4 ms·

Cool site, thanks for sharing. I have never seen it. According to that site a $20k install would pay itself off in 6 years. That is compelling.

by NDizzle 11y ago

bnolsen 11y ago
I live in colorado and it says i would lose money by going solar. Interesting since at costco, etc the solar guys are pushing pretty hard. I've held off so far because I think there's still room for dramatic improvement in solar panel and battery technology in the next few years. Also I seem to get a new roof every 5 or so years due to all the hailstorms we get around here. I suspect solar panels don't like big hailstones very much and I have no idea what would happen if both the roof and panels are damaged. I doubt a roofing company is well equipped to handle the panels.
- MSM 11y ago
  That's actually pretty surprising to me, I have only visited Colorado a few times but I have always been very (pleasantly) surprised by the amount of sunshine. A quick look on Wikipedia says Denver has sunshine 70% of the time totaling ~3,100 hours a year. I'm from MI where we see sun about once a week so I'm out of touch, but that seems like it should be more than enough to recoup costs. Is the amount of sunshine in Denver significantly different from where you're at, or is there something else I'm missing?
  - bnolsen 11y ago
    might be current cost of energy is low here. and yes we get tons of sunshine, amazing amounts.
- rogerbinns 11y ago
  I'm curious how this is all going to shake out in the housing market. The guys pushing hard have ~20 year contracts. If you go to buy a house in 2020 that had a system installed in 2012, the panels etc would be fairly dated (plus wear and tear), and there would still be 12 years left on the contract. I'd insist on paying less for the house due to being saddled with the obligation, or the homeowner would have pay (a lot) to get out of the contract early. Like you I too see dramatic improvements over the next few years, hence committing now not being a good decision.
marssaxman 11y ago
I bought a $15k system in 2013, and if current trends continue it will have paid itself off 7 years after installation. I was interested in solar purely as a means of reducing my carbon footprint; I was surprised to learn that it had already become such a good investment, too. I'm glad to hear that the numbers have continued to improve. (I could have gone bigger and come close to covering all of my household power needs, whereas the current system gets maybe 60% or so, but I'd have had to cut down the big old cedar tree which shades part of my roof, and that just seemed like it would be missing the point somehow.)

Cool site, thanks for sharing. I have never seen it. According to that site a $20k install would pay itself off in 6 years. That is compelling.

by NDizzle 11y ago

Cool site, thanks for sharing. I have never seen it. According to that site a $20k install would pay itself off in 6 years. That is compelling.

bnolsen 11y ago

I live in colorado and it says i would lose money by going solar. Interesting since at costco, etc the solar guys are pushing pretty hard. I've held off so far because I think there's still room for dramatic improvement in solar panel and battery technology in the next few years. Also I seem to get a new roof every 5 or so years due to all the hailstorms we get around here. I suspect solar panels don't like big hailstones very much and I have no idea what would happen if both the roof and panels are damaged. I doubt a roofing company is well equipped to handle the panels.

MSM 11y ago
That's actually pretty surprising to me, I have only visited Colorado a few times but I have always been very (pleasantly) surprised by the amount of sunshine. A quick look on Wikipedia says Denver has sunshine 70% of the time totaling ~3,100 hours a year. I'm from MI where we see sun about once a week so I'm out of touch, but that seems like it should be more than enough to recoup costs. Is the amount of sunshine in Denver significantly different from where you're at, or is there something else I'm missing?
- bnolsen 11y ago
  might be current cost of energy is low here. and yes we get tons of sunshine, amazing amounts.
rogerbinns 11y ago
I'm curious how this is all going to shake out in the housing market. The guys pushing hard have ~20 year contracts. If you go to buy a house in 2020 that had a system installed in 2012, the panels etc would be fairly dated (plus wear and tear), and there would still be 12 years left on the contract. I'd insist on paying less for the house due to being saddled with the obligation, or the homeowner would have pay (a lot) to get out of the contract early. Like you I too see dramatic improvements over the next few years, hence committing now not being a good decision.

marssaxman 11y ago

I bought a $15k system in 2013, and if current trends continue it will have paid itself off 7 years after installation. I was interested in solar purely as a means of reducing my carbon footprint; I was surprised to learn that it had already become such a good investment, too. I'm glad to hear that the numbers have continued to improve. (I could have gone bigger and come close to covering all of my household power needs, whereas the current system gets maybe 60% or so, but I'd have had to cut down the big old cedar tree which shades part of my roof, and that just seemed like it would be missing the point somehow.)