We've got a 16kw grid tied ground mounted solar system which cost after all incentives $30,840 USD. We live in the Hudson Valley in upstate NY USA. The electric rate is .281/kWh and the monthly payment was $446 which translates to over $5000 a year. We have a pool, geothermal heating and cooling, and an electric car in fact everything is electric. There is a $21 per month basic charge from the electric company that will always have to be paid. We have net metering which makes the grid our battery. The system is producing enough power to run everything and we are saving $5000 grand plus a year so the payback will be about 6 years.

@yomanyo327

Жыл бұрын

God damn man, you got it made, good on ya.

@bucfan11

Жыл бұрын

My electric bill in Florida is $170 a month. Solar was $38k. Basically 20 years. No thanks.

@chrismaxny4066

Жыл бұрын

@@Arjan_2 I ask myself the same question in reverse. We aren't rich by any stretch just middle-class but have managed our money carefully. Our home is 1630 sq ft and uses about 25 kWh a day with no pool pump or car charging. Plugging in the car jumps it to 50 to 60 kwh and the pool pump uses the most power of any device so we run it half a day in summer. Do you use heating oil or gas? The geothermal uses about 1850 kWh per year to heat and cool the house.

@davekozlowski1266

Жыл бұрын

​@@Arjan_2 before adding the EV, we would use about 950kwh/ month in the winter and close to 1200 kWh in the summer due to a/c usage. We use LP gas for heating, hot water and cooking.. with charging the car, we haven't been below 2,000kwh a month.

@maxflight777

Жыл бұрын

@@bucfan11 that’s similar to my calculations (here in sunny Algarve )

I’m very envious that Australia is half price! The cheapest I could find was Tesla. They were double what we pay for electricity for 15 years. So it is $190 (monthly electricity bill) vs $390 per month for 15 years. This is after the incentives. This is with one Powerwall. Obviously we have a long way to go! Don’t forget the higher interest rates for a loan today. If I was much younger I might consider it. It only adds value to your home if you own the panels. Usually a new homebuyer doesn’t want to takeover the loan for solar panels. Perhaps our electricity is much cheaper because we are part of a cooperative. Also we can’t cut trees or branches down. Not allowed with homeowners agreement.

Ok, I gotta say the stock video of the "young couple" looking serious while being lectured on solar panels, while they were holding little mini-solar panel samples, was hilarious. For some reason I couldn't stop laughing.

For our panels installed 2011, South-West England, Cost £9000 fully installed. Paid for themselves in 4.1/2 years. All electricity supplied by them since (average of 2/3 of our consumption over the year) is free and saves us a lot.

Another consideration: What is it worth to you to have power during a blackout? A freezer full of meat products can be saved by a small solar system with 4 days worth of battery. Plus, that small system will be paying for itself by the 30Kwhr saved every month. I have 4 solar panels and a 3.3Kwhr battery. It costs me $2300 US to build. It makes 30 to 60KWhr per month. Payback period is approximately 23 years, so obviously my motivation is not payback, but enjoying beautiful silent energy!

One big thing to consider when replacing your roof is to select a roofing type that solar panels can be mounted on without requiring any drilling through your nice new roof. Not having to drill makes a huge, huge difference in the robustness of the installation.

@patrickcorcoran4828

Жыл бұрын

Standing seam is the best roof type, but the majority of roofs are fine. I worked for a company that made all types of roof mounts and I put comp shingle penetrating mounts on my mom's roof and corrugated metal penetrating mounts on my dad's corrugated metal roof. I don't anticipate any problems in the 30+ year expected life of the system.

@Rabs73

Жыл бұрын

Corrugated steel for the win

The solar panels shading the car parks is win/win.

Customers in California thought they knew the payback then the state changed the rules 😮 Now they don’t get as much for the power.

You save money straight away, but the payback period is (in my estimations on our system) is about 10 years. Just in time for the panels to drop to 70% of originals rating. Some may experience less time and longer life on their panels. It depends on feed in tariff too, if you are selling to your retail supplier any unused energy, and of course service charges. Not all things are sweet in the solar game. It also depends on how much your supplier charges for a kWh of energy because you have solar. Obviously, the elephant in the room is the amount of sun you receive in your neck of the woods and duration.

In Québec City, I use around 20 000 kw/h per year, while beeing very, very cautious with usage. This include winter heating and a little air conditionning in summer. Also, very cloudy also in winter. Very different situation indeed ! But, since tarif for electricity is only about 0,065 Euro each kw/h, the payback here for solar could be very, very long. We rarely see solar panels installed here.

