How efficient and cost effective is Solar electric power usage as alternate energy at present?

Question

What will be the cost of a solar system package for a small house hold which has a 500 watts load?

Answer 1

Photovoltaic technology has come a long way, and is becoming more affordable. The percentages aren't quite where we would like them to be yet but progress is being made. The systems available now are by no means inefficient and I would endorse the use of photovoltaic cells any day......your heart is in the right place.......keep up the good work.... God bless and have a great day....

Answer 2

The question you have to ask is weather or not you want to be truely on your own or just reduce your reliance on the utility. If you are on your own your expenses go way up because you have to have the battery supply and a larger cell capacity to get you through a major winter storm where the sun don't shine. (there should be a joke in there somewhere). The batteries, charger etc makes this type of system expensive. You would also want to convert to energy efficient appliances. On the other hand many people put in solar to reduce their impact on the grid. They cells they buy are just large enough to cover most of their load during the day or maybe a little more. Just enough so that in the long run their meter shows little consumption over time. Your local utility should also be able to give you a lot of help with the project since they want you do to it safely. Any power you put onto the grid gets stepped up to 12kV and so they want to ensure safety.