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Old 01-30-2013, 10:13 AM   #34 (permalink)
Ryland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by razor02097 View Post
I don't know much about solar PV systems but typically people would charge their electric vehicle at night no? Even if there is a battery array to hold the charge there would still be a draw on the grid.
All that aside the typical person isn't going to drop $35 to $40 grand on an electric vehicle then another $25 grand on a solar array to drive "Free" Instead you could buy a nice hybrid vehicle and fuel for a few years.
Peek loads are in the day time when the sun is out, the cheapest PV systems to install are grid tied systems that back feed the grid, my parents just happened to install one of those and they own an electric car, the part of their system that they just installed produces 2-3 times as much as it takes for their car to charge and more electricity then they use, that system's installed cost was just under $7,000, far below $25,000
I figured my Honda Civic VX averages about 45mpg, my electric car gets 250watt hours per mile, I drive about 9,000 miles per year, for me to drive 100% on solar would cost me about $3,000 if I installed it my self or according to one bid I got it would be $5,000 to have someone else install it, otherwise I spend $640 per year on gasoline, a PV system has a 25 year warranty, so assuming that I had someone else install it my per year cost for my electric fuel drops to $200 per year or $120 per year if I install it, over that same 25 years if I manage to keep using a car that gets 45mpg, I'd spend $16,000 on fuel, interest rates don't tend to keep up with inflation and fuel prices have been going up a little faster then inflation so if I put that $16,000 in the bank and only use it for buying fuel it's not going to last me 25 years, but PV panels will outlive their warranty, or at least all of them that I have seen have so far so if I buy PV panels there is a good chance that I'll have transportation energy for the rest of my life that is paid for and my price quotes were for PV that is made in the USA.

Last edited by Ryland; 01-30-2013 at 05:21 PM..
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