Also factor in: Degradation of Panels and Battery. Time at house during daylight hours (especially if no battery).

@davestagner

Жыл бұрын

At least here in Minnesota, a roof will degrade faster than a solar panel. Solar panel degradation is about 1%/year. So the “lifespan” of a grid-scale commercial solar panel is 25 years or so, but the WORKING lifespan is much, much longer. The solar panel will still be producing useful electricity - for free! - decades after the end of its “lifespan”.

7.6 kw system paid for itself in 5 years here in NSW. That would be typical for Australian payback. The system has generated 102000 kwh with zero issues. The key is not to go cheap on components, esp inverters. 8 years now with about 5% degradation. Long term grid consumption 12kwh per day family of 5 and 1 EV only charged during the day. This has our Model 3 averaging 38g/km CO2.

Solar panels don’t really work on cloudy days in the UK. But England is quite sunny - nowhere near as sunny as Australia and obviously nowhere near as intense. I have 7 400W panels - 4 facing east and 3 panels facing south. At the moment when it’s sunny I get 2.4 kW. In winter I get very little. My pay back period was initially calculated at 9 years - but actually I think it will be paid back in 7 years. My best investment was to include the 5kWh battery AND get an MG4 electric car. Obviously I think I’m being a good boy - but really this is economic sense too.

@bill_heywood

Жыл бұрын

It does depend how big an array you can fit on your roof. We have 6.84kWp and even in March, which was miserable, the average generation was more than we used in the house

@johnfrancis4401

Жыл бұрын

@@bill_heywood My house is smaller. I’d love to get some more on the south - but there’s no space. I’ve thought about putting 3 more on the West but there are some tall trees. Good luck to you Billy !!!!

@bill_heywood

Жыл бұрын

@@johnfrancis4401 that is the issue, we are all stuck with the roof we have. Our house is a boring 60s box, but turns out gives us a big flat SE facing roof. I just wanted our international friends to know that even here on our cloudy island, solar works

Solar panels on your roofs cost double or more per produced watt than utility scale projects. It would make much more sense to invest in a bigger project and get a portion of that energy. The problem is that the grid owner, even if it is the state, will charge way too much to transit the power.

It's wrong to focus upon payback. Do you calculate the payback period of a holiday, an expensive meal or even a new car? Instead you should focus upon the "enjoyment" you derive from the solar panels such as energy independence (partly), the satisfaction of helping to aleviate climate change. Money isn't everything.

@hanswitvliet8188

Жыл бұрын

Every single kWh from solar is a win!

@markmiller8903

4 ай бұрын

Agree solar panels don't save money they cost more than grid energy. Total rip off.

@pappont

3 ай бұрын

haah... I don't care about this shit

We have a 21kWp rooftop PV system in sunny Israel, which produces ~4 times the electricity we use. We get repayed for every kWh we push to the grid. The payback time is ~6 years.

Excellent summary that does not try to blindly say solar is right for all.

The panels aren't the only cost. You also need the power electronics, the wiring, conduits, junctions and circuit panels, as well as the labor to install it all.

@glennmartin6492

Жыл бұрын

The panels are much less of a proportion of the cost. Easier and cheaper permitting is often the difference in cost of PV installations between countries.

@greghudson9717

6 ай бұрын

My 6.4kW solar cost AU$3050 including installation, and after rebates. Paid for itself in 19 months.

I'm in Melbourne Australia and I was paying AU$1800 per year for power, 5 years ago. I installed 6.4kW of solar, which after rebates, cost me AU$3050 out of pocket. A simple calculation will show you that $3050 divided by $1800 is 1.7 years, or, approximately 19 months. In the last 5 years I have not paid a cent for power. As they say, your mileage will vary...

Great video!

