PV Gap

Melinda Said:

How much is a "greener" home?

We Answered:

Well of course this would vary greatly from house to house and climate to climate.

In general, a home owner break even on a solar panel system in less than 20 years. However, with all of the new federal (30%) and local state tax credits, that number can be as little as five years, at which point the electricity generated from the photovoltaic system would be free and clear.

As far as costs, you can say roughly $6 to $7 per Watt installed and how much you install depends on your home, local solar conditions, access to southern exposures, shading factors, etc...

For instance, a home that uses 20,000 kwh per year living in an area that gets 4.5 peak sun hours per day would need 12kW system, which would run roughly $73,000 installed, minus 30% tax credit from Govt making the total net system cost of $51,114.
Here is the math for that:
20,000kwH / year = 54kWh / day
54kWh/4.5h = 12.17kW / day
12.17kW x 1000W = 12,170W
12,170W x $6 = $73,020
$73,020 x .30 = $21,906 refundable tax credit
$73,020 - $21,906 = $51,114

Now down here in Louisiana, we get another 50% state tax credit, so that's an additional $36,510 subtracted from that price making solar the most cost effective means of getting electricity. Especially since our kWh costs just jumped up from 8cents to about 13 cents per.

Now, I should also mention, the average house is very inefficient to begin with and every dollar spent on increasing the homes energy efficiency will save $5 on the solar panel system. So, it makes better sense to first increase your homes energy efficiency, and then recalculate your solar needs. don't forget solar water heating or gas/electric tankless water heaters as this will free up alot of solar electricity.

Troy Said:

what is solar panel and how to install it?

We Answered:

this might be not a good answer but the first answer you receive was right and did you know that you can make a solar panel with the bags of chips and junk food.you have to use the side that is the shiny part which is the outside.