Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Green
Amazing how misinformed some people can be.
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Says the guy who has a vested interest in promoting solar panels.
I've been following/exploring off-the-grid technologies for well over a decade now. I'm pretty well informed on the current state of solar panels.
They're not a viable or practical option for most home owners in New England, unless you want to dramatically alter your power consumption lifestyle (including altering your appliances and/or purchasing special appliances intended for off-the-grid uses), *and* dedicate a fair amount of square footage to the panels themselves.
Then, you get to deal with battery maintenance, cleaning the panels (they won't produce peak output when covered in dust, or snow), and dealing with a number of other issues that come up when you're running your own power plant.
The 25-year panels are a fairly recent development, and none of them have been in use long enough to guarantee those claims will pan out.
If you get extremely lucky, and want to make maintaining your own power plant a hobby, you can break even over a 25 year period. Doesn't really get me too excited.
The *real* money in solar is in selling systems to people who think they're getting a bargain.