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> At current prices, solar panels pay for themselves in under 8 years. and from the article > the discussions seem stuck back in 2010, when solar power and el

by ghusto 3y ago

> At current prices, solar panels pay for themselves in under 8 years. and from the article > the discussions seem stuck back in 2010, when solar power and electric vehicles were prohibitively expensive It's an inconvenient truth that most people can not afford to pay €20-40k for something now, that will save them money in 8 years (and then, slowly). As the saying goes "it's too expensive to be poor" — except we're all "middle-class" now, apparently.

edent 3y ago
A typical solar array and installation is anywhere from £4k - £12k (a bit more if you want a battery etc). I agree that we should be subsidising the installation. And, indeed, lots of councils do group-buying schemes which do that. And there are semi-reasonable financing schemes available.
crazygringo 3y ago
That's what financing is for, although its availability is dependent on what a bank can recover if you stop paying -- e.g. they can take back your car or repossess your house. Installation costs can't be recovered, but a battery can certainly be repossessed. Unmounting solar panels is probably much more work, so I don't know. Or just add it to your home's existing mortgage, since then it's just repossessing the house with solar+battery included. But the point is that, if the down payment is made small enough, the desired result is that you start saving money immediately, because your monthly financing payment is less than what you're saving on your electric bill. Of course, ideally there's some kind of government subsidy here that makes it a no-brainer for banks, where the government pays the interest or down payment or something.
- tomatocracy 3y ago
  There are schemes in the UK which will allow you to add these costs to your energy bill (repaid over time with interest). This seems to me like the "best" solution - it puts the costs and benefits together, stays with the house and the bad debt risk is significantly mitigated without needing to worry about enforcing security over a physical asset. Not sure why it's not better known or widespread.
  - crazygringo 3y ago
    Oh that's super clever! Never thought of tying it to the house itself but an electric utility makes that possible. Thanks for sharing. Because it's indeed not well-known.
marssaxman 3y ago
Loans exist, especially for people who own houses. When I had solar panels installed ten years ago, I put nothing down and started saving money immediately. The system cost about $14K and paid for itself before the seven-year mark.

by ghusto 3y ago

edent 3y ago

A typical solar array and installation is anywhere from £4k - £12k (a bit more if you want a battery etc). I agree that we should be subsidising the installation. And, indeed, lots of councils do group-buying schemes which do that. And there are semi-reasonable financing schemes available.

crazygringo 3y ago

That's what financing is for, although its availability is dependent on what a bank can recover if you stop paying -- e.g. they can take back your car or repossess your house. Installation costs can't be recovered, but a battery can certainly be repossessed. Unmounting solar panels is probably much more work, so I don't know. Or just add it to your home's existing mortgage, since then it's just repossessing the house with solar+battery included. But the point is that, if the down payment is made small enough, the desired result is that you start saving money immediately, because your monthly financing payment is less than what you're saving on your electric bill. Of course, ideally there's some kind of government subsidy here that makes it a no-brainer for banks, where the government pays the interest or down payment or something.

tomatocracy 3y ago
There are schemes in the UK which will allow you to add these costs to your energy bill (repaid over time with interest). This seems to me like the "best" solution - it puts the costs and benefits together, stays with the house and the bad debt risk is significantly mitigated without needing to worry about enforcing security over a physical asset. Not sure why it's not better known or widespread.
- crazygringo 3y ago
  Oh that's super clever! Never thought of tying it to the house itself but an electric utility makes that possible. Thanks for sharing. Because it's indeed not well-known.

marssaxman 3y ago

Loans exist, especially for people who own houses. When I had solar panels installed ten years ago, I put nothing down and started saving money immediately. The system cost about $14K and paid for itself before the seven-year mark.