By Mark J. Donovan
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Solar power has
great potential for the home, however in my opinion it is still not there for
the average homeowner. It is just still too expensive for the average homeowner
to install and the payback is extremely long.
I recently
investigated installing a solar power system to my home and was less than
impressed with the material and labor costs.
There are a couple of websites that actually provide online tools to aid in
calculating roof solar panels and associated hardware for your specific home
electricity needs/goals.
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Using these tools,
I determined it would take approximately 30-35 years to break even on the
investment; however the warranty on the solar power system was around 25 years.
In my opinion the
ROI is too long, and the warranty needs to be at least as long as the time it
takes to recover the costs.
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Also, solar power
systems are not for every home or region. It really depends on where you live
and what direction your home faces. If you live in an area that has many cloudy
days, or your home’s roof line faces east and west chances are the return on
investment will be very low.
This all said, Home
Depot has recently partnered with BP solar to provide consultation,
installation, and follow up inspection services for the installation of home
solar power systems. |
This is a positive sign for mainstreaming solar power to the home, and for
bringing the costs of these systems down through mass adoption; however I
believe it will still be some time before it becomes affordable for the average
homeowner.
As part of Home
Depot/BP Solar services they will first send a professional solar power systems
sales person to your home to calculate your home’s potential solar savings and
to determine the best solar power system for your home. Second, as part of the
installation process they, through a project manager, will contract a third
party operation to pull the necessary permits and perform the actual
installation of the system. Finally, after the system has been installed, the
Home Depot/BP Solar systems Project Manager will perform an installation
inspection to ensure the system was installed properly and meets your
expectations. They can also provide financing, which for most homeowners will be
necessary, as again these systems are not cheap
Solar power
technology for the home is improving and I think it is an excellent
complementary source of power to the home. However, prices still need to drop
before this market really explodes.
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