The most frequent question we get when we talk about our solar panels is: when will they pay for themselves?
I find this question puzzling because there are so many things we buy that never pay for themselves, like cars, or central air conditioning. Not one person has ever asked me when my car would pay for itself. We just buy them because we need or want them and deal with the cost.
We didn't install a solar electric system because we would save money. We installed it because it gives us far more independence, from foreign and domestic oil, among other things, and because with our system, we do not need to ever draw on dirty electrical generation such as nuclear.
Frank just looked at our inverter today. The inverter is what changes our electricity into the kind of energy that can be used in our house and put back into the greater system that brings energy into your homes. It gives a statistic that I find very gratifying: how many pounds of carbon dioxide we have NOT produced. for a one year period we have decreased the carbon load of the atmosphere by 92,000 lbs. Our system has been in place about 9 years. That's 828,000 lbs of carbon that we have effectively removed from our, and your, atmosphere.
Do I care if my system ever pays for itself? Hell, no!
Look at it this way: I pay about $1.75 per month for the use of the grid system. (We are considered to be producers. When we are generating energy, our meter runs backward and electricity that we do not use goes back into the system.) That's it. Other than that, we do not have an electric bill. Times 9 years. At the end of the year, if we have made more than we use, we get a check. Sweet.
Our system cost us, out of pocket, $11,000.00. That's enough panels on trackers to provide enough electricity for our home and Frank's shop. The total cost was $22,000.00, the state paid for half, Frank did the installation. When you think about it, it cost less than a used Ford Taurus.
Why do so few people install solar? I have friends who are attorneys, business owners, roofers, you know, people who make hella more money than we do. but they always want to know when the system will pay for itself, or they don't like the way it looks on a roof, etc. One reason after another for not going solar. They always seem to have enough money to buy a Lexus, though.
For us, the system is its own reward. We can feel good about our contribution to clean, breathable air, and still not have to pay for our electricity. What's not to love?
