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A comment on Solar PV rapidly becoming the cheapest option to generate electricity. Parent comment

Re:Solar PV rapidly becoming the cheapest option to generate... by brc on Monday October 24, 2011 @11:52PM (#3152750)
Does your example include a FIT (feed in tariff) provided by government at a much higher rate than grid power, or are you doing a calculations at grid power? A lot of places have a high FIT value currently, but this is subject to political whims and any incoming government might find it easy to gain votes by trimming the FIT, as has already happened in many places around the world.

Another huge problem with these calculations is the very small fraction of people who stay in one house for more than 10 years. Essentially you have to stay in the house for the entire payback period or you've lost out.

Personally I think the solar price will have to drop to the point where it is much lower than grid (with no subsidies), rather than just about equal. At that point, takeup will be much higher.

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Re:Solar PV rapidly becoming the cheapest option to generate... by compman775 on Tuesday October 25, 2011 @12:52AM (#3152865)
Why would you have lost out? Couldn't you sell the house for more than you could have if you hadn't had solar panels installed?
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Re:Solar PV rapidly becoming the cheapest option to generate... by marze on Tuesday October 25, 2011 @01:02AM (#3152890)
No, just avoided cost. Unless your utility drops the rates significantly, the savings are locked in.

As far as moving goes, studies show that solar systems increase the value of a house by approximately the cost of the system. Of course, if solar system prices fall as expected, this premium would likely drop also.

And the economics are the same for a system where the cost is rolled into a loan during a home loan refinance, an option available to many people now.

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