I can answer that very easily, I bought a 5KW inverter with 3kws off Solar panels 12 years ago and never paid another power bill again, this meant the nearly $300 a quarter we were paying went towards the Solar panel cost or $1,200 a year plus the $150 to $300 a year from Solar credits, after two years, I got my Electrician to put another 3kw of panels onto my existing system, we went from a max of $300 a year to a little over $2,000 a year in rebates. Our original system cost $9,600 and then the further 3kw cost me $2000 installed, this then made my system cost free in under five years. I then got a quote for a Solar Hot water system as we had Gas and were paying nearly $300 a quarter for Hot water and the Stove, so near the same as what we paid for electric. The Hot water system cost me $3600 so paid for itself in three years and now we can wash our clothes in Hot water as well as we have the Hot water connected to the Dishwasher. After the year the Plumber asked us not to increase the temperature of the Hot water system, I jacked it up to 65C from the required 55C. I never expected the Solar to be as great as it turned out to be and only my Youngest Daughter listened to me and also got Solar for her Home, they now don't get the same rebates as they have moved three times since then and put Solar on each new House they upgraded to. They may get at most a $75 bill per quarter for the House, as it's a big house and they have two children. I did tell her to get a larger system as they were doing a lot of deals at the time, she is happy with only a $75 at most bill as her older sister is paying $750+ a quarter for a slightly smaller house per quarter and they have the perfect roof for a 11kw system. I know it's probably different for people as some won't follow the rules on when to use your Solar and when to use the grid power :) Also as an aside, I have heard people tell me that their Solar System didn't make any difference to their power bill ? I am guessing there must be some Dodgy Companies putting crappy panels onto their customers Roofs ? I have a mobile dual panel solar system that has a little box connected to them that keeps my Batteries conditioned as well as charges the batteries for my Tools. it also has a 12volt battery that can be used for many gadgets when we go camping. I am a huge advocate for Solar as not only does it save you money, it will also prop up the grid as more and more Electric devices get connected over the years and I will get a Battery wall and upgraded Solar system once I lose the Government rebate :) I find it hilarious every time one of my friends or family members whine about their power bill :), if they had listened to me either before I got my panels or at the same time, they would be laughing as I am :)

Thank your Sam, in Alberta Canada home builder offers 10 solar pantels to buyers. and promises 50% savings. on Electricity.prices.

I'm a Tasmania electrician and I upgraded my own home's PV system in Feb this year. I got Longi brand 500W mono's for AUD $285 each including GST from my local electrical wholesaler, and a Goodwe 10kw single phase inverter with 3x MPPTs for around AUD $1500 including GST. Minus labour (I installed it myself), all the materials including cable & mounting, panels and inverter was around AUD $6.7k for a 7.5kw system. After a government rebate of $2.6k back, net out of pocket is only AUD $4.1k minus my labour for 7.5kw. If I add AUD $3k for labour, that would mean 7.5kw system for AUD $7.1kw. My system generates on average 8300kwhr/year. If I super conservatively sell every kw generated for a minimum of AUD $0.13, rather than factor in savings AUD $0.24 for every kw I don't import, then it will take around 5.5 years to pay off. Just some detailed figures for people to get an idea.

Heartfelt wishes to your parents Sam . Producing such a honest guy like you 😊

Technical add for you - methodology is a group of methods - in most cases the correct word is method - all about practicalities: surveys, experiments, observations. - suggestion for you - love your work thanks..

I live in Hawaii where electricity 44 cents/kwh. I own an EV/Solar/battery. I save $600:month on gas and home electricity. System paid off 4 years. Adds value to home and saves the roof.

Here in Thailand solar is still expensive. Tesla Powerwalls are $20,500 each, that’s more than twice the price of the USA. When prices fall here in Thailand, solar will take off.

I have never figured out why people look at “Pay Back Period” instead of Return On Investment (ROI). If you are looking at 10 years as “Pay Back” that is 10 percent ROI, where are you going to get a 10 percent guaranteed ROI? If the “Pay Back” is five years that is 20 percent ROI. If you need a new roof some are saying in the US you can get the same 30 percent tax credit on the roof and PV system. I’m in the South of the US. PV/roof is my next project.

When I was getting quotes fory panels all of them had payback periods in the 15 to 25 years. I still do eventually want them, as long as I can use them when the power is out, but it's less about saving money and more about redundant power. One of the main things making it that long is out power is only about 11 cents per kWh where I am.

@greghudson9717

6 ай бұрын

Solar panels will not help you during a power outage. You need a BATTERY as well as the solar. The battery must also be capable of running your WHOLE HOUSE. I have a Tesla PowerWall2 and this does the trick. One way of saving is to check out your local rubbish dump. Here in Australia there is usually a huge pile of solar panels for sale for next to nothing. Well worth a look.

@Snerdles

6 ай бұрын

@@greghudson9717 Alternatively, use IQ8 microinverters that can self microgrid.

