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OT:How does Solar Power Work?


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I know its not football related. 

But it caught my ear. 

Butler,GA (Taylor County) just opened up the largest Solar Panel grid in the Southeast. 

A 1000 acre Solar Powered panel Grid. 

My question is. How will it work? 

Butler,GA is in Middle GA and its a pretty Sunny area. So getting Sunlight isnt a concern. But the concern is how will it pay for itself? 

Will this be a good move overall or one that comes back to bite the Butler City Council in the ass? 

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45 minutes ago, TheMaximumHornetSting said:

I know its not football related. 

But it caught my ear. 

Butler,GA (Taylor County) just opened up the largest Solar Panel grid in the Southeast. 

A 1000 acre Solar Powered panel Grid. 

My question is. How will it work? 

Butler,GA is in Middle GA and its a pretty Sunny area. So getting Sunlight isnt a concern. But the concern is how will it pay for itself? 

Will this be a good move overall or one that comes back to bite the Butler City Council in the ass? 

Is the question how does solar energy work, or just this project in particular?

 

There's not a whole lot of infrastructure to maintain with solar panels, aside from the distribution system.  Should be low overhead to run/maintain the system, so as long as they have customers lined up it'll pay for itself.

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There are tax reasons that can make solar viable economically.  In the case of the Butler plant, the GA Public Service Commission told Ga Power they needed production from renewable sources and the solar plant is how Ga Power satisfied that requirement.

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11 minutes ago, Fred said:

There are tax reasons that can make solar viable economically.  In the case of the Butler plant, the GA Public Service Commission told Ga Power they needed production from renewable sources and the solar plant is how Ga Power satisfied that requirement.

Damn. Makes sense.... But odd place to set it.... I'd put it somewhere in South GA.

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16 hours ago, aZjimbo said:

Its a waste of money.

 

16 hours ago, GloryDays said:

I'd like to hear the economics behind this.

 

3 hours ago, noonereal said:

Jimbo told me a little when I was considering solar panels. 

I then dropped the idea based on my needs and expectations. 

 

 

 

I've been told the payback break-even on the initial investment is about 7-10 years. The average time people stay in homes is ~7 years. When you sell your property, there is a potential eye sore wonged onto your roof (or elsewhere).

For some it makes sense...for others, not so much.

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5 hours ago, TheMaximumHornetSting said:

I wanna know too... Because theres a man in Miultrie making a killing on it...

 

Things in Moultrie are different than everywhere else bro. 

Down here, people can invest 20k in a solar set up and take their 300/400 dollar per month summer electric bill to 0-50 bucks, make money from it in the spring and fall, and then get back to paying 0-50 bucks in the winter.  Maybe you save somewhere between 2500 and 3600 per year so the set up is paid for in 5 to 7 years. 

I agree with max, that if you are not in your "forever" home, it can be a questionable investment, although, people are becoming more "green" minded. I don't necessarily see the solar set up as a drawback to selling a home now, especially if you have documentation to show the value of having it. You also need space for the set up which can be a problem in some areas. 

 

One day when I get time to kill and think about it, I'm gonna stop and ask Dana at the shop where you saw all the tracking type panels set up, to see what his cost/savings is. I'm figuring he is making money on his, because it's just a shop that isn't using a ton of power that he has the setup at. Of course he had plenty of space to utilize and obviously the money to invest 50+ thousand on the panels. 

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Your solar panel payback period will also depend on where you live. The average U.S. household can break even on their solar energy system in just 7.5 years, but in many cities that number is even lower – Portland, Seattle, Washington DC, and Boston all have payback periods of four years or less

 

This was taken from http://news.energysage.com/how-much-does-the-average-solar-panel-installation-cost-in-the-u-s/

 

 

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First of all, I wouldn't benefit from solar power due to having low bills. However, I know a couple of people with solar power panels. They claim their electric bill is lower. However, they pay a monthly to pay off the panels.  Between both monthly bills they save a total of 50$ a month. The panels have a 30 yr warranty and they are paid off in 25 yrs. Not for me. 

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