I would personally go off-grid the second I got the opportunity!!!!
To reduce my carbon footprint would be a WONDERFUL outcome for myself personally as I am passionate about global warming...
HOWEVER, I am also a person and I have to live... So I'm not MADE of money!!! I can't just afford to go blazing $$$$$$$$ on becoming carbon-neutral (or as close to it as possible) cos, quite simply, I have to EAT and keep a roof over my head!!!!
So the problem is the cost..... And I'll go out on a limb here and say that this is THE biggest factor for pretty much every average person. I'd hazard a guess most people would WANT to do something about their carbon footprint, but the ECONOMICS of doing so are overly preventative.... So we carry on as normal...
"It's not that I like the Empire-I hate it. But there's nothing I can do about it right now..."
The manufacturers know they likely won't get a customer returning for 10 or so years, so they need to factor that in to their outlay prices. If they were too cheap, once everyone had one, there would be no more business!!! Is this the Law of Diminishing Returns I vaguely remember from high school.....?
HAVING SAID THAT, it is also prudent to factor in future energy prices....
As one solar installer said to me, the point in going solar is not to make money selling back to the grid.... It's to stop your meter from going forwards!!!!
The amount of energy one uses is likely to stay fairly constant.... But the COST of buying that is likely to keep going up (at least in WA where there is little competition in the retail electricity market...)
So if you can keep the meter from rolling, you are saving!!! That's what the solar system does!!! It generates electricity and, if that is enough to reduce or even stop forward progression of your meter, then no matter WHAT the price of electricity you are saving.
And if use remains fairly constant, future savings will escalate as the price of electricity increases..... So solar will actually get MORE cost effective as time passes...!!
I guess the same can be said for household batteries..... In that they will become MORE cost effective as time goes on PROVIDED they can be charged in the day by a solar installation. Using off-peak electricity to charge them is STILL using electricity... and the cost of that will continue to grow. Even though you would pay LESS to charge if you charged in off-peak times, you would STILL be paying for that electricity.... Right?
And if you run your home off battery power at night, you are saving the off-peak cost BUT are paying it because, if you charged up using off-peak electricity, you have paid for that anyways....
So the MAXIMUM savings in having a solar/battery installation would, in my mind, come only if you could go completely off grid... That would result in the SHORTEST return on investment timeframe.
Using grid electricity but at a reduced rate would still result in a return on investment.... But it would take longer....
It's quite a hard one to figure out...
For me, my return on investment on my new solar system will take a little under FIVE years BASED ON current usage and prices.... I'm happy with that!!!!
But if I add in a Powerwall installed at, say, $9000 (which is where current estimates SEEM to point), it's pretty much going to push that out ANOTHER five years at least.....
Then my question becomes.... at the end of 10 years, when I have paid that system off, will I need to get ANOTHER system because the first one has reached the end of its lifespan....?
So will I have saved anything at all....?
Sigh.... What to do!!!!
Sorry for sharing a big musing on here.....
J.
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