Is it economical to use solar power yet or is the technology still priced to high?
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Question by What?: Is it economical to use solar power yet or is the technology still priced to high?
I’d like to use solar power for the house i’m about to build. Either for some of it or all solar powered. Is it somewhat economical now. I also live in louisiana it is very humid and rains a decent amount, so how will that affect power and parts.
my home will probably be about 1600 sq. ft.
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7 Responses to Is it economical to use solar power yet or is the technology still priced to high?
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Solar is still too expensive mainly because the panels have too short of a life span. Also they need to be way more efficient. Wait for the technology to catch up. If you pay $ 450 a month for electricity for 18 years you will almost have spent $ 100,000. However, you will most likely have to replace your panels at least once in that amount of time.
red cloud
September 20, 2013 at 11:35 am
As just once thru it can’t compete with (relatively) cheap oil. When oil breaks $ 100. a barrel the economics may change. Contact your local State Energy Office and they can tell you about angle of declination and cloud cover in your area. Remember however that as oil gets more expensive so will
solar panels. Read up on the 2nd Law Of Thermodynamics and apply that to the real energy balance. Michae
Michael C
September 20, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Our system produces 5Kw at any given time when the Sun is shining. It consists of 3 panel areas set on 3 separate poles and it does track the Sun and supplies 35 to 50 KwH of energy per day.
Our electric bill has gone from $ 450.00 to $ 10.00 per month.
Cost of our system was $ 70,000.00 and we live in Southern California.
Bottom line? Green is keen but it ain’t cheap!
socal pal
September 20, 2013 at 1:20 pm
It’s true that its very economical to use solar energy as the main source of electrical energy for your new house. The technology is indeed very expensive because the solar plates cost a lot of money. Now having in mind the size of your house i cannot tell you a specific amount but it would definitely be a big investment, probably an initial investment of over $ 100 grand.
But if you would do this, you would save on your electrical bills forever so i guess it pays out in a long-term period. If i had the money to do this i would without hesitating, coz it’s more economical, safer and cheaper in a long-term period.
Tim
September 20, 2013 at 2:03 pm
Solar Energy as a sole form of energy is not economical for the entire house. You might check into: http://www.geoexchange.org/pdf/cs-032.pdf as to some ideas about Geo Thermal home in Louisiana.
Their home, highly efficient, used around 1,184 KwH (Kilowatt Hours) monthly. I took a look at Solar Home.org and a 140 Watt solar panel was around $ 1000.00. You would need roughly 10 of these to power a highly efficient home. At a cost of 0.09 KwH it would take you roughly 94 years to make up the cost. I would take a look at offsetting the solar panels with GeoThermal.
You will have much greater savings putting your money into proper insulation, good windows and effecient heating and cooling. As well as how the house is orientated in reference to the standard winds and solar loads and trees to shade the house in the summer and block the wind in the winter.
sfuller94
September 20, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Honestly, I would recommend a wind powered generator over solar panels.
Redawg J
September 20, 2013 at 3:04 pm
They are expensive but if u go That away be sure to fuse the connection to the house. Also put a diode in between each panel. That will protect u if hale hits one and breaks one which then shorts out the rest.
JOHNNIE B
September 20, 2013 at 4:03 pm