I'm wondering if the cost of the panels and equipment have come down enough to make them viable in areas like Seattle or Vancuver for example.
The key is the average insolation value for the location. This is a number that represents the effective numbers of sunlight available per day. The insolation for Seattle varies from 2.9 and 3.57, depending on who is reporting the number. The insolation where I live, near San Francisco is 5. For me, solar is paying off.
Take okorder /.. You need to keep in mind that as long as you are renting your electric from the public utility you are doing just that and renting. You can resale the solar electric system if you move or if you just want to sale it and get some of your money back if not 20 % extra. Then all the years you used the system was all free electric. So it is already viable as you put it. Anything other then buying a system would not be. Here is a thought. The housing market slumped and if you paid 50K for your home it is now only worth if you can even sale it about 00K. Not worth the money but people are still buying homes even if they are not worth what they are being sold for. And then the cars and trucks people buy will never pay for them selfs but people still buy them and spend extra the more wasteful the car is. So why does solar have to pay for it's self or prove it's self? It has many times over but because you can't drive a solar panel drunk and party out in the bars with it is is not worth the money. I guess the is just being human and a double standard. What about the big up front cost of solar? I remember a 20% up front cost when I bought my home and my car and it is the same 20% or less for a solar loan. Plus the value of solar is going up not down like with homes and a car is not worth but half what you paid for it the minute you drive it off the car lot. I can only see good from solar un like other things we buy.