In Southern California, I save about $1K/yr on a small grid tied 4kw system that cost $12K 12 years ago. So it’s all gravy now. But, I’m thinking of upgrading to a 6 to 8 kw system using the existing roof solar footprint and adding a backup battery. A 20 kw backup battery should meet my needs, but, possibly, I would also consider Vehicle To Home capability. I expect a 6kw system and one 10kw battery, to cost about $35k, and I will save about $2k/yr. Incentives, about 30%, hopefully. So $25k net cost, 12 yr payback. A second 10kw battery and/or V2H, will no doubt cost more. I’m not sure the payback period would make sense for the additional storage. I might be waiting a few more years for better prices.

My latest monthly bill here in Nz was $80, sounds reasonable. I used 160kwh of electricity. The price for 1unit of electricity is aprpx 25c, the rest is the bullshit extras, the power companys add, and one of the spokesman.for these companys stated that electricity prices will need to double in the next 5 yrs. This is in a country which is over 85% renewables. our biggest comsumer is a Rio Tinto company who pays 4.5c a unit and complains that is too expensive. So hopefully, solar panels and batterybanks will keep dropping in price so we can completely disconnect from the grid at a reasonable cost

Here in Thailand I installed 20 kW of solar and 36kWh of LFP batteries. It powers my house; electric car and electric motorbike without grid power. Payback is less than 6 years.

No need to go all in at huge expense for total solar. One can start an expandable solar power system for under $1000. Can be built by simple simple wiring stepa by step. Solar panels are $75 for 100 watts...practically free energy for life. My electric bill for the last 15 years in Arizona was $0. 15 year old panels still producing over 75% original rated power.

We had solar panels and home batteries installed in February, even though this spring has been particularly cloudy in the UK, we are still generating more each day than we use for the house. Most of that surplus goes to charge our EVs. Having the home batteries means we can store the solar energy and use it at night, it also allows us to charge overnight on cheap electricity if the solar forecast is poor. We borrowed the money to install the system and the bottom line is that we are already saving more than the cost of paying the loan, so it literally pays for itself. If it works in damp, cloudy Britain, then anywhere with more sunshine is an absolute no brainer

Well, in my case a qualified for a 0.00 dollar payment for my solar panels, including installation, and I saw how my monthly payment went from an average of 479.87 USD a month to just 51.17 USD a month ON THE VERY FIRST MONTH after being installed!!!! So I am able to save more than 430 USD/month just right out the bat, so my payback is NOW and is actually my profit, no waiting time at all!!!! and my system is running all the electric systems in a 3500 Sq.Ft or 330 Sq/M, two story home!!!!!!

@aaronwarner9725

12 күн бұрын

How much are you paying monthly for the pannels ? Apart from the energy payment of 51 that your paying to the solar company

My solar system 6.6 kWh with 5 Kw inverter here in Victoria Australia..system cost $7500 with subsidies inc $1800 solar Vic loan and $2500 small system solar credits Federal...$1000 up front . Payback is going to be about 3.5 years .. as price of power goes up WFH offsets have increased ..but export is down to 5.4 c per KWH...summer bill is zero and spring and autumn about $100

I’m in Portugal where it’s sunny ! *BUT* the electricity is only €0.158/KWh So it’s simply not worth it! I laugh at people who buy them.. they are basically saying.. “ I can make electricity cheaper in my garden with my tiny operating system than a huge energy supplier can. (I appreciate in some countries the figures differ) One friend showed me his PV that he installed three years ago. “Only another five years and I have payback !” He proudly explained. Don’t forget before that, you may need to replace your inverter. He wasn’t aware that they have a limited life 🤦‍♂️

Belgium: 14780kwp + 15kwh battery +- 20k EUR after 1,75k rebate from government on battery. 0,00 energy costs

The real challenge now is to get utilities to create local grids that can then interchange with other grids for import of export of energy! These utilities are not used to this two way local grids so need to change they operate.

@aurelio-reymilaorcabal9669

Жыл бұрын

The challenge is to get them to adopt Tesla VPP plus Tesla AUTOBIDDER , that would be the Cats Meow.

Just before the pandemic I bought 2000w of new Jinko panels for $1000 with 9kw of LFP. Even with my tiny system I have saved 4 grand in 3 years. I am just waiting for some kind of affordable thin film solar to come on the market so I can fit more solar on my walls to make winter much easier.

ROI on 16 Solar panels with LFP batteries powering 2 SPLIT Type AC, Fridge and Washer and Lights and small kitchen appliances in the Philippines is around 6 to 8 years. Cost to some homeowners was average $10,000 to $12,000, most did+ LFP Batteries & Gridtie. Having to pay $5-$6 monthly extra to the Utility Provider ." It is more Fun in the Philippines "... Cheaper too?

