How come new homes aren’t built with solar panels?
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Question by NakedHike: How come new homes aren’t built with solar panels?
With all this “Go Green!” nonsense going on, you would think we would be graduating to better construction habits. Tankless water heaters, solar panels on roofs, compost heap areas in yards, WiFi- Broadband ready homes,etc.
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8 Responses to How come new homes aren’t built with solar panels?
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These are all custom items. A homebuilder cannot afford to install things that may or may not sell a home. If that was true, most tubs would have shut-off valves for the water supplies, but they don’t. Build cheap, sell high.
sensible_man
June 6, 2013 at 7:02 am
they are very expensive and most people can’t afford solar panels on there roofs and if you put a compost pile in your yard it smells really bad!!!
None of Your business fool
June 6, 2013 at 7:59 am
you would think they would start to offer them as upgrades,
Tio
June 6, 2013 at 8:37 am
You’d think, wouldn’t you? But such things would so increase the price of new construction as to be prohibitive.
Change is slow, until necessity rears its head. I daresay, necessity is not long in coming.
lfh1213
June 6, 2013 at 8:58 am
Because the cost of making a silicon chip is almost 4cents per kilowatt hour of electricity it generates. Most of us don’t spend much mroe than that for electricity from the wall. When you add in that it takes a bunch of chips to make a panel and then the labor of installing it and then the cost of adding in a switch to keep the power you generate from going back into the electrical grid, you certaintly want to be responsible for killing someone working on the line when they think the power is off, it can take more than 10 years to pay back your initial costs and start making a profit. And that is just for the solar panels for electricity. The wi-fi is up to the user, nothing to install, it is after all wireless. Compost piles are also done by the end user. Tankless water heaters are not common because people like you and I are not convinced that they are cheaper. We tend to buy traditionally when we are sinking alot of money into something. We grew up with water heaters and big tanks in the basement, we buy homes that are comfortable and known entities.
spacedude4
June 6, 2013 at 9:36 am
I think you answered the question your self. Many people still think that “Go Green” is “nonsense”. And I agree.
Just Me
June 6, 2013 at 10:07 am
Most of the things you talk about are not inexpensive-tankless water heaters are a good choice for new construction, but not for existing construction due to venting requirements. Solar panels are very expensive, and not that effective yet. Compost heaps are up to the individual, for the most part, I have them, but I live in the country. City folk with their pretty grass and perfect yards usually also have gestapos– neighborhood associations with nazi board members who would prohibit things like compost piles. WiFi/broadband isn’t really a green issue, just a convience issue. Whole house wireless internet requires a wireless modem, and that is usually installed by the homeowner as who knows if the purchaser wants it or buys cable or satellite services.
scout485
June 6, 2013 at 10:53 am
That is an easy one to answer.
You have to ask for it. If everyone would ask for solar on their homes then the builders would start building them that way.
Do you want someone making you pay for something that you don’t want? Some people might want some other power source like hydro or wind.
If you wanted to buy a New Red Corvette you would ask the dealer for a New Red Corvette. If you ask for a car he would show you a car, if you ask for a corvette the dealer would start showing you corvettes, and just like in homes with solar panels on them there might be one that is a red corvette but if the norm is white VW’s then that is all you will see on the car lot. You have to ask for it.
Don K
June 6, 2013 at 11:32 am