GM Spokeswoman is asked where the electricity to charge the Chevy Volt she's gushing over comes from

[Photon440]

Solar sounds interesting if you're paying a lot for electricity, but hydro power here is cheap - my monthly bill for the house and barn is $72 (Canadian) so I can't see myself switching to solar in hopes of saving money.

 

[gtx6970]

Based on your post your electrical bill must be around $1000 a year. Mine is way more than that. Unfortunately in years to come electric rates will only get higher...much higher.

I think thats about right. give or take maybe a 100 one way or the other

When the guy was here we talked about and he kept pushing the 25 year warranty . I kept replying odds are I will not be here in 25 years from now so for me personally its a moot point . Wife is 10years younger than I am . But we both felt it was a no.
I have a feeling they may warranty them for that long but like mentioned there's no guarantee the company will be here in in said time frame.

And based on research Ive done so far, the panels will need replaced then anyway. So the process / costs starts all over .
So no such thing as free electricity at any point

 

[Sam69sat]

I think thats about right. give or take maybe a 100 one way or the other

When the guy was here we talked about and he kept pushing the 25 year warranty . I kept replying odds are I will not be here in 25 years from now so for me personally its a moot point . Wife is 10years younger than I am . But we both felt it was a no.
I have a feeling they may warranty them for that long but like mentioned there's no guarantee the company will be here in in said time frame.

And based on research Ive done so far, the panels will need replaced then anyway. So the process / costs starts all over .
So no such thing as free electricity at any point

You should push back for a 12.5 year warranty and half price solar array.

 

[mopar 3 B]

25 year panel warranty that they will be min 80% efficient. The warranty is from the US manufacturer. The solar company I'm dealing with has a 15 year labor warranty. It takes 15 minutes to change a panel (plug & play) and are cheap ($450 each). I checked windmills out and they are double the price of solar.

How can you have a panel late in it's life at 80% efficiency that by design is less than 30% efficient to begin with? I like all the lies in this industry. If your panels were 100% efficient to begin with 1/3 of what you purchased with be sufficient. The industry may get there some day but even at best 50% efficient panel are not economical.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Your math is correct if the system only lasts for 10 yrs and electricity bill is only $84/month. The panels come with a 25 yr warranty and are cheap to replace.

So i will be generous here. Why would I want to spend 40% more for electricity than I am paying now? Many be for some a better solution would be to figure out why they are energy hogs to begin with. If you want to go off grid and can justify it go for what your doing. Next will be justifying storage for the periods the panels just will not do it. Without that storage when the utility power goes down you're MIA anyway. So in my some what little opinion if solar where such a great thing utilities all across the country would be jumping at the chance to get home owner to put panels on their homes at their expense. It's not happening here with out utility solar credits and likely not them. So to put this in simple terms. If it's not profitable for them why would it be for you in the long run? This I have asked my utility time and again with not even a response.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Your math is correct if the system only lasts for 10 yrs and electricity bill is only $84/month. The panels come with a 25 yr warranty and are cheap to replace.

So they say! But what will be replaceable in 25 years. What have you got now that's 25 years old and parts are not obsolete? Will panels even be compatible in 10 years? Just like Moen faucets with life time warranties when that faucet is no longer made the warranty goes bye-bye. Nope they don't find a new source for free either. So in this stage of development I would say in the long term your warranty is worthless.

 

[JDmac72chrgr]

