The Real Costs of Going Green – Residential Solar Panel Edition
I have been researching for years the new post industrial revolution and the technical and economic benefits or lack there of. Through Tesla Automotive we see large wins, both financially and environmentally. We also see some really good things coming from new power plant tech, the NEXT project to throw out one example. But let’s cut to the chase, these things can be expensive and take years to see any ROI.
Queue an email received by anyone connected to Elon Musk:
“A full solar roof for the same cost as replacing an existing asphalt shingle roof for your home”
I read this with some skepticism. I had previously been accosted by a Solar City guy some months back in Home Depot where he was telling me all the great things about not having to pay the monopoly that has been established here in Texas. I asked the guy to go one, they sent me a quote that stated “70% energy offset for $34,500**”. I thought that made sense, those new panels Elon was showing and the rendering were pretty cool, and all made mostly here in the US. Awesome. **Power-Wall not included, after tax incentives.
Now first off let me digest this because I did a hell of a forecast and a 10 year ROI on what this email told me and I was severely displeased with my analysis. After this latest round of marketing by Tesla, I had to add another layer to it. We also found out recently that the solar roof Tesla/Solar CIty were demonstrating were concepts only, so we can only speculate about the real costs.
Here is the sauce my friends, and why I didn’t put a solar roof on to stick it to the man:
New roof, radiant barrier, and update some attic insulation in Texas, $20,000-25,000 some places could be higher or lower given the micro-market. Roof life: 20 years. Let’s also get this financed since money is relatively cheap. So, $25,000 for 10 years at 6% costs me $277.55 monthly. Let’s also factor in the fact that I replace the roof and also keep my $227 a month average electric bill. My average monthly costs for the next 20 years will be $505.
New solar roof (forecasting because we still don’t know what the tally will be) and Tesla also says that my home needs 3 Powerwall 2.0s, and we are at $57,590, after incentives. For those who know about these “tax incentives”, it applies to wages and has a progressive benefit. The more money you make, the bigger the tax credit. So let’s just take that off.
Now we are at $73,397 to go all solar all the time, baby!
Not so fast. If your home is still connected to the grid, you will still have to go find an electricity plan and even if you don’t use any power, you are still charged the PUC and all of the taxes and fees associated. But wait! You can sell power back into the grid! Not so fast. Likely you will end up being compensated a very small, around 3 cents a kilo, to sell it back, so if you generate somewhere in the vicinity of 400kW and sell that back, your net benefit against all of the charges and fees is only $12. So the PUC and all the fees come out to $96 a month, or if I have too much energy and sell 400 kilos back, I still owe $84 a month. The alternative is to completely disconnect from the grid and pay $0.00, but if you have a week full of rainy or cloudy days as we do in southeast Texas, you will want a public option.
Whew. That all said, Tesla roof alone, financed at 6% will cost me $814.86 a month. For a 10 year loan. Factor in the provider charges from our lovely power monopoly and I would be paying $901 a month.
If I do the quick math…looks like I am investing in something that the next owner of this shanty will be benefiting from, even if there is some resale value, which I assume there is, but not fifty thousand worth.
Not all trump of course, but trump was the major reason turnout was so high. And that is the key to 2020.
“Early estimates suggested turnout in Kentucky’s elections ― held in what’s called an off-off year, when neither congressional seats nor the presidency are at stake ― was extremely high, indicating an unusually engaged electorate heading into 2020′s presidential contest. Some 1.4 million people voted in Kentucky, according to NBC News, up about 400,000 from the last gubernatorial contest four years ago.
Democratic gains in the two states followed a similar pattern. The areas that swung hardest for Democrats were in the suburbs of major metropolises, where highly educated, generally upper-middle-class voters have been most dissatisfied with Trump’s performance. Beshear performed especially well in the suburbs to the south of Cincinnati, Ohio, for example. And although Trump had lost to Hillary Clinton in Jefferson County, which includes Louisville and its suburbs, by less than 14 percentage points in 2016, Beshear defeated Bevin there by over 35 points. Likewise, though Clinton’s margin in Fayette County, which includes Lexington and its suburbs, was less than 10 points, Beshear’s was over 32 points.”