Sam there is something that nobody seems to have picked up on with home solar. The pay back period can be much shorter and the lifetime savings much greater if that electricity is used to replace the gasoline you would have burned in your car rather than the grid electricity you use to power your household appliances. "Possible savings" is how I look at it. For example, my system is guaranteed for 20 years and generates an average of 25 KWs per day. That is 180,000 lifetime KWs. If those KWs replaced my grid cost of 28 cents per KW, I could "possibly save" about $50,000. On the other hand if I owned two EVs that needed 70KWs each per week to travel 20,000 klms each per year, then I could possibly save $190,000 in gasoline. That is if I replaced a petrol car like a Subaru Forester that gets 7.8 litres per 100 klms with an EV ( petrol $1.90 per litre) . EVs have less maintenance costs but their upfront cost is higher so that has to be deducted from my "possible savings". In 3 years however, they will be at parity.

Policy support should shift away from residential rooftop solar. According to Lazard, from a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) per kWh perspective, residential solar averages roughly 5x the price of utility-scale solar. To put it another way, for the cost of just the Federal tax credit, the government could cover the entire price to install more utility-scale solar generating capacity and have money left over. Utility-scale storage is also much cheaper, and it is easier to manage the grid at the utility scale. It may make sense politically to give another tax break to homeowners, but it is not an efficient use of funds and not the most effective way to decarbonize the grid.

My 3 monthly cost was $2,000 for my power so I got a 27kw system that cos me $26,000 and for the last 3 years I get paid $300 to $800 every 3 months. No regrets!

When I looked at solar in the 80's the payback was 20-23 years for panels that were expected to last 25 years at most for maybe 2 years of free electricity. 10 years ago it was payback in 8 years WITH the generous feed-in tarif available at the time. Nowadays it's 8-10 years without any tarif or rebate for panels that are expected to last closer to 30 years. With battery storage storage becoming more affordable the number of configurations of systems that would be economical becomes larger.

My house has had solar on the roof for about 8 months now. I live pretty far north, near Seattle. In the winter days are short _and_ we have lots of clouds. So, in the winter we didn't get much power from the solar panels. However, in the autumn (when we first had it installed) and in the spring (now) we are getting lots of power. Because we had so much equity in our previous home (where we lived for 31 years) I felt I had enough budget to do the solar properly. We spared no expense, and our system is predicted to make enough power in a year to cover all our home's needs (plus almost enough to charge the electric cars). Even with the expensive solar panels, the payback would be reasonable. But I also got backup batteries (similar to Tesla Powerwall, but the ones we got were made by Enphase) and the backup batteries raised the expense by a lot. So, should I consider the batteries as part of the system and complain about how long it will take to work out financially? Or should I consider the batteries a one-time expense, like the new countertops we put in the kitchen? I think that the solar panels and batteries significantly increase the resale value of the house, and so even with the batteries the system will have paid for itself within 15 years ("paid for itself" meaning net cost equal to or less than the extra resale value). And it will pay for itself faster if electricity rates go up. So overall I'm happy with the system and I would do it again. Note, the system would pay for itself faster if there was some kind of "virtual power plant" system I could join. I really wanted to get a Tesla system so I could join a Tesla VPP. But given the specifics of our roof, we are getting a lot more power from our solar panels than if we had gone with the Tesla system. (Tesla uses "string inverters" and our system uses "microinverters", and due to shading issues we get a lot more power from a microinverter system.) I'm hoping that in the near future there will be some kind of VPP we can join. Either Enphase will set something up, or Enphase will make a deal with Tesla to let Enphase customers join a Tesla VPP.

Like most Americans my life's carbon footprint has been huge when compared to people in underdeveloped countries carbon footprints. My solar system is my attempt at a small payback. I am an "old fart". I may or may not live long enough to break even on it, however it will continue to produce power after I am dead and gone.

In Arizona it’s 4 days.

Speaking of UK weather I think there should be heavy fines for anyone making an automotive or motorcycle channel on youtube based in the UK.. triple the fines if they take it to a track for testing and the place is soaked (because it will be)

A lot of variables to that! What is true in one location isn't true for another! Type of equipment purchased and power needs are another! Buy all the best newest and most expensive equipment you are going to be paying for it for a very long time to break even if ever! I am in Arizona. With the power running right in front of my property they wanted 1500 just to hookup. I live in an RV on my property. That is considered temporary housing so they can charge for a hookup that is otherwise free for a house or mobile home. Add in the cost of a power pole, trenching, wire, conduit, and RV hookup you are easily at 3,000 or more upfront costs. If you can put the solar in yourself that is even more money saved! I put that 3,000 into a small but efficient solar system. 1240 watts of panels and 840 ah of golf cart batteries three years ago! I am now working on a two stage expansion of the system. Add 720 watts of panels and then renew and expand the battery bank to 1260 ah. I think I am way ahead! The only reason why I am expanding the system is for the luxury of being able to run an AC unit vs using the usual evaporative cooling. For those that don't know in an arid region evaporative cooling works excellent! It's just nice to have AC available at certain times of the summer.

