Costs of Solar Energy?

Question

I need to know how much money I could save by buying solar panels for my house. Let's say that I use about 2650 kwh a month and am spending about 11.81 cents per kwh; even if I only have the solar energy count for a fraction of my energy consumption, how much money could I save?

I need numbers and calculations, I don't not need information on how solar energy works.

Answer 1

The first thing I would do is analysis my electrical load. If you can find ways to reduce how much you use inside it will cost less in panels on the outside. The biggest hogs are Refig. and HVAC. Is your refig over 10 yrs old? Is it Energy star rated? If you get a newer energy star model, this can knock off a few kwh. Is your HVAC sized right for your home? If it is too small it could be running all the time. If it is too big it can be using more power that you need. Home builders do not typically use the most efficent model when building a home. There could be a lot of leaks in the attic ducts that deliver the air to various parts of the house. Do you have enough insulation in your attic. How about your windows?

If you calculate your cost savings to improve these components it might be better money spent. I think solar is a great alternative. There are several thing to consider. Do you have the roof space on the south side of your house? Are there trees in the way that could block the panels from getting a full day worth of sunshine?

The objective is to get to a point of producing enough energy during the day to offset what you use at night. You don't need to have batteries if your are a grid tied system. This means that the power you make during the day is deposited into the grid and the power you use at night is withdrawn from the grid.But, if there is a blackout your power will be out too. If you need a back up a gas generator can be used as well as batteries or both.

If you can reduce your energy usage you can get a smaller grid tied system your return on investment could be closer to 10 years with panels that typically last 25 years.

Answer 2

Oracle2w doesn't like the tax credits for solar.  They are miniscule compared with the tax credits and subsidies for oil, gas coal or nuclear.  Especially oil which is subsidized at up to $80 billion per year, which is only 10% of the real hidden costs of oil which are estimated at up to $800 billion annually.

    This is what is killing our economy!

  And the earth's ecosytems!

Answer 3

You will not save any money.  With tax credits you might stem the losses.  See:

http://www.economist.com/science/tq/disp...

This story estimates you could provide half the electrical needs of a home for  $32,000.

Your home has a avg continous load of about 3 to 4 kW, that over a month uses 2650 kWH (nice large home).

At $10 cost per watt for solar cells, supplying a third of your load would be $10,000.  That money could buy 100,000 kWh of juice at 10 cents per kWH, that would be 10+ years from the electric company.  The sun only shines half the time, and throw in some cloudy days, and you are looking at a 30 year break even.

Hence the need for tax credits for anyone to take this seriously.

Answer 4

About $25,000 for an average house in USA. It will take an average 20 years to pay for and PV is about 15% eefficient.

Answer 5

I think about the time your panels pay for themselves they need to be replaced. The only gain from solar panels is bragging rights. Oh yea!! Don't forget battery's to store the power so you have power at night when the sun is not shinning.

Answer 6

I'd suggest getting several solar energy experts to give proposals based on your house, your location and other energy saving systems. Consider solar shingles if you are starting from scratch and will need a roof anyhow. That would reduce the cost a bit.

Remember that the payback is currently a bit scary but while your regular electric bill will continue to rise and perhaps look really bad several years from now, your solar system will continue at the same approximate rate as when it was properly installed.

Also, if done right, it should add to the re-sale value of your home, particularly if after a few years you have added more panels.

Another way of looking at this is "How much did the purchase and operation of your most recent SUV add to your check book?" And 25 years from now, how valuable will that SUV be for you? Also, one solar panel could cost about the same as a good wide screen plasma TV. They don't have to be bought all at one time. How about a riding lawn mower?

Why do you think Google has covered every roof at their business with solar shingles and panels? Do you think they want to lose money? Check "google green."

Answer 7

No cost for solar energy but there is cost for the solar equipments which will help you to use solar energy.

Answer 8

It is fairly easy to do a very rough estimate. Just use $400-$500 for one panel that will produce maybe 70 Watts for about 6 hours (420 Watt-hours per day). Estimate how many days per year you have sunny days. That will give you the total one panel will produce. Figure how many panels X $450. Add $2000-$3000 for inverter/controller. For your 2650 KWH a month, you average about 88,000Watt-Hours/ day. That is a couple hundred panels. Hope you have a big house/lot. Of course that assumes every day is nice and sunny.  

Any way you figure it, you will never get your investment back on electrical savings. You will probably feel good, though, because you will be producing less CO2.