Everyone agrees using less foreign oil is for the best. Not only is it good for the environment and the US economy but shipping hundreds of billions of dollars to the middle east each year...some of it ends up in the wrong hands.But 51% of the fuel is used for power of houses or businesses. In this space there has been a lot of advancements with solar panels and wind turbines but no game changer like the Tesla. T. Boone Pickens, besides having the best Texan name ever, thinks he might have a plan which you can read about online.
So today I started to look to see how I could do my part. I already walk to work (ahem) so I was interested in lowering my power usage. Orlando is blessed with a ton of sunlight so it seems to be wasted for it to not be making me money.
However solar cells are crazy expensive. Like 40k expensive. There are government grants and tax subsidies that bring it down some but still for that price I might as well just drill my own oil.
Don't think I haven't thought of that.
But I am more interested in a game changer. So until people start making drive ways out of solar panels...here is what I am thinking:
A company looks for people in high sunshine areas with high power bills (Cali, Florida, etc). They will come and install solar panels on your roof for free and then sell you back the energy at half the price you are currently paying from the power company.
They would be able to buy in bulk to bring down the costs and encourage growth in the market. Plus after they recoup the costs (in about 10 years) they then will be making profit for the next 15 years (typical solar panels are rated for 25 years of use).
For a home owner you are able to start using green energy with no upfront costs and able to slash your power bills in half. In Florida the power company has to buy back any unused power so I might be able to lower costs even more.
Maybe there is a company out there that does this or one about to start. If that is the case then sign me up!
1. Jul 23rd 2008, 4:21PM Cory Collier
An unintended consequence of this, is that by supplying your own power, aggregate costs of power for other consumers goes up. This sort of thing (kindof) has been going on in Germany for a while now.
The law there mandates that power companys buying back the power from consumers have to pay a premium for it. It was intended to provide incentive for normal folks to get solar panels on their house.
Well, we all know that power companies (speaking in general) aren't just going to absorb the cost. They're going to spread it out to everyone else.
Since the poorest of folks wouldn't be able to afford the solar investment, and would have a hard time absorbing even more increased energy costs from their power company ('cause $4/gal is murder), you would put them in an even _worse_ economic position.
Congratulations Gavin. Your plan is to decimate the poor. Perhaps you should run for congress? If you do, tell everyone that this is going to help the middle class, that *always* gets votes, regardless of truth.
;)
2. Jul 23rd 2008, 4:22PM Gavin
haha, except in the states the power companies buy at wholesale (3 cents what they then sell for 12 cents). So in theory it could make things cheaper for everyone.
Those silly Germans, but good to know I have your vote for my presidential run in 2012!
3. Jul 23rd 2008, 5:15PM Alex Rudloff
Without running any numbers, there's probably also a solid "rent to own" type of play on the panels. The longer you have them, the more you "own" of them. Of course, doing so at a stupid high interest rate.