. What is your opinion on using a photovoltaic system to offset/eliminate the cost of buying grid power?
I'm taking a poll on the attitudes of consumers towards alternative energy, namely solar energy. A photovoltaic system converts sunlight into electricity. At current, the efficiency rating of most commercially available panels is somewhere between 15-19% depending on the type you buy. An efficiency rating is a measurement of how much of the available sunlight a pv panel is able to convert into electricity. (NASA uses panels with a 40% efficiency rating)
My opinion is they are great. Who cares what the efficiency rating is etc. Those kind of numbers just confuse people. Here are the numbers that are important to me. My system cost $26K I got a $10K rebate from my utility and a $2K fed. tax credit. My system offsets at least $2K per year of my electricity costs. I will break even in my 6th year. Electricity rates increase an average of 5% annually, in my area it has been more like 7% for several years. I will save over $50K with less than a $16K investment over the life of the panels. In about 15 years we will be paying double the rate we are paying today for electricity. Without the system that would mean a $200 dollar increase in my summer rate, instead it will mean a $20 increase.