Neighbor put solar on her roof after new roof; sold house due to health, in nursing home: contract was not transferable even "company" said it was, contract said otherwise: within 7 years, leaking and damaged roof, home owner stuck with cost & solar company out of business. Answer me this, selling you electricity to grid, are ANY of you PAYING "fees" to utility for your lines, meters, transformers etc...? Rain, snow etc.. that takes your solar away, or storms take out power, damage your panels, do you "expect/assume" the utility will be there for YOU? Do you have insurance for "acts of God" on that system?? Panels may be $450 & inverters <1k NOW, what do expect to pay in 5, 10, 20 years from NOW (or install day). Does your homeowners insurance cover solar KNOWING full well that no fire water can be used to put fire out? TOTAL LOSS OF HOME. Warehouse in Burlington county NJ caught fire, solar on roof, fire dept sat and watched it burn to ground (company move to PA after due to high taxes, environmental costs, etc...) Did you know, talk is EPA/DEP looking at "recovering" $$$ in fines for toxic gas emissions when YOUR house catches fire? Will home owners insurance cover HazMat disposal costs, which includes solar panels, inverters & batteries? Doubtful. IF they do, YOU pay the $$$$ in premiums.
MY company sold ALL its solar sites, got out of it, too high cost per return.
"WHAT IF..." must be made and written out BEFORE deciding and even then, will the costs be worth it. Solandra long gone after $millions given to them

 

[DeltaV]

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/12...d-component-failure-rate-in-pv-related-fires/

 

[JDmac72chrgr]

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/12...d-component-failure-rate-in-pv-related-fires/

So "COST" to FDs will be on ALL taxpayers, even those who do NOT have solar, TOTAL BULLSHIT, as usual. I say, you got solar, YOU ALL pay for THAT tax.

 

[JDmac72chrgr]

To all you "solar" owners, how often due you inspect & clean the panels, ESPECIALLY you all along the coasts? How much panel damage was done by birds dropping shell fish on panel to break open shell? Ooohh the "not warrantied" cost incurred to the company for THAT!!! Dirty panels also reduce the "effiency", so are your panels CLEAN to put out "labratory", stated efficency you were told??

 

[DeltaV]

We have nuclear power in Georgia. The monthly bill calculation is interesting to say the least.

It gets toasty down here. It's not unusual for me to use around 3,200 kWhr in one month for some years. Here's my usage for the past year. I'm not signing up for solar.

 

[Coronet_Arch]

I was involved in negotiating a contract to lease solar panels for a large city. The contract was for 20 years with an escalating rate per kwh per year at a time of flat electric rates we were paying through buying electric from suppliers other than the local utility. The contractor who was supplying the panels told me they were paid off in ten years. The Environmental manager thought it was a great deal. I had a clause that they had to bond to have the panels removed at the end of the lease. They could not find anyone to write the bond.

The contractor wanted us to trim trees, clean the panels and reboot there system when it went down. I told them no. They wanted to charge us to remove the panels to replace the roof. They also wanted to be paid for lost revenue during roof replacement.

Worst contract I was ever involved in. The environmental office loved it.

 

[DeltaV]

They don't need to be charged when they're sitting at the dealership awaiting parts.

 

[JDmac72chrgr]

GO NUCLEAR!! Hear that Delta!! Another power source is "trash to energy", saves landfills, mix fly ash with asphault and make MW, all good.
Coronet_Arch took care of "what ifs" and saw contractor ******* up!! YOU DA MAN!!
REBOOT SYSTEM?? They are STUPID!! Touch THEIR GEAR, yea, contract voided on spot if you do that!!

 

[joe smith]

I like all the lies in this industry.

So typical when the government throws money ( OUR MONEY) at some pie in the sky dream

 

[Richard Cranium]

@moparvinson​

​

The red X in my opening post is for what reason?​

 

[slepr1]

Solar sounds interesting if you're paying a lot for electricity, but hydro power here is cheap - my monthly bill for the house and barn is $72 (Canadian) so I can't see myself switching to solar in hopes of saving money.

My electric bill is around $150 month, every month. My natural gas bill is about the same. All my HVAC equipment is nearing its end of life so I have replaced with and electric air source heat pump. That was my biggest savings in NG. Next is get rid of the NG hot water tank and get a heat pump water heater. If my calculations are correct my NG bill will be cut down 90% but electric usage will go up 50-60%. That's where solar pays for itself. Btw if you use NG, being a Canadian, take a look at the damn carbon tax on the bill. One month I used $95 in gas, carbon tax was an extra $45. Total bill was $215 after all the bullshit. Stupid **** right there.

