Originally Posted by Choro&Swing (Post 1776968)

While solar panels may not pay off for you, one thing that WILL pay off, if you haven’t done it yet, is to replace your light bulbs with LEDs, especially if you have lights you leave on for hours per day. You can your lighting cost up to 90%. The LED might cost you a couple hundred for the entire house, but you will make that up in a year, probably. Get the color balance that is right for you. I usually get warmer lights. Get dimmer LEDs if the light is on a dimmer switch. Get three-way LEDs if your light use three-way bulbs. Get natural sunlight LEDs for your garage, as the light is more accurate. If you use those for your bathroom, though, you might feel that you have suddenly aged.

Originally Posted by Idaholady (Post 1776518)

Does anyone know anything about solar panels? Good idea? Bad idea? Would they blow away in a hurricane? Do they really save on electric bills?

Originally Posted by oneclickplus (Post 1777054)

Personal experience:
Don't waste your time or money. Payback (if any) is miserably slow. There is not enough real estate on your roof to generate the power you need. Those with a small farm that can dedicate several acres to solar panels might have better results. Also, something not well publicized by solar companies ... the panels degrade over time and the voltage output drops precipitously. In 20 years, they are trash for the landfill. If you do decide to put them on your roof, get it in writing that the solar company will remove them (and reinstall them) at no cost should you need a roof replacement down the road. That is another surprise cost to some people.

Had a neighbor who invested $23,000 in solar panels while drooling over the idea of his electric meter running backwards (per the sales guy). He generated less than $25/month of electricity. That's a negative payback. Ignoring interest, it would take 76 years to get his money back. Solar panels don't last that long. The interest on his loan cost more than he saved resulting in a net monthly loss.

I think you're better off attaching small generators to couple million gerbil and hamster cages and just let them go at it.

Solar water heaters for you pool are a different technology. Don't confuse them. Solar panels that generate electricity are what we're discussing here.

Originally Posted by Idaholady (Post 1776518)

Does anyone know anything about solar panels? Good idea? Bad idea? Would they blow away in a hurricane? Do they really save on electric bills?

Originally Posted by Windguy (Post 1776689)

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.

Originally Posted by Stuart Zaikov (Post 1776532)

We had considered it but several neighbors have it and the payback is on the side of it might be longer than we have to walk this planet.