Xyrus2000 t1_j1lwpyt wrote on December 25, 2022 at 1:32 PM

Reply to comment by series_hybrid in Is Solar Energy for Home Really Worth it in the US: Expert Answers by daleelsayarat-cars

$100 a month? Where do you live where electricity is that cheap?

Where I live the average electric bill (before the recent price increases) is around $230 a month. I got my system 4 years ago, and combined with the SREC payments I'll hit breakeven in a few more months.

You're also making the assumption that prices won't rise over that time period.

Solar doesn't make sense everywhere, but a large segment of the US receives enough solar energy to make it worthwhile.

series_hybrid t1_j1m5ne0 wrote on December 25, 2022 at 3:04 PM

I'm not saying $100/mo is my total electrical bill, I'm suggesting that a $15K system might reduce my bill $100/mo. These are just hypothetical numbers to form the basis for a discussion of ROI, which seems to be the main counter-argument against adding solar to homes.

In the four hottest months, my bill doubled from roughly $100/mo to $200/mo (from using the A/C). I have a small house and I try to be frugal. I live near central Kansas. Power outages have not lasted long, since the system here is dialed-in to that issue. However, a power outage remains a concern for me.

Rebates and power-feed-back to the grid vary from region to region. This is one area where Germany is way ahead of the rest of the world. They are at the same latitude as Canada, but in spite of the low solar gain, they have structured the addition of solar systems to be almost zero cost to have installed by a professional.

This is an effort to avoid building more of the centralized power generation that has been the norm for over 100 years.

RicksterA2 t1_j1m9ok3 wrote on December 25, 2022 at 3:41 PM

I live in Michigan in a 2,100 sq. feet 1998 Cape house. My TOTAL energy bill (gas & electric) annually is around $1,500 or $125 a month.

If I installed solar my energy company (DTE) would be thrilled since they would get most of the energy, not me. So far solar makes no sense for me.

$230 a month for just electricity! How does someone waste that much electricity?

kornkid42 t1_j1mcd4t wrote on December 25, 2022 at 4:04 PM

My bills this summer in vegas were near $400 for a 1800sq ft house.. Where you live has everything to do with usage and price. I spent 17k (after rebates) on solar and won't be paying anything going forward for electricity.