Shop Electricity Rates

7 Responses

1. Peter Reefman Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm

   It depends on SOO many things. Firstly it depends on the amount of power you’re likely to use. It also depends on what government purchase rebates are in your area (if any), as well as feed-in tariffs (if any), and it depends on the actual sun hours you can get (non shaded).
   For example, if you had…
   * NO government rebate or FiT
   * Consumption of about 20kw/h a day
   * Average sun hours were 4
   You’d need a 5kw system which would cost something like $40,000 - $50,000. The savings you would make per year would be around $1,100 (your whole powr bill), and the system would take 40 years to pay off - basically never as the system is likely to last less than that.
   And on the other hand, if you had…
   * Good rebates (I can get $8,000 here) and a decent gross FiT of about 80c per kw/h
   * Consumption of about 5kw/h per day
   * Five sun hours per day
   Then you’d only need a 1kw system which would cost you about $3,000. You’d save/make about $1,300 per year and the system would be paid off in a bit over two years and save/make you another $30,000 over it’s life.
   So as you can see, VAST differences. Both of these scenarios are legitimate too. I know where the second is reality (Canberra, Australia).

2. roderick Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm

   If you live in an area that gets lots of sun all year long, like the southern portions of the US, it can make sense.
   But go for solar hot water first, that usually pays back faster, and is lower in price.
   For solar electric, usually, you would stay connected to the power company and get credits for extra electricity you generate. You would not use batteries in this case, and you would still have full power at night, or at times of low solar production. It wouldn’t be a matter of choosing between solar and regular electricity, just a matter of choosing to add solar. If you call up a local solar installer, they will explain how it works to you, and give you a free quote.

3. kcguy693 Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm

   Would need to know where you are to see how much sunlight you would get per day and also what incentives there are in your area. (you can look this up at the first site). Also does your state have net metering laws, have you worked on conservation to cut your daily usage yet? Do you plan on being on or off the grid? (batteries/no batteries) Do you plan on installing yourself or contracting? The second site lists numerous people and their stories about doing the work as a homeowner.
   Advantanges would also depend on what type of system if you have batteries there will be no power outages from the utilities, along with most panels are covered for 20-25 years so when you compute your energy costs they will stay the same utilities most likely will go up. Another advantage if you are totally off grid when most people pay their electricity bill there are usage fees taxes etc. you will have none of that.

4. WP Autoblogging Plugin Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm

   You have to consider the pay off over time. If your paying x amount of dollars how long will it take you in savings to make that money back? If you are considering doing this for natural reasons and conservation then the pay back is immediate. You can always give back energy to the grid which is money in your pocket.

5. alexnsha Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm

   The initial cost will be VERY expensive. but yes, the extra energy you use the power company will buy from you, but you will need special(Expensive) insurance for all the panels as well as all the money it costs for maintenance. Which maintenance fees will be a lot since the technology is new and only highly skilled specialists will be able to repair them for you.

6. Robert H Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm

   It will be expensive at first cause you have to pay off the solar power systems first. Take the website I am attaching to my answer, the home kits are $8669.99. Can you say ouch?
   But as soon as it is paid for, the money saved by not paying for dirty energy will be built up. But let’s say you are only spending $250 a month on your electricity bill. To pay off the say $8500 solar power kit at the same rate you pay off the solar kit, it would take 3 years to pay off the solar kit, then you would be saving yourself $250 a month.

7. Jeffrey N Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 pm

   All very good answers here. At my age (older), it almost wouldn’t had been worth installing a very expensive commercial system. Although, I would have obviously been helping reduce my carbon footprint.
   I started building my own solar panels one at a time. At first I just used them and a single deep cycle battery to recharge my many electronic devices batteries, but I’ve slowly built a decent system that would have cost many thousands of dollars. I’ve probably got roughly $170-$190 in each panel. I did buy a charge controller, inverter and additional batteries though. I’ve still saved a bundle!!

Leave a Comment

Name

Mail (will not be published)

Website

Please note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment.

Pages

Search Posts