How much would it cost to run a household on solar energy?
The cost depends on a variety of factors, including the lifestyle the residents have, and where the household is located. An area with less sun needs larger solar panels. If the house has air conditioning, heating, and cooking all running off of electricity, the energy usage will be high, and it may take hundreds of thousands of dollars to supply everything from solar. It would be more efficient to run heating and cooking directly from the sun, rather than making electricity first, but the air conditioning would remain a huge energy eater. On the other hand, someone who lives a third-world lifestyle in a warm area may have no need for electricity or heat at all. But let’s say that all we need to supply are a modest home in the USA, and we are only supplying electricity. No air conditioning, and heat and cooking are from gas. This kind of house might use 15-20 kWh a day, and a system to supply that would be about $12,000 up front in California, considering the amount of sun, and local rebates.
6 responses to How much money does solar energy cost?
cool post. many thanks for sharing. i caught the article through the searchles partner portal. i am a big greeny (from ireland) and will make sure to check your blog intermittently. best, sarge
The cost depends on a variety of factors, including the lifestyle the residents have, and where the household is located. An area with less sun needs larger solar panels.
If the house has air conditioning, heating, and cooking all running off of electricity, the energy usage will be high, and it may take hundreds of thousands of dollars to supply everything from solar. It would be more efficient to run heating and cooking directly from the sun, rather than making electricity first, but the air conditioning would remain a huge energy eater.
On the other hand, someone who lives a third-world lifestyle in a warm area may have no need for electricity or heat at all.
But let’s say that all we need to supply are a modest home in the USA, and we are only supplying electricity. No air conditioning, and heat and cooking are from gas. This kind of house might use 15-20 kWh a day, and a system to supply that would be about $12,000 up front in California, considering the amount of sun, and local rebates.
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Probably more than what you're paying for a grid connection.
Solar PV is about the most expensive power source out there (aside from Plutonium RTGs which are pretty only used for outer system space probes).
There is one area where solar energy is economical and that is water heating, if you've got a roof that gets direct sunlight on it then putting a solar water heater on that roof probably will save you quite a bit over the long term.
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PV panels are $8/watt to install and they will only make 20% of their rated power daily. So, an average house uses about $60/ month of electricity. That 10 kw-hr per day, This means you need a 2000 watt system. So, thats $16000 cash to get a system With rebates, the cost can be cut to $10,000. So you save $720 per year by spending $10,000. With interest that means you will start saving money in 15 to 20 years from now.
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The cost of the previous answer is incorrect. There are so many gov’t programs and tax incentives that usually the cost is cut in half.
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You need to give out charts and graphs so the reader can better understand your idea
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