The next door neighbors are having solar panels put on their house.

After five hours , I've come to the conclusion that the three guys up on the roof , they are on a mission.

but the five guys on the ground that have been chatting it up , discussing and cracking wise , for four hours straight , they are the master minds.

Nary a one has lifted so much as a pencil , just yakking away and then looking at the roof, jaw jacking like their lives depended on it, then look at the roof.

would have been a good time to point a c.c.t.v. cam their way.

You know you could have saved a bundle just by visiting one of their "job" sites before buying.

During the early Obsma years (a time reference, not really a political statement) they wanted shovel ready work and could only find "make work" things. Solar panels may or may not make sense financially. Some of it is feel good PC crap.

Solar panels make great sense if you ho with a full system, storing power in batteries and running off of them.

My mom's house runs off solar, only thing on the grid is the well pump, a few outside outlets (RV hookup) and AC, when she uses it. She's got another well pump for when the power goes out.

Total cost was i think about 30k. The batteries are the most expensive part but she'll make her money back before they need to be replaced.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:
You know you could have saved a bundle just by visiting one of their "job" sites before buying.

Bendable specifically mentioned in his first sentence that it was his neighbor getting the solar panels installed, so you know.

A good ground man is hard to find.

The neighbor that was getting the work done, came out to mow the yard and the five " spokes people" magically found somewhere to go.

Must have been a Union job with public funding.

quote:

Originally posted by sjp:
... Total cost was i think about 30k. ...

$30k? Looking at my electric bill last year, that would take me 12 years to recover a $30k investment. That's with running A/C in the summer as I work from home, PLUS running a six-person hot tub all year and keeping the temp at 100+. (The tub is now gone.)

So my electric bill was high.

Then add the cost to keep the electricity available to my house as needed and run the A/C as the solar most likely could not run that here in Connecticut.

If it did cost $30k, I do not think it would be a good investment at all for us.

Haven't priced it for awhile but solar didn't have a reasonable break even point for me.

The only reason I'd consider solar is to hedge against repeated, anticipated rolling black outs for extended periods of time. We'll see how these fire safety black outs continue - our zone hasn't been affected yet. I'd probably get a generator first.....

I don't have enough roof area in the right direction for it, even if it did make economical sense.

I see them being used in the Yoop. I cant see how they can work when covered in 18 inches or more of snow.

I wonder, how much of the cost of solar energy is subsidized by taxpayers? What would the cost/benefit analysis look like without the subsidy?

And does solar really improve the environment? One of Solyndra's manufacturing facilities in the Bay Area, CA, after the bankruptcy (paid for by the US taxpayer), was determined to be a toxic waste site.

A friend did solar in his new house but it was designed around the panels with the correct orientation. Still on the grid, no batteries. My bill in a state with the highest electric costs in the nation or close to it is 97 a month.

With the average life span of the cells, there is no way for me to break even. In NH how much is even generated in the winter months?

Maybe if they actually started building them here but I'm not going to feed the Chinese if I don't have to.

In San Diego with lots of sun and sky-high electric rates, my system will pay for itself in 4 years, including the 30% credit from you, my friends. Thanks!

Electric bill for the first year of service about $350, a typical one-month bill here.

quote:

I wonder, how much of the cost of solar energy is subsidized by taxpayers? What would the cost/benefit analysis look like without the subsidy?

Federal subsidies for wind and solar projects and technology development totaled about $75 billion over the past decade, according to EWG’s analysis of data from the Treasury Department, Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Research Service.


China’s Trina Solar estimated about 20% of current U.S. demand for solar panels is being fueled by tax considerations.

Solar is pretty much for suckers. That is anywhere that actually has winter. I live in Wis. There were 3 homes in the area with solar over the years. All 3 have removed it.

It works out economically here in so cal. Even more so if you have an electric vehicle.

Man, there are some bored ass people around these parts.

Kinda makes me wonder about fractle geometry

A ladder and a long handled broom?

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I see them being used in the Yoop. I cant see how they can work when covered in 18 inches or more of snow.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Man, there are some bored ass people around these parts.

Kinda makes me wonder about fractle geometry

Here you go, bendable. I didn't have anything else better to do.

http://www.fractal.org/Bewustz...ls-Useful-Beauty.htm