IS it worth it to go solar yet?

[drgnfly829]

I'm debating, electric for 1 person and fish has run 650 minumum/month
I'm soo not a techie, have a nice southern exposure, like the idea of being able to go off grid
and i've heard there are tax credits
Just looking for opinions at this point

 

[TheWire]

first of all, check if the state offer any solar per watt rebate? Also check if the federal still offering any tax credit.
Also how much kw you are using per month vs how much initial investment (after rebate/tax credit), and how long you will get your money back? Also depending how much you are generating, you could possible sell back to your local utilities. Sound very good idea right?
But can you swallow an initial high investment?

You probably need to reduce your lighting...fish don't really need lights...changing all your light to CF 15W if you dont have plants...consolidate all your pumps into one linear air pump (40W+ ), insulate your room and get a space heater instead..

 

[danger_chicken]

DO IT! I've always wanted to but couldn't because of trees. A bunch fell in my yard a few weeks ago so I'm a little closer. If my neigbor removes the one big one in front of his house and I remove the one big one in front of mine I'm good. He said he wants to so we'll see. My trees are going in the Spring. If he takes out his than maybe I can go solar the following year.

As far as tax credits I haven't looked recently but I think the Federal credit was improved. First it's dollar for dollar on the tax owed not adjusted income - thats huge! It was around 20% with stipulations but I think a lot of the stimpulations were removed. If you are in MD they had a tax credit too but I'm not sure if it's still offered. I did the math at one point and it was only going to take 2-3yrs to recoupe the cost with the price increases on elec.

Last I looked was over a year ago and it was going to cost around 10k. If you elec is $650 a month, with tax credits it would pay for itself in 1 year.

Please keep me posted if you do this.

 

[TheWire]

DO IT! I've always wanted to but couldn't because of trees. A bunch fell in my yard a few weeks ago so I'm a little closer. If my neigbor removes the one big one in front of his house and I remove the one big one in front of mine I'm good. He said he wants to so we'll see. My trees are going in the Spring. If he takes out his than maybe I can go solar the following year.

As far as tax credits I haven't looked recently but I think the Federal credit was improved. First it's dollar for dollar on the tax owed not adjusted income - thats huge! It was around 20% with stipulations but I think a lot of the stimpulations were removed. If you are in MD they had a tax credit too but I'm not sure if it's still offered. I did the math at one point and it was only going to take 2-3yrs to recoupe the cost with the price increases on elec.

Last I looked was over a year ago and it was going to cost around 10k. If you elec is $650 a month, with tax credits it would pay for itself in 1 year.

Please keep me posted if you do this.

no dude...it won't pay back within 1 year.
You probably need grid-tied system as storing power is very expensive.

You need
1) solar panel
2) inverter
3) arrestors
4) cables
5) misc
6) disconnect

You are looking at around $18k for a 3000w system. That's not even included installation.
With that..you are getting about 300-400 kWh monthly. So do the math

 

[danger_chicken]

I agree off grid isn't worth it. But if he's paying $7,800 a year and with the gov't programs you're looking at droppig at least 5k for the price via grants and tax credits. That's less than 2 years at 18k. But it's all speculation without knowing the exact kw usage and cost of a system.

 

[minifoot77]

you could put up a wind mill too... and hydro (you know you have the water...)

 

[danger_chicken]

I think I heard of a device you put on your plumbing that creates elec everytime you flush. There were problems with it.

 

[minifoot77]

they have p batteries too saw it on manswers....

 

[TheWire]

Like I say before we need to know how many kw used per month?

I agree off grid isn't worth it. But if he's paying $7,800 a year and with the gov't programs you're looking at droppig at least 5k for the price via grants and tax credits. That's less than 2 years at 18k. But it's all speculation without knowing the exact kw usage and cost of a system.

Posted via mobile.capitalcichlids.org

 

[Lively]

I pay less a month than that - hubby looked into it and I'm repeating what he told me. We'd have to cover our roof completely and it still wouldn't be enough to power the house.

But, if you combine it with wind and hydro (if possible) it might possible to create enough to power the entire usage and even sell back to the electric company. Also, he came across a mega battery that reduces the cost on that end. I'll have to ask him to send me that link if anyone is interested! It was kinda cool, i think it was the size of a small car! lol

 

[fischfan13]

In NJ we have one part of the State that has an Electric Company that will foot the bill after all of the tax credits.
Other than that it will possibly take you about 6-8 years to get your money back. After that you can sell your credits to electric companies. It's a great deal if you can get about 50% of the start-up cost paid back by the govt.

 

[danger_chicken]

I pay less a month than that - hubby looked into it and I'm repeating what he told me. We'd have to cover our roof completely and it still wouldn't be enough to power the house.

But, if you combine it with wind and hydro (if possible) it might possible to create enough to power the entire usage and even sell back to the electric company. Also, he came across a mega battery that reduces the cost on that end. I'll have to ask him to send me that link if anyone is interested! It was kinda cool, i think it was the size of a small car! lol

I'd do wind if I had some land. The wind blows at night

 

[Tony]

I vote for your own personal nuclear plant.

If you're lucky, you may end up with some cool Simpsons-esque 3-eyed fish? How cool would that be?