How much would it cost to turn my home to solar powered?
Originally posted 2008-12-20 02:15:18.
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Cost to turn my home into a solar powered system?
How much would it cost to turn my home to solar powered?
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more than 500$
Today, $4.00 per watt plus $2000 for a good inverter. In 2011 costs will decrease to $2.00 to $3.00 per watt, and 2015 $1.00 to $2.00 per watt. Inverter costs may decrease a bit but not as dramatically. Smart money would sit it out for at least a few years while thin film PV production expands to several hundred then thousands of megawatts per year.
This varies with how electrified you are (your demand). If you just want solar hot water, you can do this by setting up passive solar heat collectors for little cost. You can build your house into the side of a hill with the only wall facing south (to take full advantage of the winter sun). This degree of insulation will keep you warm with a kitchen stove burning small amounts of wood.
As for powering appliances, here again there are greedy appliances like electric dryers compared to radios, which use very little electricity.
The cost of generating solar electricity will come down. Quite recently it was discovered how to print solar cells on plastic film, which makes it much cheaper and easier to install.