# All I Need For Solar Panels IS...



## Helena (May 10, 2002)

$15,000  Really I suppose that isn't too bad since there was around another $15,000 in rebates and tax rebates too. This would make our whole house run on solar. So..guess I'll continue to redeem my bottles..


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

Lower your demands and you could move that decimal point to the left one space..


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## Helena (May 10, 2002)

I actually just took one of those "quickie" quizzes on line that tells you what you need. No really accurate I'm sure but thought it would give me an idea of cost. So..move the decimal..to $1,500.00 ?? Really ? Does or has anyone ever had someone come out and do an audit on our actual way of living and did you go with their ideas. Just wondering ??:bored:


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## goober (Nov 20, 2009)

i looked at solar panels online a few years ago and iirc they had 200 watt panels for about $800-$1000 each...if you have 5 yours avg sunlight insolation per day, then you'll get 1 kilowatt-hour(yee-haw 10 cents) per $800 panel per day, so $36.50 per year or 21.91 years to get your money back and that doesn't include the interest you could have got from that $800 and also doesn't include installation, batteries, inverters, chargers, etc...or if you tie in to the grid i think they pay you their wholesale rate (2 cents/kwh) - are they still doing that?
and then you have maintenance as in cleaning the surface of the panels once a month or so...its kind of a fun toy at this point...also, installing on the roof is surprisingly dangerous as these guys fall off from time to time and if you're going up there yourself to clean 12 times a year, might be something to think about...of course if you can get other residents in your state to foot half the bill, like we do here in California, then it might be worth another look...


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Goober,you can get get 275 watt panels now at 2 dollars a watt,550 a panel.Pretty amazing how low prices have gone.

BTW,my savings acct pays a whopping 0.15%,hard to pass those phenomenal returns up!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! Im making a bundle,LOL!ound::hysterical:


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

goober your post is so full of MIS information I wont even touch it.....

sure like to know where your getting your whopping interest . .??


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Goober:

Last 245w panels I bought few months back were 628 each, with delivery. Those are first grade, monocrystalline, Solarworld brand.

We get a 12 cents OVER retail ( floats with whatever retail price is ) infeed rate to back feed the grid. Retail is currently 9 cents, so we get 21 cents/kw/hr for everything we produce.

IF someone lives up in the Northeastern States, a lot of them you can sell your SREC's ( Solar Renewable Energy Credits ) for connecting a grid tie system. They pay as much as 50 cents/kw/hr AND you get to offset your power use to boot.....so that can add another 10-15cents/hr. You can ACTUALLY make dang decent money off solar power RIGHT NOW, if you live in the right location.

My last 6 months average electric bill has been 16 bucks. When I get this next set of panels up, they will be paying me 50-75 bucks/mo on average.

Never cleaned my panels, but did buy a long pole with a broom head so I can brush the snow off and make them produce earlier....they will melt off after a few hours of sun on them anyway after a snow, but that lets me kick them in a little faster.

You want to keep money in the bank, go for it. It loses 3-5-10% of it's purchasing power every year ( depending on whose inflation figures you believe )....me, I'd rather have mine in something that saves on my bills, and maybe makes me a little to boot. 

We'll see whose "pile" is the bigger at the end of the next decade.


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

Helena said:


> I actually just took one of those "quickie" quizzes on line that tells you what you need. No really accurate I'm sure but thought it would give me an idea of cost. So..move the decimal..to $1,500.00 ?? Really ? Does or has anyone ever had someone come out and do an audit on our actual way of living and did you go with their ideas. Just wondering ??:bored:


My point was by re-accessing your real "need" loads and cutting and adjusting where you can could bring that cost down a bit. It's a tough job to do a accurate energy audit on a conventional home. I don't know of any consultants myself.

I'm about as frugal as anyone could be with a few bells and whistles. Propane fridge, water heater, no blower on the wood burner, and I have ~6K in my system at prices 10 yrs. ago. I could possibly save $1500 by buying the system that I have at todays costs. 

I started out with the mindset of being totally off the grid after the power company showed me the bill of what it would cost to run their lines back to me. I actually saved 1K! I went through 3 different sized systems until I found my comfort zone and learned to live with what I have.


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