Fossil fuels will be running out. They are not enviornmental friendly to the enviornment. The cutting of trees for fuel takes the oxygen out of the air of the earth. The ozone layer is disappering slowly. Smog and pollution are not creating havoc with personnal health and causing a crisises in cancer risk. They also create acid rain that destroys the oxgenating plants and food sources in which we eat.
Solar heating is cheaper and pays for itself after installation. Federal and state governments offer incentives for heating credits and enviornmental tax credits for installing solar or wind energy.
Farmers can recieve Agricultural grants.Public and non profits will receive tax incentives for solar systems.
Would you switch to solar energy ,and if not why ?
Would you like to have a lesser electric and heating bill ?
Would you like to resell back the energy you created to the power companie?
This is a poll for my college paper. please assist in my poll.
Thank you
2007-01-25 18:50:44 · 6 answers · asked by redbirdspiritflying 2 in Environment
Up until very recently solar panels were not very efficient, and you would have to cover your whole house with panels and still need power from the power company, all with a large up front financial investment. This has discouraged the move to solar. It is changing rapidly, and when the ratio moves enough in the other direction so that when you switch you will no longer need to buy power and can in many instances sell your surplus back to the power grid, you can bet the change will happen fast.
2007-01-25 19:04:35 · answer #1 · answered by michaelsan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Solar heating doesn't work where I live in the Pacific Northwest (US) because the winters are mostly cloudy and the amount of daylight is too short. At best, you could reduce the cost of heating by a small amount, but maybe not enough to pay for the materials needed for solar heating.
If solar panels were installed to generate electricity, the same problems occurs - the panels would be almost useless in winter when electricity use is highest. In summer, there would be a huge surplus of energy, which could be sold to a power company. I'm still not sure you recover the cost in less than 10 or 20 years.
2007-01-26 04:03:16 · answer #2 · answered by formerly_bob 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Startup costs are prohibitave. If there were subsidy programs, maybe we could afford it.
Let's say it cost you $18,000 dollars to install a system.
Let's say your electric bill was only $75/month.
It would take you 20 years to recover your investment. Do the math. When you sell power back to the grid, it is at wholesale, not retail (what you would pay for it). I may be wrong on that last statement, but there is no profit for them to sell the power you genetrated for the same cost you charged them. There has to be a margin.
If you did manage to generate enough power to supply the grid, unless you were generating mega watts, your rebate amount woulld be insignificant.
The more capacity of the system, the higher the initial cost, and don't forget. Things break/wear out, or are defective and must be maintained...more expense.
It's not really as simple as you are probably thinking. If I were to do an energy conservation program, I think I would go with geothermal.
2007-01-25 19:09:12 · answer #3 · answered by Curious 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Solar heating is cheaper and pays for itself after installation." This really depends on how much electricity one uses. For me, it would not pay for itself in my lifetime. Granted, I'm not that young.
Also, my house location is not optimum for solar panels, because of where it faces and surrounding buildings.
I would love to go solar, but it would be far too expensive for me. The tax credit, while nice, is a one-time thing.
2007-01-25 19:04:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-11-01 08:06:59 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's the cost. Few people dare to spend $3,000 for one panel that can generate enough electricity for one light bulb.
2007-01-25 18:59:59 · answer #6 · answered by gregory_dittman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