Quote:
Originally Posted by bc-chris
my neighbours did solar this past summer. i asked them how long until they'd see a savings and he said about 20 years.
i don't know... to me it just doesn't seem worth it. maybe it will in the future when they are more efficient, but 20 years just to break even... and that doesn't include anything for repair/replacement of panels.
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We didn't really do it to save money (initially). We did it to do a little part to save energy, kind of like me biking everywhere and us reducing to a one car household. We've only had our system since late September but you do find yourself changing certain habits. Checking the dashboard/app to see what you are producing and deciding to run the dishwasher/washing machine in the middle of the day while you are making lots of power for example.
Over a 12 month period our home averages 315kWh per month. November this year we produced 125.91kWh with the solar, of which 64.8kWh was sent to the grid and the remainder used by us.
I've been impressed with how much power we've gotten out of it over the winter, but I haven't produced a watt since the big snowfall last week. Need that snow to slide off the panels.
For us it was really another step in the upgrading of our home. Interior renovations, the solar, and next up will be windows and extra insulation if possible.