how much did it cost to put up solar power panels in your house? (understanding that it is different per house etc.)
just trying to get a ballpark estimate.
More Pages:
- Solar Lights: How Much Does It Cost To Install Solar Panels? (10/18/2011)
- What kind of solar power setup would I need to power a single room’s energy needs?
- Solar Power: Solar Power Cost Effective Calculation? (7/27/2011)
- Solar Panel: How Much Does 1000 Square Feet Of Solar Panels Cost? (8/24/2011)
- Solar Panel: How Much Does Solar Panels Cost? (9/20/2011)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Nothing, Because They never will recover the amount they cost in the energy they produce, thus buying them is a lose lose situation, the amount of energy it takes to produce them exceeds the energy they will produce through their life cycle, thus by buying them your hurting the earth more then helping, And I know people that work for major energy providers, the government requires they have multiple sources of energy, and this is one reaqson that power is expensive as it is because their made to lose money just for some bull political reasons
I don’t know, I don’t own a home right now.
We paid about $ 4000 for a system with batteries and controller that I installed myself when panels were $ 4/watt – we have 680 watts of panel. Panels are now below $ 3 a watt and falling.
So how dumb was I to do this instead of paying over $ 15,000 a pole to bring in less reliable power from over a mile and a half away – and then have to pay for the power?. Dumb enough that I’m going to add enough power for a well pump, pressure water system, and a freezer this year. I expect to continue to enjoy more reliable power than my neighbors on the grid.
Hey Iona, we live in a home that is powered primarily by the wind and sun. Our panels alone cost $ 5,200 when we installed them 11 years ago, they make up a 1.4 kw solar array, small for home use by most standards. Our home is only 1200 square feet, and is fairly efficient. We spent 2 years changing lighting, appliances and some other features. Prior to putting in the solar array, our average electric bill was probably 35 to 40 dollars per month, now it is less than 5. Our entire system, solar panels, wind turbine, batteries, inverter and other controls cost around $ 13,000. We received grants and tax incentives for about one quarter of the cost at the time. Have we gotten our money back? Probably not, but I’d do it again in a heart beat. First of all, our home has not been without electricity for even a minute the last 11 years, what would be the price tag on that? Second, when we do a load of laundry or run the TV, we don’t add pollution to the air at our coal fired power plant down the road, most of our neighbors do. Third, with the knowledge we’ve gained over the years, we now teach solar power seminars at the local schools here, and they bring out a bus load of kids from time to time for a field trip to see an actual working solar and wind powered home. The idea is that one day, they might have a choice how to build their home, and I expect at least some of them will do what we have done. Lots of people grow tomatoes instead of buying them at the store, even though it costs more in dollars and time to maintain a garden, we just grow electrons in ours.
If you’re really curious about this stuff, I would suggest not wasting your time asking hacks like us online for information, go to the source, or sources, I will list some below. The one thing the renewable energy business has in vast supply right now is misinformation. Take Yes Man’s answer, I’m guessing he has never laid a finger on a solar panel, yet he is willing to offer his advice on the matter to you. Solar panels do earn back their, “embodied energy,” in their lifetimes, generally in 2 to 6 years. Embodied energy refers to the amount of energy it takes to mine for raw materials, ship to the factory, build the device, ship to the user point and install it. Studies have been done on this by several sources, but it really makes no difference, I’ll explain why. Let’s say you make a solar panel that generates 500 watts, then put it along side a coal or natural gas generator of the same size, which will earn back it’s embodied energy faster? The answer is the coal or gas generator never does, because once you manufacture and install it, it then has to be fed more coal or natural gas the rest of its life, so it keeps on digging itself a deeper and deeper energy hole that it can never crawl out of. At least the panel has a chance to get even environmentally. The same is true for wind and biomass power.
Virtual Guys story is a no brainer, anyone facing a line extension fee is always farther ahead with renewable energy. I made the same mistake 21 years ago when I spent almost $ 3,000 extending lines to my property. If I knew then what I know now, I would have spent the money on solar panels instead, and not had to deal with an electric bill every month for the rest of my life. Good luck Iona, and take care, Rudydoo