Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
... I probably average 13 kWh per day, and according to Tesla the small size would mostly cover that. It would be nice to go off-grid, but there's simply too many overcast days in a row to rely on battery power to get through those days. Quick math says the payback period would be about 15 years, which seems extreme.
If I ever did solar, I'd probably homebuild it to save money and for the experience.
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Are you on the super cheap hydro-electric rates in your part of the country? Here in central California we are already paying over $.20/kwh base rate. It goes up quickly from there if you are anything but a low use user. Additionally, we obviously have more sun hours than you would so pay back time here can be as little as 7 or 8 years. The hard part is always the storage. Even at $100/kwh for storage I don't think I would ever break even unless I were grid connected and had more panels installed than I actually need to run the house.
But, some things are worth paying for even without economic return. I don't ride a bike, play baseball, or go to concerts because I'm looking for payback. I do those things because I enjoy them. I have panels and battery storage for the same reason. I enjoy the fact that I don't contribute as much to polluting the world and that I don't have to continuously pay someone else for all my energy usage.
JJ