Solar is dirt-cheap and about to get even more powerful

Re:Solar is dirt-cheap and about to get even more powerful by TedDoesntTalk on Sunday July 11, 2021 @12:16AM (#27798426)

I don’t understand. How is paying $10,000 or more cheaper than using the electricity provided by my local electric company? The break even point is probably 5 years if you really can install everything but $10,000.

The opportunity cost of that $10,000 is, let’s say 5% per year on avg, or $2500 over 5 years (without compounding which would skew this even further against panels)

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Re:Solar is dirt-cheap and about to get even more powerful by dd36 on Sunday July 11, 2021 @09:14AM (#27800520)

The solar system should last 25 years. That’s about 2c/kWh.

With your electric utility, after all the additional fees, you’re probably at at least 15c/kWh.

Storage simply needs to cost less than 13c/kWh to make economic sense.

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Re:Solar is dirt-cheap and about to get even more powerful by dd36 on Sunday July 11, 2021 @09:10PM (#27805897)

Also, 2c/kWh is a hedge against inflation. Utility prices go up not down.

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Re:Solar is dirt-cheap and about to get even more powerful by 1123581321 on Sunday July 11, 2021 @12:45AM (#27798525)

Right, it just depends on the numbers. Taxes and credits have a lot to do with it. For example, a $10k (after credits) system might save at averaged $1200/year accounting for production lost, increasing a bit over time due to utility hikes. After 20 years, assuming the system is now worthless, that will compare similarly to an 8% stock market return plus initial capital after capital gains taxes. The solar system would return in a narrower range of performance than the stock market return.

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