The Real Costs of Going Green – Residential Solar Panel Edition
I have been researching for years the new post industrial revolution and the technical and economic benefits or lack there of. Through Tesla Automotive we see large wins, both financially and environmentally. We also see some really good things coming from new power plant tech, the NEXT project to throw out one example. But let’s cut to the chase, these things can be expensive and take years to see any ROI.
Queue an email received by anyone connected to Elon Musk:
“A full solar roof for the same cost as replacing an existing asphalt shingle roof for your home”
I read this with some skepticism. I had previously been accosted by a Solar City guy some months back in Home Depot where he was telling me all the great things about not having to pay the monopoly that has been established here in Texas. I asked the guy to go one, they sent me a quote that stated “70% energy offset for $34,500**”. I thought that made sense, those new panels Elon was showing and the rendering were pretty cool, and all made mostly here in the US. Awesome. **Power-Wall not included, after tax incentives.
Now first off let me digest this because I did a hell of a forecast and a 10 year ROI on what this email told me and I was severely displeased with my analysis. After this latest round of marketing by Tesla, I had to add another layer to it. We also found out recently that the solar roof Tesla/Solar CIty were demonstrating were concepts only, so we can only speculate about the real costs.
Here is the sauce my friends, and why I didn’t put a solar roof on to stick it to the man:
New roof, radiant barrier, and update some attic insulation in Texas, $20,000-25,000 some places could be higher or lower given the micro-market. Roof life: 20 years. Let’s also get this financed since money is relatively cheap. So, $25,000 for 10 years at 6% costs me $277.55 monthly. Let’s also factor in the fact that I replace the roof and also keep my $227 a month average electric bill. My average monthly costs for the next 20 years will be $505.
New solar roof (forecasting because we still don’t know what the tally will be) and Tesla also says that my home needs 3 Powerwall 2.0s, and we are at $57,590, after incentives. For those who know about these “tax incentives”, it applies to wages and has a progressive benefit. The more money you make, the bigger the tax credit. So let’s just take that off.
Now we are at $73,397 to go all solar all the time, baby!
Not so fast. If your home is still connected to the grid, you will still have to go find an electricity plan and even if you don’t use any power, you are still charged the PUC and all of the taxes and fees associated. But wait! You can sell power back into the grid! Not so fast. Likely you will end up being compensated a very small, around 3 cents a kilo, to sell it back, so if you generate somewhere in the vicinity of 400kW and sell that back, your net benefit against all of the charges and fees is only $12. So the PUC and all the fees come out to $96 a month, or if I have too much energy and sell 400 kilos back, I still owe $84 a month. The alternative is to completely disconnect from the grid and pay $0.00, but if you have a week full of rainy or cloudy days as we do in southeast Texas, you will want a public option.
Whew. That all said, Tesla roof alone, financed at 6% will cost me $814.86 a month. For a 10 year loan. Factor in the provider charges from our lovely power monopoly and I would be paying $901 a month.
If I do the quick math…looks like I am investing in something that the next owner of this shanty will be benefiting from, even if there is some resale value, which I assume there is, but not fifty thousand worth.
Not all trump of course, but trump was the major reason turnout was so high. And that is the key to 2020.
“Early estimates suggested turnout in Kentucky’s elections ― held in what’s called an off-off year, when neither congressional seats nor the presidency are at stake ― was extremely high, indicating an unusually engaged electorate heading into 2020′s presidential contest. Some 1.4 million people voted in Kentucky, according to NBC News, up about 400,000 from the last gubernatorial contest four years ago.
Democratic gains in the two states followed a similar pattern. The areas that swung hardest for Democrats were in the suburbs of major metropolises, where highly educated, generally upper-middle-class voters have been most dissatisfied with Trump’s performance. Beshear performed especially well in the suburbs to the south of Cincinnati, Ohio, for example. And although Trump had lost to Hillary Clinton in Jefferson County, which includes Louisville and its suburbs, by less than 14 percentage points in 2016, Beshear defeated Bevin there by over 35 points. Likewise, though Clinton’s margin in Fayette County, which includes Lexington and its suburbs, was less than 10 points, Beshear’s was over 32 points.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kentucky-virginia-democrats-win_n_5dc243f6e4b0f5dcf8fd1d1f