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Question: How does the cost of solar electric homes compare tot eh cost of the traditional energy?
(Posted by: TierneyGrace on 2010-05-12 08:46:33)
sorry bout the spelling up there lol its to the cost... not tot eh cost.. |
Answers:
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Posted by: peter.ambrose@talk21.com on 2010-05-12, 09:24:17
Solar energy panels cost a lot of money. To start saving on your bills this must be accounted for. A regular three bedroomed house fully given over to solar heating, will not start saving u money for approx 50years. |
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Posted by: I might assist if I feel like it on 2010-05-12, 10:01:26
Yes, solar panels cost money. And the batteries to store the daylight energy. But that is it. As that is for 1 home. Traditional energy costs too - the building of hydro-electric dam plus the generators and equipment inside it to produce the power, plus all the wiring out to the homes....so it is a spread out cost shared by many. So too, does the cost of coal fired or oil fired or nuclear power stations and associated parts of it(except for the wires....as hydro has them up already. We are running out of traditional sources. So either we have better utilization of the power that we do get.....or we find other sources.(or a combination of both) |
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Posted by: Ichbas on 2010-05-12, 10:31:31
Well the big difference is that with solar (photovoltaic) electricity, you are paying for your energy up front instead of paying on a monthly basis with an electrical company. In general with the current federal and state tax refunds, the average payback is anywhere from 5 to 20 years depending on the tax credits in your state and what type of system you get. Here in Louisiana we have a 50% state tax credit (refundable) and 30% Federal tax credit (refundable), so really for any solar panel system we only pay 20% of the cost of the system, out of pocket by the end of the year. And our payback period is from 5 to 7 years, after which we get free electricity. |
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Posted by: wannabuildabikeguy on 2010-05-12, 10:41:52
The upfront cost is quite a bit! There are incentives ($$) from Federal & State which should come close to about 30 to 50% reduction of the total cost. City, county or local government may have additional incentives ($$), so check your area. The total cost should be equal or less than $2 per watt to even start to make it affordable. Peter's comment about it taking 50 years to pay itself off is wrong! Do a little research Peter and you will see that the cost is high, but is less with $$ incentives and with better technology...and NOT in 50 years! Look at your current utility bills and add up what you use for a year. You will have to compensate for any gas appliances with the changeover to electric, and that can be done! There is a builder in Pennsylvania who builds attached singles (4 to a building) that are offset for privacy made with solar...everything is electric! Added about $45.000 to the cost of the home and there is power to spare! Your utility bills are $0, except the water & trash p/ u fees. Payoff maybe 15 years depending on your personal usage and with rebates, maybe even sooner! |
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Posted by: New Mexican on 2010-05-12, 17:47:10
If you don't count transfer payments (money taken in taxes from some people and given to others) it costs about 5x what conventional energy costs. One large facilty in Nevada which has the advantage of the economies of scale cost $100M and saves $1M each year. Assuming you could borrow money for no interest, this is a 100 year payback! (With interest, it takes longer). Typically nobody choses any high up front cost proposal unless it pays itself back in under 12 years. So, why did they do it? The enegy company was mandated to do more with renewable energy. The costs were not carried by the company but by the utility payers. Nice! It would have been far better to give two universities $50M endowments to produce research and PhDs to further the technology until it is economical. Or, I'm sure you can think of other things that produce more for that amount of money. But if you can feel smug taking tax money so your neighbors pay for your "green " energy, then the payback is quicker. |
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Posted by: Peter Reefman on 2010-05-13, 06:21:24
It depends on how much energy you use. For example, an average house here where I live (Australia) uses about 16kWh of electricity per day, which costs roughly $1,200 per year. To generate 16kWh per day through solar would need a solar PV system sized at about 4kw, which here costs about $25,000. This would actually give not only a zero electricity bill, but also give cash payments from selling any surplus back to the grid at a higher rate, and a rough guide is half the energy generated would be sold to the grid during the day at the higher rate, then bought back from the grid at night at the cheaper rate. Expected savings + profit would be about $2,500 per year for a 10 year capital outlay payback, with the $2,500 benefit lasting long after that 10 year period. A good way of looking at it is to see it as buying 10 years of electricity in one go, but not just any electricity - clean green renewable energy. Hope that helps. |
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Posted by: Wayne on 2010-05-14, 09:00:15
The answer to your question depends on a lot of things. The diverse answers you have received so far is proof of this. Here are some things to consider: Are you wanting your solar electric home to have no electrical hook-up (off grid)? Is this home being built far away from other power sources? Do you want the kind of power that a typical home uses, or just the power necessary for absolute needs? Off grid solar power systems cost a lot more than grid-tie types. But grid-tie systems will not provide power during power outages. Some systems will provide limited power to a home during a power outage, but the cost depends on how much power you want. A home completely powered by solar is very expensive, but I am aware of an individual who was building his home in a remote location, and bringing grid power to his home would have cost $80,000. Then he would have monthly bills after that. Solar was clearly a better option for this individual. A smaller, and less costly grid-tie system may be the best option for someone else. Solar power appears much more costly than traditional energy, but that is because traditional energy has 70 years on solar, and much of the infrastructure is already in place. |
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Posted by: Douglas on 2010-05-15, 13:57:14
That depends on how much more you would have to pay for a home with solar PV panels and how much solar electricity the system can produce. For example, in Maryland, a 5kW system will produce about 6,000-7,000 kWhs of electricity and that would save about $900-$1050 per year. However, if you consider a C.L.E.A.N. Home - then all the solar electricity is 100% free! Our homes are priced the same as our competitors' non-solar homes and we are including a 5kW-10kW system with every home.. now, what reason would you have to buy anything else? |
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