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Yes it's 10 years for me as well. Most of that is because we have a 30% efficiency hit because we didn't want to cut down a tree in our backyard that shades it
by matt_wulfeck 9y ago
Yes it's 10 years for me as well. Most of that is because we have a 30% efficiency hit because we didn't want to cut down a tree in our backyard that shades it for 2 hours a day during about 6 months of the year. Our system is also larger than our current usage, because we plan to use more (electric car, more kids, etc).
Another benefit to think about is you've effectively locked in your electricity rate. With some companies that might not be a big thing, but here in CA PG&E has been relentless with their rising kwh costs.
- fred_is_fred 9y agoI pay on average about 10.3 cents per kwh and have a newer home that's very efficient at holding cool air (and live in a state where we heat more than we cool). For those reaons it's a tough sell for me. If rates continue to rise and solar continues to fall, we'll have a cross over that works for me probably in a few years.
- matt_wulfeck 9y agoIt's not cost competitive for you at 10 cents. Why bother? I'd kill for that kind of price in electricity. Our total cost with solar is around 13c per kwh over 20 years.
- wilwade 9y agoI also have the same (10.7 cents over the past year). We have a community solar project in town, but it is ~13 cents over 20 years as well.
- fred_is_fred 9y agoThat's also what SolarCity told me...
- ianai 9y agoAny chance some of your energy comes from nuclear?
- fred_is_fred 9y agoCoal and wind. I live in Colorado.
- Spooky23 9y agoYou're in a good place. I live in a neighborhood with older homes similar climate. Lots of people are doing solar because it's cool, but ignoring windows and insulation. We ran the numbers on our house with an energy audit and found that the return on insulation, an attic fan and window replacement was literally like 2-3x solar. The other thing to look at is solar hot water. It's not sexy, but that has been high ROI since the 80s.