Solar Panels: Any advice?

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Originally Posted by Jer

We're just in the early phases of how all of this will lay out but it's promising to know that someday, eventually.... electricity will be free. That's dream and end-game anyway for those who are gung ho into this sort of thing. This opens up lots of possibilities.

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Electricity will never be free. If it's a commodity, someone will figure out a way to make you pay for it, especially governments.

electricity will never be free because someone still has to pay for upkeep of the transmission lines and maintenance on all the wind turbines, and solar arrays, etc.

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Originally Posted by Gman

Until residential solar customers are completely disconnected from the grid, the grid must be maintained. Just as governments are looking to charge EV owners additional fees due to lost gas tax revenues, I expect something similar for residential solar.

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Agreed. I would only do solar for an off the grid situation. Even for an excess back to the grid (at wholesale) system my ROI would be 10-12 years at best. Plus no power when the grid is down ... pass.

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Originally Posted by William

Agreed. I would only do solar for an off the grid situation. Even for an excess back to the grid (at wholesale) system my ROI would be 10-12 years at best. Plus no power when the grid is down ... pass.

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You do have power when the grid goes down it's just not uninterrupted. Most people experience a flicker but it doesn't act as a whole-house battery back-up the way I'd like. So any PCs, servers or anything sensitive to power outages still needs to be on a UPS unfortunately.

I'm still interested in doing something with it, even some low scale stuff has to be worth it in the long run.

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Originally Posted by OtterbatHellcat

I'm still interested in doing something with it, even some low scale stuff has to be worth it in the long run.

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Not always. It depends on what "long run" actually means. Like my 83 year old father mentioned to me, "When they're trying to sell me on why 45-year shingles are worth the extra cost over 30-year shingles, I'll never realize that value."

Photovoltaic cells degrade over time, so you have to also factor that in.
News Release: New Solar PV Tool Accurately Calculates Degradation Rates, Saving Money and Guiding Business Decisions

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Originally Posted by Gman

Not always. It depends on what "long run" actually means. Like my 83 year old father mentioned to me, "When they're trying to sell me on why 45-year shingles are worth the extra cost over 30-year shingles, I'll never realize that value."

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I used a similar line on a salesman. You know for a few dollars more. You can get the roof that carries a 30 yr warranty.

30 years, really? Yes sir. I'll take the standard roof. 30 years, Hell i doubt i remember there's a warranty at my age, in another 10 years. Guy didn't know what to say.

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Originally Posted by Gman

Not always. It depends on what "long run" actually means. Like my 83 year old father mentioned to me, "When they're trying to sell me on why 45-year shingles are worth the extra cost over 30-year shingles, I'll never realize that value."

Photovoltaic cells degrade over time, so you have to also factor that in.
News Release: New Solar PV Tool Accurately Calculates Degradation Rates, Saving Money and Guiding Business Decisions

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The panels these days produce close to their rate for much longer. In fact, the Tesla ones are guaranteed to produce 90% at 10 years & 80% of their rated energy 25 years from the day they're installed or they'll replace them under warranty. That's pretty damn good.