California electric utilities is are raising prices insanely fast. 20 percent this year alone. This can make solar pay back period happen a lot faster.

Cost of electricity is one of the biggest factors. If it’s cheap (10 cents per kwhr) like it is here, it takes 2.5 times longer than it would in Australia with 25 cents per kwhr

@greghudson9717

6 ай бұрын

25c/kWh would be a nice dream for anyone in Australia, but there's a lot worse... There's a company charging up to AU70c/kWh to charge CARS. Guess the company... (You only need one guess)...

If the US pays double that of Australia we need to get this price down. The US uses double the amount of oil compared to any other country. We also use 60% more Natural Gas compared to any other country. My point is the opportunity is there to make a huge difference to cutdown the US usage of fossil fuels. If the panels cost twice as much as Australia why? Do we need to build more of these in the US to take advantage of the federal tax credits now for manufacturing solar panels? Perhaps this makes a big difference? I wish I was allowed to provide a link but just look up manufacturing federal tax breaks for solar panels. I don’t know if this makes it cheaper than China. What do you think? ❤❤❤

@larryevans6739

Жыл бұрын

US blocks solar panels made in China due to protectionism. China automated production, dropped prices faster than US-based competitors could, and were accused of "dumping," even though many of the companies were still profitable. Chinese-made panels are the least expensive, so we pay more, and government spending offsets some of the premium. The US is currently going back and forth on whether to block solar panels built in other countries using Chinese-produced silicon, which could increase prices paid here further.

@Beatles4Sale.

Жыл бұрын

@@larryevans6739 I’m sure you are correct but there are new incentives to build solar panels in the US. But I don’t know if this makes these potential US panels cost competitive.

A lot of solar energy companies aren't interested in installing solar on your house if your electricity usage is lower than average.

Hello mate its 7 pm here

Would you look into if buying solar panels in Australia + shipping to the state's is still cheaper?

@economistfromhell4877

Жыл бұрын

The issue in the US is not the cost of the panel - its the cost of installation in the US is highly over-regulated by monopoly power producers known as the local grid authority. Every county should be in play to have their voters vote for representatives who will make the cost of installation regulations the minimum necessary to deliver safe solar - each county could start by copying Australias installation regulations.

@Istandby666

Жыл бұрын

@@economistfromhell4877 Every solar system I've bought I install myself. I'm on my 3rd system.

@rontron418

Жыл бұрын

good question. i wonder how hard to install a good sized sysrem

Just watch out for the scammers. Sure they will put in a good system, but overcharge through the nose for it. The sales pitch I got was 10kw of solar somewhere in the ballpark of $40k US. My installation was super simple and I ended up doing it myself for $16k total before incentives. The pitch went like this. We finance the system for monthly payments slightly over you current electric bill. In a few years they will reach parity with the rising cost of energy. Your loan will be paid back in 10 years. The big catch is they dangle that $12,000 1st year tax rebate in front of you first and foremost. They tell you about all the things you can buy for the family, etc. In the mean time, this system should have cost you $20k max. I was recruited by a solar sales company shortly after I retired 20 years as an Electrical Inspector. I was told that with enough overselling, I could make as much as $1 per watt that I sold. That is almost the final price I paid for my system installed DIY. The US rebate system should be based on like 25 or 50 cents a watt. This would stoo this predatory selling tactic overnight saving the consumer tons of money as well as the Federal Government. Everybody would win in this except the sheister salesmen. I bet they have a lot of lobbiests making sure it stays just as it is.

Acording to current electricity price rise , my PV instalatnion will pay off after 7 Years ( as it started at 2018 in late 2025 it will be paid off )

Solar is a home improvement not a business opportunity. The value of Solar is not determined by the rules that apply to say a solar hot water service simply because there is no market for a free standing dwelling where you can sell hot water surplus to your requirements. So the analysis what is the cheapest to run or what produces the most power for self consumption. I would definitely not buy a grid tied system today that did not have grid forming functionality. Grid forming allows your system and if you have storage to continue to function during a grid outage. My preference would be micro inverters (Enphase). As for storage I don’t like unbundling a system so again my preference would be Enphase and then Powerwall both have LFP battery chemistry. You have to remember Solar is not set and forget it’s performance has to be continually monitored. You are in fact the manager of a small scale power station.

