I looked into solar in 2022. The bid I got for a 9.5 kW system and one Tesla Powerwall ended up being right around $50,000. No thanks.
Why a Powerwall?
Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
61–70 of 510 posts
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds great to me. Especially considering you aren't paying any taxes on your returns when they come in the form of deferred costs. That's equivalent to a pre-tax return in the mid-teens. You won't find that in most asset classes these days, and definitely not with the risk profile of solar.
Especially considering most modern panels are expected to still have a good amount of life left in them after 25 years. (80% or more}
AND considering that replacing only the panels has to be far cheaper than the initial installation, if they do drop too much in 25 years. So long as your roof is still okay, I suppose.
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is technically true, but why is no one asking how and why his electricity bill is $223 at minimum, plied higher since the bill was only reduced by that amount. Also, “subsidies” are really just a quaint term for “made the working and lower middle class that can’t pay for such exorbitant luxuries pay for it through taxes and inflation”. I’m always a bit confused if seemingly otherwise smart people simply don’t un…
> Would anyone like to subsidize my next restaurant visit by paying for my entree? No? But making someone unknown working class person pay for my $25,000 solar install through inflation is ok? Yes, it obviously is ok? Your next restaurant meal doesn't have a broad impact on the world we live in, whereas the deployment of solar panels does.
maybe that poster is a vegan locavore
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#64Weird question and probably rare but what happens if solar array is hit by lighting?
Are they insured?
Do they get damaged? Does the inverter/batteries get damaged or is there likely a circuit breaker?
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Especially considering most modern panels are expected to still have a good amount of life left in them after 25 years. (80% or more}
Sorry, life after 25 years? That's WAY higher than I thought. That's incredible.
Generally you can find the degradation curve in their datasheet, and yes, 80% after 25 years sounds possible. IIRC they fade faster with time, so it might be 50% after 50, but ... that's still pretty good.
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#66It's surprising that it's possible to produce electricity at home for a lower cost than the wholesale price. I can't think of any other commodity for which this is possible. You couldn't make your own steel, bread or printer paper at home and beat manufacturing at scale. Why is electricity different?
Subsidies?
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Especially considering most modern panels are expected to still have a good amount of life left in them after 25 years. (80% or more}
Sorry, life after 25 years? That's WAY higher than I thought. That's incredible.
you'll need to supplement with some new panels to account for the loss, but each new panel is more efficient than the one you're "replacing"
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#68I am surprised at these power bills, at least in my area the implied "savings" are 2-3 times what my bill is on any given month. Huge house maybe?
The electricity prices listed in the article are quite high, the US average is about half of that.
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#69I paid ~15k to install solar in 2019. After tax rebates it was ~11k. I’m generating ~12MWh per year. My break even period is less than 5 years. I’m based out of California, and generate excess energy. My electric bill is now just ~$100/year.
if you generate excess energy, can you store it for a later time when you need more energy (presumably summer time)?
It's a lot more efficient to sell back to the power company. I'd be more comfortable with having a dual fuel generator for apocalyptic situations vs a bunch of batteries.
Re: Solar panels reduced my electric bill in 2022
#70It's surprising that it's possible to produce electricity at home for a lower cost than the wholesale price. I can't think of any other commodity for which this is possible. You couldn't make your own steel, bread or printer paper at home and beat manufacturing at scale. Why is electricity different?
Because the cost of grid electricity includes the comfort of having it 24/7. Solar is damn cheap, but you can rely on it perhaps 10% of the time (0 hours in very cloudy days up to 4-5 hours a day in the summer). There is some way to do some arbitrage even without net metering (charge your car during the day, install batteries) but solar alone is by far not enough to leave the grid.