I know it’s expensive but wouldn’t buying solar panels cost just as much as a years power bill so really there wouldn’t be a difference I’m only 13 but I’m curious
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
ok there is various reasons why but the main reasons why its not everywhere is because:
cost(like you said before)
it would kill off millions of jobs because coal and other nonrenewable would have no use.
It would destroy the global economy because jobs lost, no investment in nonrenewable resources worth trillions of dollars, and the world would implode on itself because people would have to commit offences just to live. Sort of what happened during the mechanical revolution in Britain
There are many types of solar energy, but you’re talking about generating electricity.
The problem with solar is you pay that upfront. So the break even point is about 13+ years, and odds are if you sell your house before that you won’t recover the cost of the solar cells.
It would be like buying a car and having to pay for all the gas upfront, say you got 30 mph and drove 12,000 miles a year for 10 years and gas cost $ 3.50 so one top of the price of the car you’d have to pay an $ 14,000 for the gas before you drove off the lot, and if you sold the car they won’t give you anything for the fuel you bought, although they would get to use that fuel.
So you have a LOT of upfront cost that you might not ever get back, or you could just buy it as you use it, and in most places it cheaper to buy it then put up the solar panels.
RIchard gives a very good answer in terms of buying gas up front…..
first it depends hugely on where you are as to how much power a system will put out…… $ 20,000 worth of panels, batteries and inverters might pay for itself in 10 years in the Caribbean, and maybe 20 years in Minnesota or Scotland or Washington state…….
and, depending on how much of your monthly electrical use you want to get out of a solar system, $ 20,000 might not be anywhere near enough…….so there are tremendous “up-front” costs to a system, costs so large 90% of people cant afford it.
Simple enough, look at your electric bill. See how much it costs to supply your electrical needs. See how many kilowatt hours you averaged per day by seeing how many you used as a total for the billing period. Or go to the site I’ve provided. In many states, it’s a little over 7 cents, Alaska and Texas and others are about double that.
Suppose your cost were 10 cents per kilowatt hour, and you used 30 per day. That’s a whopping three dollars a day, your bill would be about 90 dollars for a month with a lot of A/C usage.
Then go to a solar collector site, see how much they charge per kilowatt of cell capacity.
After looking at the numbers, you will have answered your question.
It costs more like 20 years of electricity.
At that rate, it’s economically better not to have them.
I do, but unless they make my house more valuable when i sell it, i’m probably not going to get my money back.
That said, I think it’s morally the right thing to do.
We do have quite a bit of sun here, so they work fairly well.
I’m sure that there are other areas where they would be considerably less efficient.
Up front costs as most people say. You might be paying for 20 years worth of electricity when you buy you panels, but most people get a loan to buy something that big so it can be stretched out over the 20 years if you like. Not mentioned was the fact that you are buying 20 years worth of electricity at TODAY’S power cost. My electricity prices have doubled in the last 12 years plus I have to pay a delivery charge on top of it all. If that trend continues, a set of solar panels would pay for themselves for me in 10 years or so. That seems like a long time now, especially to a 13 year old, but time flies when you’re no longer in school.
Because it is not a good fit for everyone.
Besides all the cost issues involved and economics do play a part, but simply, some houses are not in a location that gets adequate sun or have other factors that determine that solar is not a good fit.
For example, two exact same homes in a neighborhood. One faces South, one faces East. The one facing south has a natural exposure to the sun and panels can be simply rack mounted where the house who’s roof faces east might need special brackets and bracing to lift the panels up and face towards the south. That is more expensive even though they are the same model of home.
Also, if one home is heated by natural gas, and the other by electric base board heaters, the one with the baseboard heaters is going to use much much more electricity. They may not have enough roof space to put all the panels to supply what they need or the cost to put in enough panels costs more than they will ever save. It is not Best practice to lose money.
Third, if the home has 1 person versus a large family, again, the cost to install extra panels to meet the demand for electricity in the home with more people my cost more than saved.
So yes, cost is important to factor in. I work with a special session committee and I can tell you Lawmakers are working with the Banking industry to allow special financing for renewable energy packages so the up front cost can be spread out over time making it an available option. Plus, the system is valuable meaning it generates savings that a potential home buyer would normally anticipate paying over time to the Power company so this is a “money value” to the buyer and the home needs to be recognized for that value versus a home without solar panels. Lawmakers are working with their Division of Real Estate and Appraisers so they are knowledgeable and can capture into an appraisal the increased value to this particular home.
But regardless if we solve the up front cost issue, and the recapture of the homes investment again, just because you can get a loan for it doesn’t mean its always the best practice for their home and like I said, not every home will benefit from solar!. .
Geothermal systems are working well to heat homes and reduce energy demands and wind turbines in rural homes can be more affordable than the cost of solar but because they require a tower, you don’t see turbines in City area’s and solar is the better fit.