After reading about the Hurricane in Florida. (stories of solar homes NOT losing any power)

[bluestarone]

I gotta ask people here, what they think about installing Solar cells on a roof. What do people here think about this?

[we can do it]

1. We love ours, we're in Rehoboth Beach, DE.

Owned, not leased.

[bigtree]

2. here's a good group to talk to

Environment & Energy (Group)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1127

[bluestarone]

11. AWESOME TY

I did NOT know about this group!!

[brooklynite]

3. That's not enough...

You also need to install a storage battery, which may or may not be legal in your jurisdiction.

[bluestarone]

9. TY. I'll have to check into that BEFORE i decide.

[Kaleva]

4. A dual fuel generator would be more practical for me

[bluestarone]

10. It will be solar for me.

I really will check this out, but i just want CLEAN energy if possible. (money wise i mean)

[Kaleva]

14. I live in Upper Michigan

Getting enough light in winter could be an issue.

[onecaliberal]

5. I have panels on my roof. I'm in California.

[MLAA]

6. I got panels and batteries installed a year or two ago.

I love it. Powers our house completely unless it’s cloudy for days in a row which rarely happens in Southern Az. It’s so hot here in the summer that not having air conditioning would be miserable if not life threatening. So that is why I got it. I’m 62 so it will not likely pay for itself in zero utility bills, but gives me great security.

[bluestarone]

8. TY

Was gone here awhile. So was it really expensive for everything? More than say $40,000 for everything?

[MLAA]

12. Yes, it's quite expensive.

There are federal and state tax credits, but even after that, I think it still netted out around $40,000 -$45,000 for all the panels and 3 Tesla power wall batteries. My average electric bill was $250 a month. So long payback period when considering the financial aspect. My goal was to be as close to 100 percent independent as possible in a 2100 sq foot house. My other consideration was I plan on living in this house for the rest of my life, so no concern about resell, although I understand solar is a big selling plus, though I don’t know if you could recoup your full investment.

My other tip is to really look into the company to make sure they have been in business a while and have a great track record. I have heard some horror stories about people being screwed by signing leases on the equipment and the solar company not performing and then the customer is still stuck with the lease.

[bluestarone]

13. Oh yea for sure!

I'll check everything out here!! We get numerous hail storms her as well. (North Dakota you know) It's just awesome that the solar is so clean PLUS no power loss unless your home is destroyed! Insurance could also be a problem. But i see there's a GROUP on our site that i will be discussing this more with. (thanks to bigtree) TY all who commented here today!!

[Brother Buzz]

7. Syd Kitson did a little more then just throw up solar panels on the roof - Think it takes a village

[hunter]

15. In the next major disaster I'll mostly do without electricity.

It will probably be an earthquake here in California.

The climate where we live is mild. Heat and air conditioning are not essential. Those are the big energy users. I can live perfectly well without a refrigerator. When I was a kid we didn't have air conditioning and my parents considered heat, refrigerators, and televisions luxuries that we could sometimes live without. At times we did live without them, one entire year without a refrigerator, eight months without a television, and entire winters with the thermostat set a 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

My wife and I have 150 watts of solar power with battery backup. That ought to keep our ebooks charged if the power goes out for days or weeks, providing we have any spare time to read. My wife's a health care professional so it's all too likely she'll be spending most of her waking hours at the hospital or clinic. Covid was like that.

We've got a lot of water stashed away in food grade 55 gallon barrels, lots of dry food, and a camp stove that can run on regular unleaded gasoline.

I don't think solar panels and Tesla Power walls are a "save the world" technology. As Greta Thunberg has noted, 3 billion people use less energy, on an annual per capita basis, than a standard American refrigerator.

The bitter truth is that it's very difficult for affluent people to reduce the size of their environmental footprints.

"Save the world" technologies have to be applicable to all eight billion of us. A forty thousand dollar home solar system isn't making the world a better place for people who can't even afford bicycles.