ExtremeTech.com (via) sez "Yes, I'd do it again."
The eternal question of price/performance always crops up. Clearly, I'm saving money, but I also sank around $38,000 into the system. At $3,000 per year in savings (which assumes a constant rate for power cost and the same power usage pattern), that's a 12.5 year payback.
But things change. Rates go up. My oldest daughter is heading off to college in September, so that's less laundry, less HDTV usage and one less PC running in the evenings and holidays. My work will be changing, and that will affect power usage, too. I'm betting that payback period will be substantially less than ten years.
There are reasons which have nothing to do with finances. That "green feeling"—the feeling that we're doing something to mitigate energy consumption and climate change on a small level—is pretty strong. Having solar power in the Bay Area either increases our home resale value or at least mitigates the decline—though that's hard to quantify until we actually sell the house.
One last intangible benefit is what home theater enthusiasts, who are mostly men, call the "spousal acceptance factor." When my wife sees the overall power bill, she's quite pleased. And that's almost reason enough by itself.
Leave a comment