4 ms·

I've decided not to do home solar because it seems obvious to me that industrial scale plants will be able to do it cheaper.

songeater 2y ago
Yes, the cost of GENERATING electricity will undoubtedly be cheaper at the industrial scale level than on your rooftop. But that generated electricity is likely to be a region very far from your (or someone else's) consumption - needing a lot of money to lay transmission and distribution lines to the end consumer. Co-locating with consumption makes the difference in total costs far closer. Very location dependent, but please don't dismiss offhand without considering the very real transmission costs.
geodel 2y ago
Right. Pricing is out of whack. I got estimate of ~50K without batteries for 8KW solar setup. I don't know who is hosing whom but this is not workable for me.
- songeater 2y ago
  That does sound very high. Not sure where you are, but guessing you are in the US at least. As a comp, SunRun puts out detailed cost estimates for their residential systems each quarter[1]. Their average system cost was $5/watt, but with 50% of their installs having batteries. So for an 8Kw system (if you were buying outright) you should have gotten a quote of $40k with a "half-sized" battery. After US tax incentives, your cost should be <$30k including battery. But yeah, if you're not in a region where they do a lot of installs, you won't get that price... [1] "CreationCostMemo" tab in https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_eb9fb58f3a5f81478f053661bd80d49f/sunrun/db/419/4027/file/Sunrun-2Q2024-External-Model.xlsx https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_eb9fb58f3a5f81478f0536...
- energy123 2y ago
  8KW panels + battery installation costs $10k total in many countries.
energy123 2y ago
If you live in an area with permitting restrictions, you could have your system fully paid off before that happens.

4 ms·

I've decided not to do home solar because it seems obvious to me that industrial scale plants will be able to do it cheaper.

by hiddencost 2y ago

songeater 2y ago
Yes, the cost of GENERATING electricity will undoubtedly be cheaper at the industrial scale level than on your rooftop. But that generated electricity is likely to be a region very far from your (or someone else's) consumption - needing a lot of money to lay transmission and distribution lines to the end consumer. Co-locating with consumption makes the difference in total costs far closer. Very location dependent, but please don't dismiss offhand without considering the very real transmission costs.
geodel 2y ago
Right. Pricing is out of whack. I got estimate of ~50K without batteries for 8KW solar setup. I don't know who is hosing whom but this is not workable for me.
- songeater 2y ago
  That does sound very high. Not sure where you are, but guessing you are in the US at least. As a comp, SunRun puts out detailed cost estimates for their residential systems each quarter[1]. Their average system cost was $5/watt, but with 50% of their installs having batteries. So for an 8Kw system (if you were buying outright) you should have gotten a quote of $40k with a "half-sized" battery. After US tax incentives, your cost should be <$30k including battery. But yeah, if you're not in a region where they do a lot of installs, you won't get that price... [1] "CreationCostMemo" tab in https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_eb9fb58f3a5f81478f053661bd80d49f/sunrun/db/419/4027/file/Sunrun-2Q2024-External-Model.xlsx https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_eb9fb58f3a5f81478f0536...
- energy123 2y ago
  8KW panels + battery installation costs $10k total in many countries.
energy123 2y ago
If you live in an area with permitting restrictions, you could have your system fully paid off before that happens.