Installing solar power?

Question

I'd like to find out how much investment it would take to install solar power panels to generate electricity for my house.

I live in South Florida and we have plenty of sun here. :)

We currently use around 32 kWh per day (991 kWh per month).

I pay about $120 a month for power a month. So much would it cost to generate the same amount of electricity and how long would it take to brake even?

Answer 1

I don't know current prices . When I installed a 10 by 10 ft panel high in the mountains for a small repeater site. At that time it was about 10,000 dollars. It lasted about 3 months when a wind storm blew it all over the jungle. If U do it mount it very secure.

Answer 2

Here is a web site that calculates the cost of create a solar array on your pre-existing home.  The default is about $100 a month for current electricity a month.

http://www.sunpowercorp.com/For-Homes/Ho...

Answer 3

In South Florida, a kW of panels can generate between 6 and 7 kWH/day.  So you're looking at about a 5 kW system which will cost about $25,000 for the panels, and probably another $10-15,000 for installation, wiring, and the power electronics.  This is for a grid-tied system.  

This will drop your bill to something in the $10-$20 range tops.  Some months you may use no power from the utility at all.

So now, you are paying about $1,450/year for electricity.  After you install the panels, you'll pay maybe $100-$250 depending on how well you conserve.  So that's $1,200/year  that you save, which means you can pay yourself back in about 30-35 years.  

This assumes you pay cash for the panels and installation.  If you get a loan, the payback period will be longer because of the interest.

You'll do better trying to use less electricity - even moving to a smaller, older house that was built before A/C.  That way, you'll use a lot less power to begin with and require that much smaller a solar system.

DK