Getting the Most Out of Your Green Buck?

batobin asks: "My dad is thinking of installing a solar photovoltaic system on the roof. After tax credits, it'll cost $12,000. In Santa Barbara, where we live, our power company grants credits when the meter runs backwards and saves the credits for 12 months, reducing our monthly power bills year round. If the contractor's math is correct, the amortization period (when our power bill savings equals the installation cost) is about 12 years. With environmental and geo-political concerns in mind, is this the best use of our money? Will reduced consumption translate into cleaner air / less dependence on fossil fuels? What other environmentally proactive investments could be made with 12 grand?"

Comments

Re:Solar is not so green

[bbrack]

Not true, solar panels should have a break-even point of about 2 years. Couple this with an expected lifetime of >20 years (If you're in an area where you don't get much severe weather, this could be easily double).

http://www.solarbus.org/documents/pvpayback.pdf

In addition, semiconductor manufacturing processes do not create nearly the amount of pollutants as in years past, and most manufacturers have very aggressive recycling policies (the company I work for recycles 85-90% of all our waste)

That said, a hybrid/electric vehicle, more efficient appliances, even better insulation would probably provide a quicker ROI.

Good Luck!

You should wait...

[bergeron76]

There was just recently a "breakthrough" in solar photovoltaic techonology. You may want to wait a year or two and see if that technology pans out. If so, it would be a much cheaper solution.

And, your Dad won't be pissed when your neighbor buys a similar solar panel rig for 20% of what he paid.

Wired Article

[akmolloy]

I just got through reading a Wired story about new Rooftop Mirror Arrays available in the fall. Unfortunately, the story isn't avail on-line until July 11: http://www.wired.com/wired/ The Rooftop Solar Revolution Dotcom king Bill Gross wants to sell you a high-energy, low-cost solar concentrator that will fit on your roof. And overthrow the powers that be. I have no idea if this is applicable to you, but I thought you might enjoy the info.

Not Worth It

[nathanh]

Photovoltaic still isn't economical and really is not all that green either. There are better ways to be environmentally proactive.

• Solar hot water heaters cost about $1000 and have a 3 year ROI.
• Replace your refrigerator with an efficient model. If you have a freezer, get rid of it.
• Start recycling vegetable waste into compost, rather than wasting it in landfill. You can buy kitchen compost bins these days, and they don't smell, so even apartment dwellers have no excuse.
• Catch public transport once or twice a week; reduces your carbon output more than any other change you might make.
• Redirect water from the gutter to a storage tank for later use on the garden, rather than flushing it to the sewerage.

Don't bother with photovolatic. Not yet. The manufacturing process is polluting and the ROI is not worth it.

Urban legend alert!

[MarkusQ]

As far as we know, photo-voltaic systems are not "self-sustaining". That is, every kilowatt hour of energy your system produces in it's entire lifetime will not be more than the kilowatt hours that were used up to purify and crystallize the silicon, and make the PV system.

This is a myth. After two to four years, there is a net gain. (It also fails the sniff test: if the myth were true, they would have to sell them for less than it costs to make them.)

--MarkusQ