I remember, when I was younger, a friend of mine had a solar panel on his roof. I always thought it came in handy, provided a lot of power, saved the day in power outages, but I was wrong. My friend told me, it only gave the house a few minutes of power for only a few small devices during blackouts. That was 20 years ago, is in home generation worth it today?
Solar panels are more efficient today, batteries are more dense, turbines, geothermal solutions, and more, all exist for our homes. I've read of attempts to make several homes completely green, it seemed like a good effort. After they sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into making the experimental house greener, does it pay for itself, ever? My electric bill is about 80 dollars a month. In comparison, the $100,000 spent to make a house use less electricity is equivalent to 104 years of my $80 a month. And I would have to pay all that up front.
But perhaps it's more about making a statement. Like voting for a third party in the USA, or diving a an expensive hybrid. It's saying, we want less dependence, we want to give back. Maybe someday less expensive solar panels will adorn all of our roofs.
For those who actually use alternative energy solutions, is there a lot of maintenance associated with the equipment?
Cabe
