Otto Mation (Caroline Freisen) wrote:
On 4 Jul 2006 07:20:04 -0700, wrote:



Solar electric is either a total economic disaster or marginal,
depending on how you look at it.

Case #1 What it really costs. A 6KW system costs about $55K. A 9KW
system costs $75K. Given that a hair dryer can pull 1.5KW, a central
AC can pull the entire 9KW, and the sun only shines during the day, it
doesn't sound very good, does it?

Case #2 The economic reality is hidden by subsidies. Here in NJ, you
can get that 6KW system for around 13K, with the other $42K coming from
the dumb sap taxpayers. You can also get some small income stream from
selling excess power back to the electric company when the sun is
shining. So, if you look at it from that perspective, it starts to
look better. Of course, the big questions are how long these really
last, how suceptable to damage from say, hail, they are, where you
live, how much subsidy you can get, how you finance it, what your
electric rate is, etc.

BP is selling there systems through Home Depot. They have a website at
BP with a calc tool that's supposed to show you what it will cost,
save, etc. But that is a total farce too. They claim a substantial
amount of credit in the form of "Tax savings." Read the fine print,
and you will find that this assumes you finance the thing with a home
equity loan or mortgage and deduct the interest. That's OK, but then
they don't include any cost for the actual interest on the loan, which
of course is several times the tax savings, making it just another lie.

In other words, this is big great crock put forth by environmentalists,
who proclaim this a viable solution to our energy problems. When you
look at it in real economic terms, it just falls apart.



But living with TXU, my electric company, is a total economic
disaster! I bought this house a year ago. I's all electric. For a
while the electric bill seemed a bit high, but hey, I've not lived in
an all electric house in forty or more years, so you've gotta give a
little, right? Comes along winter. In November, it was very cold
around here and I had company from out of town on three different
occasions, plus cooked a huge Thanksgiving feast. My electric bill
was $360. Okay. I don't like it, but I can live with that. December
was warm. No company. No Christmas decorations -- why bother? And
my electric bill was $700.00!!! I cannot live with that!

Had them check my meter. "Nothing wrong with your meter. Pay up."
January was back to $360.00, but without company or feasting. It's a
nightmare. I plan on living here for another twenty years. I figure
that even if my electric bill settles down and averages $350.00 a
month (like that's gonna happen!), that's going to cost $84,000.00!
Kinda makes photovoltaics look better, doesn't it?

Every appliance in the house is Energy Star except the hot water
heater. The majority of my light bulbs are fluorescent. When every
light in the kitchen, breakfast room, living foom, family room and
study are burning I'm using less that 200 watts! And I still get this
kind of electric bill. Do you know of a better alternative? I don't
like the smell of whale oil. Candles drip too much.

Meanwhile, I'll be interested if anyone else has input?

CF

The first thing that is obvious is if your house is all electric, solar
electric isn't a solution, as the heating part of the load which is
killing you will be far more than is practical iwth a reasonable cost
system, even with rebates and incentives. Houses that use solar
electric typically have minimized their use of electricity already and
that means no electric heat.

In your case, I'd get a total energy evaluation done on the house.
Some utilities will do this for free. I'd be looking at insulation,
attic ventilation, air leakage, etc. Then, I'd consider a heat pump
system, which may be a good alternative in your area. Another
possibility is solar heat, which unlike solar electric, does make
economic sense. Geothermal is worth a look too, but it does have a
higher upfront cost.

It's hard to give much advice beyond that, without knowing more about
the specifics of your house, energy pricing/availability.