. The economics of the comparisons are totally different ('apples to lemons') 1. constantly 'buying' electrons that are consumed from a utility... vs. 2. Solar is Owning the source of electrons. So, asking the 'payoff' of solar is an irrelevant comparison to a never payoff 'consumable', they are two totally different business models. #1 you never payoff because there is No capital ownership...it's a service (like rent*) #2 Solar PV Is Ownership (like buying a house ) which has a payoff & Equity. In the case of PV system ownership , you start saving from day 1 of operation by offsetting a constant billing from utility. Solar produces Earnings (free 'fuel' ) while paying to constantly consume electrons is *money out the window'!!

We installed a 5kva solar system in in 2011 South Australia , they halved our bill by $1,500 a year, outlay was $5,999. In August 2019 we added a Tesla 13.5 Kva battery. Figures from today's read out 13/5/2023 are, Home Usage 20.40 MWh, Solar 42%, Powerwall 39%, Grid use 19%.

Had 6.2 kW solar in Australia for a family of 4 since 2012, have not paid a single power bill since then. Largely due to the FIT of 52c which I think runs out in 2028??

I live in the Florida Panhandle and my electric bill is less than $100 per month and I'm age 84. I have no solar panels.

I really don't want to put solar on my roof. Community solar could be a better solution. That way they the project could be crowd sourced for solar and batteries.

We don't expect any of our other applicances or building components to "pay for themselves", why do we lay this demand on solar panels, EVs and hybrids?

I think many people who invest in PV, in countries that produce power from renewables, basically struggle with maths. (As you said correctly Sam, countries that produce the majority of their power from renewables have the cheapest electricity) Some buyers just want to be “self sufficient “ .. they are “smug”. But what is the joy in being smug if it’s costing you money? 🤦‍♂️

@davidinkster1296

Жыл бұрын

The joy in being smug is having power when your neighbor is blacked out. Priceless!

We are retired on Social Security in the U.S. We don't pay any taxes so if there is say a $10,000 tax credit, does that mean we can't take advantage of the tax credit and have to pay full price?

Calculating the payback in years until paid for grossly misrepresents the financial returns of solar. How can you compare say 10 years with 4% capital costs??? It should also be stated in after tax returns... that 10 year payback is what ~11% after tax return?

What many miss is the capital to buy solar compounded say 5% for 15 years on 30k is actually $62,368 (u would have made this if u just bought tbills

I did the math recently on the energy cost of solar, to rebut some stupid “costs more energy to make than it produces” nonsense. It takes about 200kWh to make a 100 watt panel. Assuming a 20% real-world capacity factor (night, clouds, imperfect angles, etc), it takes a 100 watt panel about a year to make 200kWh. The decades of working life after that are all net positive energy.

No payback calculation is complete, without including the opportunity cost of investing the capital in stocks and shares or property.

If.I invested what I would spend on a solar installation in the stock market instead, I would probably more than double my money in 10 years. So, it's not really a no-brainer to go for a 10-year payback.

@ralph04ification

Жыл бұрын

WTF! if I hadn't spent so much money on sex drugs alcohol and rock and roll....I'd be rich, thats a no-brainer.

@mnhsty

Жыл бұрын

@@ralph04ification And you’d still have a brain. 😁

So basically 50yr latter it saves you 40yr of paying for electricity... they just try to complicate things with all these numbers and shorter time Horizons... Just like geothermal where you pay 90% of the cost is upfront in installation cost, refurbishing it 50 years later means you pay 10%..

When are you going to 'pay-off' your utility bills?

Hello friends 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

Why did the hailstone get kicked out of the solar panel party? Because it couldn't stop cracking jokes about how easily it shattered their expensive dreams of endless sunshine savings!

The state of Arizona gets more sun hour's than any other state.

@paulhailey2537

Жыл бұрын

Solar is very Inefficient the Hotter it gets , I live in Phoenix Arizona

@Istandby666

Жыл бұрын

@@paulhailey2537 I used to live in Phoenix when I was really young. Spent my teenage year's in the Mojave desert. I do know about the degradation of solar panels. I've worked in the electronics field for 30 year's and with solar for 12 year's.

