If you had the best childhood ever, you saw the winged superhero Birdman from Hanna-Barbera flying through the air fighting bad guys. Even cooler than flying was the fact that he was powered by the sun. Now-a-days flying is old hat, reserved for mutants from Marvel and sun powered energy panels have gone straight onto homes. But… are solar panels worth making your house super?
The average electrical bill for a U.S. home is $73 ($0.10 per kWh x 730 hours average). An average solar panel generates around 10 watts/SF. Each panel gives about a 12 percent conversion rate. New York gets about 4 sun hours per day. The cost of panels are still $7 to $9 per watt including installation, so a 5Kw system will costs between $25,000 and $35,000. Subsidies are still available to reduce the installation costs, but at these rates it could still take 20 years to recoup the costs in energy savings.
Cool to look at? Check! Environmentally friendly? Check! Football game during the blackout? Check! Doomsday prepper ready for the Zompocaylpse? Check! But, expecting solar panels to pay for themselves is a long term proposition. Also, they will only increase the value of your home when selling by a fraction of the cost. If you want the true value of your home with or without solar panels…AskHollingsworth.
Image Source: Cartoon Network