Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I'd say PV installed in the PNW is a waste period.
As I've been saying, I could install my panels in AZ, the people in AZ could pay a discounted rate for the electricity, and my payback period is reduced. It's a win/win proposition, but instead we like to have 3 different government subsidies pay for doing it the dumb way.
The value proposition just barely broke even after I got 3 different groups of citizens to non-voluntarily pay for most of it. "Hey, help me put these panels on my roof or I'll break yer leg".
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Yep. On the best day, my 4.96kW array has only produced 3.8kW here in Eugene. This time of year, even half that peak production does not happen, and when it does, it is fewer hours. (Highest recorded totals this year were 28kWh in June, and 5.3kWh in December, or about $2.80 vs. $0.50 saved on those days.) It produced 4.9MWh for the year, saving just over $490. At that rate, it is going to take 12 years to pay for itself - plus my extra effort to keep them clean.
I would not have installed the panels without the maximum tax credits.
The up side is that panel efficiency keeps going up while costs continue to fall. So there may come a day where we are all just looking for new places to put them, and sure, why not the roof of a car? But I think we are a long way from that.