming that the economics of it are the only motivation for goi…
If you do go for solar just make sure you install it before December 31, 2016 as that's when the 30% Federal tax credit expires (note: this is if you buy, not lease the panels. Leasing does not earn you the 30% credit).
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No, only make the world better for our kids, with a small premium to pay today instead of loaning from the future...
Oh so now we're talking about morals. I thought just a minute ago we were talking about dollars.
Not to mention that huge ecological damage also has cost someone will have to pay eventually.
So as long as you still believe in your country (which will pay its toll) or your children (which will pay their toll) from that, there's a hidden cost there too.
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Oh so now we're talking about morals. I thought just a minute ago we were talking about dollars.
I wasn't. This was my first comment. And for me morals trump over dollars everytime. Not to mention that huge ecological damage also has cost someone will have to pay eventually. So as long as you still believe in your country (which will pay its toll) or your children (which will pay their toll) from that, there's a hidden cost there too.
You walked into a conversation about the impact The Beatles had on music recording technology and said "yeah but John Lennon was horrible to his wife". True, and it's an important point to make. Just not in this conversation.
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I wasn't. This was my first comment. And for me morals trump over dollars everytime. Not to mention that huge ecological damage also has cost someone will have to pay eventually. So as long as you still believe in your country (which will pay its toll) or your children (which will pay their toll) from that, there's a hidden cost there too.
I'm sorry but you jumped into the middle of a conversation and completely changed the subject so you could argue something that's been explicitly removed from the discussion. The argument was about "is this cheaper than whatever else". The response was "no but it will be in 20 years". That's the discussion. Yes morality and the environment come into play, but that's not what we're talking about. You walked into a con…
First, the discussion is precisly what the "people jumping in" contribute. This is not some closed circle of pre-determined friends, it's a public forum. Anybody can jump in. Note how the subthread wasn't even about the original post (Project Sunroof) in the first place, it had been diverted in discussing costs.
Second, I don't see how saying essentially monetary costs are inferior to environmental costs is "changing the subject" much less "completely". It's still about costs in general, and it's still about monetary costs in particular (it's about whether the extra monetary costs are worth the environmental impact, and it's also about the hidden indirect monetary costs from environmental damage).
>You walked into a conversation about the impact The Beatles had on music recording technology and said "yeah but John Lennon was horrible to his wife". True, and it's an important point to make. Just not in this conversation.
In your contrived example, what Lennon did to his wife has no relation to impact of Beatles on the music recording technology.
Whereas environmental costs are still costs (and even have a dollar value, even if implicit). Plus, they are still something to think about when deciding if something is "too expensive" or not.
So nothing like what you suggest at all.
Do you only check the price to determine "expensiveness"? Not build quality, materials, features, and among them, social issues, like environmental impact and working conditions?
