After all this talk lately I was curious so I got an estimate for my house and the price was (brace yourself)
$108,000!!!!
That is for a 1800sqft home with 100amp service (12KW).
No wonder all those coal plants exist. Now I know why those P--B.S. shows don't mention the costs of going green.
2007-05-11 14:10:21 · 9 answers · asked by gt5364e 3 in Environment ➔ Green Living
Engineer... you say you have a 4.8kW system? Is that enough to make you self sufficient from the power company?
My house, like most houses, have a 100 Amp service panel. 100A * 120Volt = 12kW. I was sure that was what I needed. Plus I figure any excess you can sell back to the company. Still, at $9 a watt, 4.8kW is $43,200... whichi is way more than I want to spend. I was hoping for something around $3,000... which is about how much it cost for me to replace my air conditioner.
2007-05-11 16:55:36 · update #1
I thought they'd be a lot cheaper than that after all the development time. If that's true, I now know why solar power is pretty much dead in this country. That seems ridiculous.
2007-05-11 14:15:07 · answer #1 · answered by Nc Jay 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A 12kW system is a very very big system for a home. Your 1800 sqft home should have one in the 2kW to 4kW range. And in that size range it would produce from between 50% and 100% of your power needs. It would probably cost you between $18,000 and about $36,000. Depending upon where you live you can expect to get a state rebate. Here in California you would get between $5,000 and $10,000. Plus there is a Federal Tax break as well. I am not sure how much that is, but in CA your net cost would be in the $10-25k range.
A 12kW system is far too large for your house. It would probably produce between 3 and 4 times more power than you need. The only exception I can think of is if you live somewhere with very cold winters and expect to electrically heat your house. You need to contact a more reputable solar dealer and get a new estimate.
I put a 4.8kW system on my 2,400 sqft house about four years ago. It produces about 75% of my power and I have an electrically heated hot tub. By the way. I installed my panels myself and had an electrician do the wiring. After all rebates and tax breaks my net out-of-pocket cost for my system was just about $8000. It saves me $1000 a year on my electrical bills. Because of my sweat equity my system will pay for itself in just 8 years. Solar does not have to be unaffordable. Also if you think electricity will be $0.08/kWhr ten years from now, you might want to think again.
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2007-05-11 15:59:55 · answer #2 · answered by Engineer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that's what happens when you throw gobs of solar panels at your inefficient load... instead of doing good system design so you have efficient load.
The average house uses about 24KW/day and you use that much in 2 hours.
You are incredibly wasteful with electricity and it isn't green power's fault. You should have a whole-house study done by a contractor who is more competent and can examine the energy draw of your appliances, insulation, the works. Buying energy-efficient appliances is MUCH MUCH cheaper than buying solar panels to power inefficient appliances.
Some of your bill must be electric heat. Using photovoltaic for that is insane. The right way is use a different type of solar panel that collects heat directly.
I understand that solar is pretty close to "turning a corner" where the cost of the panels, spread out through a mortgage, is less than the sellback value of the power to the electric company, so you're cash flow positive from day one. Obviously that involves intelligent financing.
2007-05-11 17:07:03 · answer #3 · answered by Wolf Harper 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The price quoted is about in the right ball park for a system the size you mentioned. This works out to $9.00/watt installed and falls into the national norm. Based on the size of this system, it appears you are trying to be totally self sufficient for your energy needs. However, I wonder if the price quoted also includes the batteries as well. To me, it appears this cost wasn't included.
If you took the amount you paid to your electric company on an annual basis and divide it into the price of the system, you'll probably have a simple payback for 30 or more years.
Now you understand why utilities don't install these systems because they are so expensive. This works out to about $9,000 / kW of generating capacity; which is about 3 to 4.5 times more expensive than nuclear power.
In order for the proposed system for your home to be economically viable, you'd have to be paying something in the neighborhood of $0.27 / kWh. The U.S. national average is about $0.08 / kWh. So the economics aren' there for your home.
2007-05-11 15:54:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Build Solar Power Easily - http://SolarPower.duebq.com/?DYq
2017-04-05 06:35:12 · answer #5 · answered by Larry 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. I looked at a system just to run cenral air and it was $28000
2007-05-11 14:34:47 · answer #6 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
haha, perfectly said
trying to fight global warming is not near affordable for any one of us
and even if we did have the money to, we couldnt change a thing
2007-05-11 14:24:35 · answer #7 · answered by unitedstatesairforce555 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Exactly! I want to do what I can to go green, but its just so costly!
2007-05-11 14:13:47 · answer #8 · answered by kimison_au 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think they are making plastic solar panels but they are not out yet!
2007-05-11 14:48:39 · answer #9 · answered by greenfrog139 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