Thread: Going solar?
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      02-12-2020, 02:29 PM   #13
DETRoadster
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I see you are in NY. How does this system manage with snow? Is it heated to melt the snow off the panels, do you have to rake it off, or do you just have 5 months out of the year where it's covered and not generating power for you?

Overall, I feel like the math for solar doesn't pencil out yet unless you live someplace like AZ where you make power 365 days a year and run power hungry appliances like AC damn near all year long. Up in NY you are likely heating with gas or oil. Sure, you run the AC a couple months in the summer and maybe you have an electric water heater and dryer, but on the whole it's tough to see it penciling out. Hence the reason folks need to go door to door to try to sell the product.

I see solar as being in the same boat as electric cars. It's a great idea, but you gotta want it for reasons other than the simple payback calculation. Sure, we save $$ on not going to the gas station and maintenance on our Leaf is nearly non existent, but the drive for ownership was more than a simple "payback in X years" calculation.
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