What part wasn't worth it? You said it's not worth it, then made it sound worth it.
The ROI is 10-25 years based on the electricity prices you locked in at the start.
With regular inflation, and general increases in the electricity rates, over the long run you're going to save money. The return might not be investment market level returns, but if you can justify the up front costs it's unlikely to not come out ahead.
If the ROI => 25 years, then it's not worth it- because the hardware and equipment is considered deprecated at that point.
If it lasts 30 years, sure, its making good use of itself. But- everything is rated between 15-25 years. As such, after that period, it's considered end of life, and no longer supported.
Now- I will note, it is not worth it for the "Rate I currently pay", which is 0.08c/kwh. If next year, my electricity rates tripled, it would vastly reduce the amount of time until this solution reached ROI. And- I am betting that electricity does not get cheaper in the future, otherwise I would have not have pulled the trigger on a 50,000$ project, where the math told me it wasn't the best idea.
for the “Rate I currently pay”, which is 0.08c/kwh
How did you get that rate? We pay 33 cents, and it was 24 cents just a few months ago... wouldn't be surprised if it goes up again next year and the year after since even 33 cents is government subsidised (so - there's no cheaper option available).
otherwise I would have not have pulled the trigger on a 50,000$ project
Ooof. Why'd you do that? We simply put (a bit over) 5kW of panels on the roof, and a good 5kW inverter. One day of sun generates about as much power as we use in a week, and even if it's overcast we still come out ahead.
We're basically only paying for overnight power and pretty easy to keep that to a minimum (with good insulation, efficient overnight appliances, avoiding unnecessary overnight power consumption - such as putting the beer fridge and hot water heater on a timer).
How did you get that rate? We pay 33 cents, and it was 24 cents just a few months ago… wouldn’t be surprised if it goes up again next year and the year after since even 33 cents is government subsidised (so - there’s no cheaper option available).
All about location. There are supposedly many in my area on a different coop utility, who are only paying 0.03c/kwh.
Ooof. Why’d you do that? We simply put (a bit over) 5kW of panels on the roof, and a good 5kW inverter. One day of sun generates about as much power as we use in a week, and even if it’s overcast we still come out ahead.
I had a few other goals I wanted to accomplish-
Reliability. The grid here isn't the most stable, and blinks a few times per week. And, a time or two per year, we have an outage. This solution has handled this fantastically well, so well, that I don't even notice when the grid has dropped unless I specifically go for it.
Apart of this, was bringing some of my wiring/electrical up to code. This accounted for 10k of the price-tag... I relocated/replaced the mains panel across the house to a location more suitable then my daughter's closet. Also- the panel itself, was pretty old, and needed to be modernized.
One more issue- my PV is undersized a bit. Adding another 3kw, would yield much better returns for me.
Its undersized, because if I oversized it, and sent more energy than I consumed, my lovely utility slaps on a 42$ fee.... which is no-bueno.
What part wasn't worth it? You said it's not worth it, then made it sound worth it.
The ROI is 10-25 years based on the electricity prices you locked in at the start.
With regular inflation, and general increases in the electricity rates, over the long run you're going to save money. The return might not be investment market level returns, but if you can justify the up front costs it's unlikely to not come out ahead.
If the ROI => 25 years, then it's not worth it- because the hardware and equipment is considered deprecated at that point.
If it lasts 30 years, sure, its making good use of itself. But- everything is rated between 15-25 years. As such, after that period, it's considered end of life, and no longer supported.
Now- I will note, it is not worth it for the "Rate I currently pay", which is 0.08c/kwh. If next year, my electricity rates tripled, it would vastly reduce the amount of time until this solution reached ROI. And- I am betting that electricity does not get cheaper in the future, otherwise I would have not have pulled the trigger on a 50,000$ project, where the math told me it wasn't the best idea.
Also, if you really want to see everything quantified- I plan on publishing all of the math, and numbers at the one year mark... which will be around march. -> https://static.xtremeownage.com/pages/Projects/Solar-Project/
How did you get that rate? We pay 33 cents, and it was 24 cents just a few months ago... wouldn't be surprised if it goes up again next year and the year after since even 33 cents is government subsidised (so - there's no cheaper option available).
Ooof. Why'd you do that? We simply put (a bit over) 5kW of panels on the roof, and a good 5kW inverter. One day of sun generates about as much power as we use in a week, and even if it's overcast we still come out ahead.
We're basically only paying for overnight power and pretty easy to keep that to a minimum (with good insulation, efficient overnight appliances, avoiding unnecessary overnight power consumption - such as putting the beer fridge and hot water heater on a timer).
All about location. There are supposedly many in my area on a different coop utility, who are only paying 0.03c/kwh.
I had a few other goals I wanted to accomplish-
Reliability. The grid here isn't the most stable, and blinks a few times per week. And, a time or two per year, we have an outage. This solution has handled this fantastically well, so well, that I don't even notice when the grid has dropped unless I specifically go for it.
Apart of this, was bringing some of my wiring/electrical up to code. This accounted for 10k of the price-tag... I relocated/replaced the mains panel across the house to a location more suitable then my daughter's closet. Also- the panel itself, was pretty old, and needed to be modernized.
One more issue- my PV is undersized a bit. Adding another 3kw, would yield much better returns for me.
Its undersized, because if I oversized it, and sent more energy than I consumed, my lovely utility slaps on a 42$ fee.... which is no-bueno.