Is it economical to run a solar energy to power my electricals at home?

Question

I was thinking of having it installed in my house but I still have to do some research if it is economical and efficient.

Answer 1

Unfortunately to use solar panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity is not economical or energy efficient. The only time it is really worth it is if you are in a remote location and it is one of your only options.

Solar panels lose 40% of the energy from the sun as heat loss. If instead you used solar collectors to directly heat the water you use in your home you would save more money and energy. Solar Collector systems are much cheaper. Why convert the suns energy to electricity only to turn around an convert it to heat again to warm your water?

Photoelectric Solar panels are very expensive to produce money-wise, and energy-wise. With current technology the amount of energy that is used to produce a photoelectric panel is MORE than the amount of energy it will ever produce. The quality of Silicon Crystal required does not occur naturally and the process that it takes to produce it is very energy intensive. ( 2100-2300 degree C temps are required ) Photoelectric power has the perception of being "green" but only if you leave the production process out of the equation.

as for the money side, you might be able to come out ahead if you can buy the panels outright and recieve a tax break. Then if you live in a very sunny area, the more direct sunlight you get the more benefit you recieve.

Answer 2

It is, and around where I live there are several homes that do this. I do not personally know the upfront costs associated with this kind of project, but I do know that it isn't really all that long a time before the savings in utilities pay for the costs of the solar panels. I am wanting to say it is anywhere from $15-20,000 for having the work done, but I could be off. However, some states give rebates for using solar powered homes, in some cases covering half the total cost.

The only downside would be potentially expensive damage to the solar panels due to mother nature, but this chance could be lessened with several protective measures such as a "protective cage" allowing for much of the light to still get through, while preventing anything large enough that could damage them from getting through.

You could also have trouble with cloud cover and too many overcast days, but even on these dim days, the panels still gather a large amount of electricity. Plus, most solar powered homes use large and powerful storage batteries for saving excess power in case of things like this. Often these can be tapped for days if not weeks worth of power. On top of this you can sell extra power that you do not need back to the city or whomever provides it. Imagine getting a check from the utility company rather than writing one!

I would highly recommend you go this route if you have the initial capital!

Answer 3

Truthfully - right now solar power, though great enviornmentally, isn't really economical....with some exceptions.
Where do you live? In really sunny areas (AZ, NV, etc) solar cells are more productive. Solar power is free - what you need to weigh is the upfront costs vs paying the power company over time.
Second: ask your power company if they will buy back power from you if you do put up solar panels. Some will, and if you create more energy than you use, your electricity bill could actully be a credit (would never happen in my house, hah)
Being developed right now are much higher efficient panals, and much cheaper film like solar absorbing paper (different projects) They're a few years away from being put into production.

Def. do the research, ask you power company about it, and in a couple years it might be able to pay itself off much more quickly than today. Good Luck!

Answer 4

There are lots of good facts so far - I only have to pay 6 cents per KwH, and looked into solar panels - there are two levels, one is independant of the grid, costing about 50k. The other links with the grid for 20k and up, depending on where you live and how much you need to power everything. The grid link systems allow you to sell power back to the company, but the independant makes you immune when they have a blackout.

There is another, WAY cheaper solution, that was in the news in Australia. There's a guy there that made a new type of wind turbine - a three bladed (well, not really blades) cylinder thingie about 6 feet long and about 3 feet in diameter. Two of these can power a ranch house in Australia, for a cost of $800 or so each (AU dollars, I'm guessing). As soon as these become available worldwide, the cost would be WAY lower.

I bet big companies crush him before word gets out...

Downside to those is the battery technology, which is still pretty bad for the environment currently. We need to work on that.

Hit my blog and comment if you have ideas.

Answer 5

its not really economical.

Only with massive government subsidies (rebates... tax deductions...) can solar compete with coal fired electric generation.

The technology needs more work.

Sure you can generate more energy than you use.. but what did it cost to be able to produce that much energy? $30,000? $50,000?

So you save $250 a month on your electric bill and get maybe $60 a month by selling energy. How long does it take to pay off the solar system when you had to get a loan at 10% interest to put the solar system in? (something on the nature of... 40 years.)

Answer 6

It really don't matter where you live you will get paid back for the cost of the system and install. Even if you do not get any tax credits or anyone pays for the system for you.

Ad in the sales tax you pay on every kWh you RENT from the utility. Then add in the inflation rate over the next 20 to 30 years.Don't forget the franshise taxes you will not have to pay no more. You can not just take the kWh from your bill and divide it by the cost of the system. That is bad math.

It takes a few sheets of paper or a copy of Microsoft Excel to do the math correctly.

Go to http://www.oynot.com/how-solar.html and use some of the links. One is a spread sheet if you have MS Excel.

Hard facts are, You will save lots of money by adding solar to your home.

Answer 7

We have a friend that is generating so much electricity with his solar panels in a few months he is going to be able to sell his unused electric back to the electric company and make money off of them.

Answer 8

Only if you do not pay the full cost of the solar panels. Most people get rebates and credits and deductions from utilities and government to pay 80% or more of the cost, and people who can't qualify for that don't buy solar panels.

Answer 9

No. You will spend $20,000 to save about 20KWH/day on a very sunny day. Since power cost averages $.10 or 10 cents per KWH, you will save nowhere near enough to ever get your money back.

Best to get a little car or little house. Will save much more energy and save money as well.

Answer 10

economics has no place in envoronmentalism... in fact the two concepts are diametricly opposed. BUT... whilst we think of a better idea than solar, hydro and wind power they are probibaly the best of a bad bunch... forget money and do what's right, FOR NOW!!!