Is Solar Energy for home viable?

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   jackclee lmposted 10 years ago

   Is Solar Energy for home viable?
   
   Does anyone have a real experience with solar power for your home? I would like to know if it is economically feasible in the North East area of the US. Thanks.

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2. 0

   Larry Wallposted 10 years ago

   I do not have solar energy and I live in Louisiana, where we get plenty of sun. In your area, solar energy might be feasible as long as the tax credits exist, the size of your home, is it one or two floors and how well will the panels handle the accumulation of snow.
   
   When it works, it is cheaper per kilowatt hour. The question is can you produce enough kilowatt hours to heat or cool your hour when there are no clouds or snow. If you cannot then you are going to have to buy electrical and purchase natural gas, coal or fuel oil dependingon your location.

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   1. 78

      jackclee lmposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the info. I was looking more for people who have a few years of usage. I wonder if the efficiency of solar panel goes down with age.

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      Larry Wallposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That will depend a lot on the climate of the area. Extreme cold will have an impact on how well the panels fit. Areas with excessive dust will get less efficiency.

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3. 81

   tamarawilhiteposted 10 years ago

   Solar cells are, in general, still much more expensive than coal and hydroelectric power.
   And the cost is still very high for the grid because we don't have efficient batteries.
   To support a massive solar power grid, we have to build as many kilowatts of natural gas plants to meet the power demand when the sun is down and during the winter when there isn't much sunlight. You might was well just have the natural gas power plant running full time instead of doubling the infrastructure for the hype of having solar power part of the time.

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   1. 78

      jackclee lmposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the input. I was hoping to learn from someone that have actually installed a home solar system and have experienced it for several years. It seems very hard to get that kind of real data. I also wonder if it impact the re-sell of the house

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