bad_syntax t1_iw4jbry wrote
Sorry, I live in Texas, and have looked at solar multiple times. It isn't economically worth it.
First, I was paying like $0.12/KwH, and I do know in other states power can be 2-3x that, making these numbers wrong.
Second, I would need to *COAT* my house with solar to be "off grid" even during the sunniest parts of the day. Like 60 panels to power all my servers and stuff.
Third, my new house has a REALLY steep roof, and though I know we can still put solar on them, it also means it isn't hidden AT ALL, and is pretty ugly (a few houses around have some).
Fourth, in Texas, many power companies do not pay you for surplus power. They will give you a credit you can use later, and if you generate more than you use, oh well, they keep it.
Fifth. This REALLY surprised me. If you have solar, and its 100 degrees and sunny, and your power goes out, so does your solar. The only way you can have power is if you also buy a battery, which is tens of thousands of dollars, and only last a few years.
Sixth. Much like a pool, when you sell your house with solar you won't get back what you paid for it, and nobody in their right mind is going to take on your solar lease.
Seventh. The breakeven point was no less than 15 years, without a battery, and though solar still works up to 30 years in some cases, maybe longer, that is still one hell of a commitment to stay where you are. Yes, I'm taking into account the pathetic "tax credit".
Eighth. Hail. We get it a lot, and get a new roof ever few years typically. If the roof gets damaged, the is no guarantee that your insurance will pay to remove the panels, fix the roof, then replace the panels.
Ninth. The solar companies know all this, and show you charts were power goes up every year (mine went up ONCE, this year, in the past 12). They show you max power generation without taking into account cloudy days and non-optimum solar placement. They show how much you are lowering your bill, without showing you how the payment actually increases your energy costs for 10+ years until you break even.
Basically, it just isn't worth it. Even if the costs were halved, it would still take many years to break even.
I have yet to see a $1/month investment in solar see a $1/month lowering of an electric bill.
If I had money to burn, sure, solar is awesome, but I'm not throwing away money on a worse solution. Sure, better on the environment (though I have my doubts overall due to production/mining of the components), but I don't make enough to make monetary sacrifices in the tens of thousands of dollars to make the world better in a way so small as to not even be noticed.
NorfX t1_iw5cn9y wrote
What kind of roof and/or hail do you have there? No house i ever lived in had to get a new roof in my lifetime, that sounds so weird to me.
bad_syntax t1_iw5dy5v wrote
I dunno, shingles. We all get new roofs around here all the time. My area, which I've been in like 2 years, I don't recall seeing any hail, yet I've seen half a dozen new roofs go on these homes. None of these homes are over 10 years old.
My old neighborhood I lived there 7 years, got 3 new roofs. We had a localized hailstorm once, hail the size of baseballs, lasted like 5 minutes, after the sun came out and all the ice immediately fogged our neighborhood. Only like 20-30 houses affected.
Each time I got a new roof at my old place, I upgraded it, so it *should* have been more durable than the builder grade crap they give you. The next new roof I should have had enough to only pay a couple thousand to get solar shingles.
We even have mountains of shingles here because we replace so many roofs:
We had a tornado pass by about 100' from the house last time, roof did pretty well and I only needed a few replacements (roof was only a few weeks old when it hit). I was in the middle of Dallas then, now I'm in the boonies, in a much newer/nicer house, with a MUCH steeper roof. Not sure if that'll make a difference or not.
NorfX t1_iw5gjvd wrote
So i guess that's asphalt roofing which is cheaper and less durable. I guess that makes sense when you also get tornadoes, not that i know much about it but i wouldn't assume any roof to be tornado proof..
Zephir62 t1_iw60nbh wrote
Agree, this is a really weird comment. They need 30 kWh worth of panels just to power their home? Uhmmm
Noob_DM t1_iwdvtcd wrote
Welcome to America.
Land of extremes, including weather.
A little while back when solar was first booming the neighbors a few doors down got solar panels on their roof. Was real proud of it and talked it up how in 8-10 years it’ll have paid for itself.
2 years later they were all destroyed by hurricane Sandy.
They no longer have solar panels.
BrokeVic t1_iw62keg wrote
Well said. And posted the downfalls of it helping the environment. But in reality it is worse than for the investment by at least 15%.
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