Poland: I have net metering and installed 11kwp of solar for 10k EUR after 1k rebate from government. Heat pump and electric car saves me 2000 euro a year . Solar payback 5 years.

before that ROI your inverted will be dead lol

I pay 0.11 KWh… not worth it…

Pay-off' is not relevant. Did u ask your Utility provider "When will we be able to quit renting electricity from you??" In contrast, Owning PV system is an Investment in Your Own power plant! and...when you do pay off hardware costs to build, you are now getting a payback...you are EARNING (like Income) the increasing amount you Would be paying the utility!! 🎉A dollar saved is a dollar Earned🌞🤓🌻🗽

How long does it take for coal fired electrical plants to pay for themselves. Never

As always please leave the graphs on the screen while you talk.

I couldn’t disagree more Sam. The price of the panels has reduced .. but the Inverter only lasts between 5 and 10 years.

@ralph04ification

Жыл бұрын

Crap...ours has been on for 10+ years.

@JayavindaJayavinda

Жыл бұрын

My latronics inverter is still perfect after 16 years.

@maxflight777

Жыл бұрын

Good news ! Thanks for correcting me ! Mea Culpa.

In the US if you have to put the panels on the roof you will never break even. Nobody ever talkes about having to replace the roof. Add $10,000 to remove an reinstall the solar panels for a roof replacement. Then would you want to reinstall used panels on a new roof? If you can not ground mount the system then it will always be a money furnace. I pay $.14/kwh, so $25,000/$.14=178,571kwh to break even On average I use 1500kwh per month (over estimate), so 178,571/1500=119 months to break even, 10 years. Almost forgot thats $25,000 plus intrest and I need a new roof about now. And all of that assumes nothing went wrong.

@BigBen621

Жыл бұрын

Your claim that "In the US if you have to put the panels on the roof you will never break even", just because yours didn't, is absurd. If you were foolish enough to put solar on a roof that was nearing the end of its life, that's on you. More to the point, the payback varies dramatically by the cost of electricity, as well as by location, azimuth, shading, etc. In my part of the world (SoCal), solar production is excellent, as long as you have a reasonable azimuth and minimal shading. More to the point, the average electric rate is around 50¢/kWh, more than triple yours. Would your claim still hold for folks in my part of the world?

@AnalystPrime

Жыл бұрын

Millions of people in US pay more for electricity than you and broke even years ago. Millions more can power their homes with cheaper panels because their energy use is not 50% over the national average like yours. Anyone remotely competent tells you to check if your roof needs to be replaced _before_ installing solar panels and if you do either consider a solar roof or handle both installations at the same time to save money. One KZreadr ordered solar panels from Tesla and the guy who made the estimates forgot to check if the roof was suitable, so Tesla ended up building him a brand new roof for free.

It takes about 12 years...and shortly thereafter it will be time to replace them. When you replace them, you may have to pay a disposal fee because there is nothing recyclable. I have $70,000 worth of system, and they cover about 60% of my power usage. The one thing to be very careful about is #1 The company that installs what you buy from them , may go bankrupt, or change owners , and then you have a legal fight on your hands if they haven't finished the install, or fixed problems after the install. #2 The power company or entity that supplies power , may change the terms of the deal as soon as your contractual agreement is up...or as soon as you make any changes to your system, like adding more panels for example. You will never be free of the grid unless you only have a lightbulb and a hot plate in your house, so your goal can only be to reduce consumption from the grid. My power supplier (the gov't) made me a sweet deal to buy in via subsidies...and as soon as my contract is up (ten years) My sweet deal changes to a sour deal where instead of letting me produce excess power at peak times and banking that power for use in winter months at a one to one ratio, the ratio will change from one to one half...so the power I put into the grid is only worth half the value when I need to take it out and I must pay extra to make up the difference. BEWARE !

@BigBen621

Жыл бұрын

A more accurate statement might be "It takes about 12 years *for me"* . Others in different circumstances may find a payback of five years or less.

@markanthony3275

Жыл бұрын

@@BigBen621 Yeah, you're probably right. If you live in a moderate temperature zone you would pay it back sooner. Where I live, the temp. can be -35 (celsius) in winter and +30 (celsius) in the summer. Summer is about two months long and winter is about five months long.

just leave the graphs and data up longer and stop using so much stock video crap. Barely had chance to see the graph and then have 3 minutes of generic solar panel video.

NOT NEAR AS LONG AS IT TAKES FOR YOU TO GET TO THE POINT. STOP DRAGGING VIDEOS OUT OR I'M UNSUBBING.