Solar Panels, for CIVIL discussion

Solar Panels, for CIVIL discussion

All, please review thread title and keep it civil.

1olddmf said
I cannot see why you object to solar,
agreed, commercially sold solar is not a good move,
but owner installed ,or DIY, makes 100% sense!
9mos of the year , I have no elect bill! the other months is typically
under $25,
so whats wrong with that?
my friends son is the head of a install crew,( big commercial solar fields)
they have less than 2% failure rate, and panels produce 90+% for over 20yrs,
pic is of my 10kw solar field.

View attachment 1716056950

You gotta understand, a good portion of the population doesn't live in the desert sand so the viability of your setup diminishes greatly in other parts of the world.

Dmopower said
I've had solar on my roof for 4 full years now. 27,600 initial costs minus 45% donated from my Fed and State rebates 12,420 dollars. that's 15,180 I have to pay. My 1897 2.5 story Victorian used to cost me 225 in the summer to cool. Now I cool it for less than 100 and most summer Months 35 bucks. I installed a heat pump with another rebate offered andI now also heat my house with them for all but the coldest days. Got a lifetime warranty on the Amana heat pump. My panels have made more electricity every year so far. Weather patterns I assume. My pay back was set to be a 7 year plan. Then we got Bidenflation on the energy. Electricity costs went up and I'm now looking at a 5.5 year payoff. They aren't perfect but they have served me well so far.

There is a ton of energy used and a lot of pollution created to make these panels. For that reason and the fact that I hate the CCP I bought American made panels. Since saving the planet was the main goal I felt it a bad idea to buy panels made in China the globes number one polluter and a top 3 Nation for slavery TODAY. Also putting them on a fossil fuel ship for 3,000 miles kind of defeats the whole green thing. The USA panels cost me over 4,000 dollars more but since my fellow Americans helped pay for my panels I felt obligated as a patriot to buy panels that helped employ the good folks that assisted in my purchase.

I do NOT think that all solar or all electric is the future but is will be part of it and in many instances they do wonders. If they would jus t STOP forcing it and let it earn it's way people would resent them less.

As far as the fields of panels......Who on earth thinks that clear cutting trees and fencing the area off from humans and wildlife is GREEN???

I don't blame you for taking money that's available to you, but it AIN'T free. Ergo, you are kinda talking out of both sides of your mouth when you talk about the cost but lop off what the rest of us funded. It's costing me money but not benefiting me.
I WILL say kudos 100% for making sure that you got USA made panels. The biggest problem I have with these plans BY FAR is how much subsidized money goes overseas.

toolmanmike said
View attachment 1716057181

The problem with this graph is that a huge number of people will jump on board with this without doing any research whatsoever. People then see this graph and think it's good because people are doing it.
Kinda like a car that shuts off at stop lights to conserve fuel but has remote start so it can idle in the driveway for twenty minutes on cold mornings to keep your tushy from touching cold vinyl.
Just because you can, does that mean you should?

My brother is a good example and I can't recall if I've stated this already. Financed his solar thinking he was going off-grid. Couldn't afford the battery. Twenty year note. Twenty year lifespan. His payment on the solar is almost exactly what his power bills were (I'll wager that's true of most installs, conveniently).
So they will be trash not long after they're paid off. He's spending the same money every month. His lights still go dark when everyone else's do.

The only real benefit is someone made a sale.