Tomes wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
Tomes wrote:
These are the folks that I used to have my solar panels installed at no
cost to me, and an overall electric savings now of about 15% or so
(depending on a lot of stuff). They operate in NJ. Even if you are
not
in NJ, there is some good reading here.
http://www.sunfarmnetwork.com
Tomes
Correction - I operate at a net electric billing savings of 10% (not 15).
(I just looked over my stuff again...)
Tomes
How is it that they can install a solar system at no cost to you? I
know NJ has a rebate system, where the taxpayers are picking up a huge
portion of the cost, but this is the first time I've heard of it being
free. And if it is, why doesn't everyone have one?
The typical case I've seen is a 6KW system costs $55K, with the
taxpayers getting stuck with $40K of it and the homeowner paying $15K.
So, to the homeowner, the payback can appear to come in several years.
But in reality, it's a total misallocation of resources and a rippoff
for taxpayers.
Check out the link. What they do is install it and then charge me for a
percentage of the electricity that it generates. This charge pays off the
'bill' for the hardware and the installation over 20 years or less. If it
is not paid off in the 20 years then the rest of the bill is forgiven. They
rig the monthly charge for the electricity to me in a way that I am saving
overall 10% over what I would be paying to JCP&L if I had no solar panels.
So, overall, I paid zero money up front and save 10% per month while doing
something good for the planet. This was the ultimate no-brainer for me. I
think that everyone does not have this because they do not know about it or
do not have a south facing roof. At this point they are only in NJ.
Tomes
Of course this scheme only works because the tax payers in NJ are
getting shafted for about 75% of the cost of the system, or about $35K
per installation. Only after that does it start to become
economically viable for consumers. If even a few percent of homes
installed these systems, there wouldn't be enough money in the fund to
support it. We should be doing what makes sense to use alternate
sources, but this sure ain't even close to being an economically viable
alternative and is a classic case of a misallocation of resources.