PV

[Tom Raymond]

If you switch the whole house to led bulbs you will need to burn an extra cord of fire wood to make up for the incandescent heat you're giving up.

[mjr6550]

Electric here is 14 cents per Kwh.

It's just over a 7 kw system, central inverter because there are no shade issues and the roof is 38 degrees (optimal for my latitude). The system faces almost due south(not magnetic south) .Barring a movable array it's about as good as systems get for orientation. I built the barn specifically to hold the array.

System cost including the 24 x 36 pole barn is right around 25 grand. We received $1.15 per watt rebate from NYSERDA- a state funded energy research and development grant, and a 30% (of the system cost) state income tax credit and a 35% ( of the system cost) federal income tax credit. In NY, we have up to five years to claim the tax incentives.

All things considered, at our current taxable income rate and excluding power generation, the ROI is about two years. Factor in power savings, the ROI is about 15 months.

In real life, sans incentives, the ROI hovers at about 18 years. The incentive process bothers me a bit because only people who pay taxes at a certain level can benefit from the program. That is, only people with disposable income can benefit. I'm torn between my conservative beliefs which lead to no tax credits or rebates as a solution to the problem and to a philosophically challenging socialist view of making the incentives available in the form of tax rebates instead of as tax credits so that every income bracket enjoys the same opportunity.

I took advantage of the credits with the justification that I'm helping prevent the necessary expansion of power generation plants, that I'll use the money I save smarter than the government would, and that the panels are a philosophical commitment to renewables, supporting the advancement of the existing technology to the end that, someday the technology will stand on its own merit.

None of the rebates are available for DIY. I had to let someone else install the system. The installer did an excellent job- very, very workmanlike.

Chad, I am all for PV systems, but I don't understand your ROI. At an average of 990 KWH per month at 14 cents a KWH aren't you paying about $1663 a year? It seems like the payback would be longer, unless you are generating quite a bit of excess power. And with excess power, you are only credited with the generation cost, not distribution cost, etc.

I would be interested maybe on my next house. Current house has hip roof and front faces south. Wife does not like look or panels; we are not planning on staying here too much longer; PA has poor/no? credits.

[Chad Fabry]

Chad, I am all for PV systems, but I don't understand your ROI. At an average of 990 KWH per month at 14 cents a KWH aren't you paying about $1663 a year? It seems like the payback would be longer, unless you are generating quite a bit of excess power. And with excess power, you are only credited with the generation cost, not distribution cost, etc.

I just checked my numbers from November when I committed to the purchase. I forgot that I missed the deadline to get $1.15 per watt from NYSERDA, my actual rebate was $1.00 per watt.

Rough numbers:

System including pole/ barn mount= 26,575

NYSERDA rebate watts x 1.00 7,100

Fed Credit 35% 9,301

NYS Rebate 30% 7,973

System net 2,201

[mjr6550]

Chad, I am all for PV systems, but I don't understand your ROI. At an average of 990 KWH per month at 14 cents a KWH aren't you paying about $1663 a year? It seems like the payback would be longer, unless you are generating quite a bit of excess power. And with excess power, you are only credited with the generation cost, not distribution cost, etc.

I just checked my numbers from November when I committed to the purchase. I forgot that I missed the deadline to get $1.15 per watt from NYSERDA, my actual rebate was $1.00 per watt.

Rough numbers:

System including pole/ barn mount= 26,575

NYSERDA rebate watts x 1.00 7,100

Fed Credit 35% 9,301

NYS Rebate 30% 7,973

System net 2,201

Wow, New York is generous. And with numbers that good the majority of homeowners probably have not even looked into adding systems. I am jealous.

[Chad Fabry]

Wow, New York is generous. And with numbers that good the majority of homeowners probably have not even looked into adding systems. I am jealous.

NY giveth and they taketh away. Tax credits only work in a case like this if your tax burden is big to start with.