[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by Windguy

Having worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for 35 years, I am very pro solar and wind. However, I have done nothing here because the laws here truly are pro fossil fuels. When I need a new roof, I may get solar roof tiles and a battery if the prices continue to drop as they have been. Just because something is not economical today doesn't mean it won't be in our lifetimes.

Think about the fact that the utility unfairly pays you wholesale prices for your excess. Well, you might think, a power plant gets wholesale. What's the difference? Well, the energy from the power plant must go through an expensive distribution system to get to your house and there are losses along the way. If you generate excess electricity, it goes to your next door neighbor and costs the utility nothing. That doesn't seem fair to me. Also, when you are generating excess energy, it's during the heat of the day (sunny!) when demand is high. The utility should pay you more to sell during peak usage than at other times.

If you have an electric car, you should charge it at night when demand is low and pay low rates. If your car holds more than you will use in a day, you could partially discharge your battery into the grid at peak times and sell it at premium prices. You could make money that way. Tesla supposedly has written the software to do it, but has not yet enabled it.

But, the fossil-fuel industry doesn't want this to happen and they exert great pressure on politicians to keep it that way.

I have worked in the parallel Generation area from the utility side, and directly with many people from NREL, the points above are very valid, Florida is NOT solar friendly. I helped write the standards that are used for this equipment. I came from PA which is a deregulated state, and is much more solar friendly.

Also as noted above do NOT trust any salesmans pitch about solar. If you cannot make your own independent analysis of the overall costs, call your financial advisor (or someone you trust) to help with an independent review of the actual costs. All of my analysis indicates a 20+ year payback if I buy the panels myself, and no payback for leased arrangements.

Make sure you include the annual maintenance costs (occasional cleaning), repairs, removal for roof replacement (roof 15 to 20 years, solar 25 years+), battery replacements if you go that route, inverter failures, etc.