And based on research Ive done so far, the panels will need replaced then anyway. So the process / costs starts all over .
So no such thing as free electricity at any point

I disagree. Between year 10 and end of life the electricity is free. Based on my current and projected electrical usage my system will pay for itself in 10 years. Granted if a **** hit the fan and I need to cough up some replacement money then that 10 years gets extended. But at the end of the day I'd rather make my own electricity than buy it. With EV around the corner rates will be going up and I'll be making my own tax free.

How can you have a panel late in it's life at 80% efficiency that by design is less than 30% efficient to begin with? I like all the lies in this industry. If your panels were 100% efficient to begin with 1/3 of what you purchased with be sufficient. The industry may get there some day but even at best 50% efficient panel are not economical.

So what if they are 30% efficient. That just means you need more panels. Buy enough panels to reach your needs. Pretty simple. Lies? Maybe they lied to you but no-one ever said solar panels are 100% efficient.

So i will be generous here. Why would I want to spend 40% more for electricity than I am paying now? Many be for some a better solution would be to figure out why they are energy hogs to begin with. If you want to go off grid and can justify it go for what your doing. Next will be justifying storage for the periods the panels just will not do it. Without that storage when the utility power goes down you're MIA anyway. So in my some what little opinion if solar where such a great thing utilities all across the country would be jumping at the chance to get home owner to put panels on their homes at their expense. It's not happening here with out utility solar credits and likely not them. So to put this in simple terms. If it's not profitable for them why would it be for you in the long run? This I have asked my utility time and again with not even a response.

I don't have a battery. As I mentioned in an earlier post I use the local utility as my battery, which they call Net Metering. I send excess generated power to the grid and in return I can use that excess whenever needed. Solar isn't meant to be a back up power source when your utility goes down. Around here the hydro companies make their money from the distribution side, not the sale of electricity. I'm still connected to their distribution system so they make money from that. Utility companies aren't going to be 'jumping at the chance to get home owners to get solar" because its a hard sell to get people to invest the upfront capital needed.

So they say! But what will be replaceable in 25 years. What have you got now that's 25 years old and parts are not obsolete? Will panels even be compatible in 10 years? Just like Moen faucets with life time warranties when that faucet is no longer made the warranty goes bye-bye. Nope they don't find a new source for free either. So in this stage of development I would say in the long term your warranty is worthless.

Like anything we buy with a warranty. When I buy shingles for my roof and it offers a lifetime warranty I laugh but I still buy them. I buy shingles with the best warranty not because I might make a future claim but because I'm perceiving that the product is good. Sure it might end up a failure but that's what investing is all about...taking chances to make profit. I remember my ex-wife arguing with me about the first house I bought to use as a rental. She was so negative about the consequences of the tenant not paying rent, damages, costs, ect. Well in the end all my properties paid for themselves and are still generating profit . **** the negativity. Do your research and calculate in dollars if its a good investment.

 

[JDmac72chrgr]

Carbon tax coming for electric bills REAL SOON, MARK MY WORDS !!! Heat pump in Canada, OUCH!! $$$$$$$. Snow on panels = 0kw, just like watching rain this am on panels for office bldg next door, oh, no wind either so county owned wind generators sat with 0 kw output. My Gas Turbine generator sitting at max load, no problems, rain, snow, high winds & sunny days!!

 

[Charles Cook]

There's plenty of men that don't get it either......

Not MEN, MALES you shouldn’t call males men now a day’s.

 

[66 Sat]

On the subject of Solar panels....it's huge here in Australia and has been for many years.
My electric bill was about $3,200/year before getting solar 3.5 years ago.

I got a 6.6kw system with battery through a Govt. scheme - interest free loan over 10 years, $2,000 downpayment. Repayment is $80/month on the loan, and my electric bills are now about $1,200/year.

So over 10 years with no solar (assuming no price increases), I would have paid $36,000 in electricity.

I should now pay 10 years x 12 months x $80 = $9,600 back to the Govt,
plus 10 years x $1,200 in electricity = $12,000
plus the $2,000 downpayment
Total = $23,600

So I'm saving money and offsetting the carbon footprint of the Satellite, allowing me to go full throttle more of the time.

Win-win.