Solar Power A House??

im moving into a really small house! its like a cottage! a lil over 5ooo square feet! is it cost efficent to install a solar power system in it?? its one bath one bedroom living room and a small kitchen laundry out back!

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4 Responses to “Solar Power A House??”

  • kate:

    5,000 sq ft is Triple the common house .
    ( except maybe California and the McMansions )
    Here , 3 bed 2 bath is 1500 foot .
    Are your numbers correct ?
    Regardless , A solar system will supplement the average place but
    WHERE is it ? Someplace that hits 110 deg in the summer ?
    The solar won’t be enough for AC . . .
    A place that sees snow in the winter ?
    Is there already gas for heat and hot water ?
    Lots of variables plus systems Start about $20,000 .
    Check with the professionals After you confirm your footage .
    >

  • rowlfe:

    Are you sure about that number? 5000 Sq Ft is about 2.5 times the size of my 3 bedroom split level! I’m guessing you mistyped and meant 500! Anyway, ANY house can benefit from solar power in one form or another. To go completely off the grid, however, is another matter entirely. The major problem with solar power is the huge initial investment in the materials to do the conversion. And then, you really do not gain much every month, even at the inflated prices of fuel these days, so it takes a long time to recoup the initial investment. I had an analysis done for my house, the 3 BR one I used for comparison, and found it would take me about 30-40 years to recover the initial investment in cost savings, so, I elected NOT to convert my house to solar. My problem is really one of sunshine. On average where I live, we have only 57 clear, sunny days a year! But then, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and cloudy weather and rain is the usual daily fare around here. If you live in sunny Arizona, where if you are lucky, it IS cloudy for 57 days out of the year, then you can recover the investment relatively quickly, which makes the investment cost effective. The only way to know for sure is to have an analysis done, usually a free service provided by your utility company.

  • paulofho:

    5000 sq ft isn’t small.If you meant 500 sq ft then you are talking small.No photo voltaic is not cost effective no mater how big.True you can get cheap cells(which won’t last long) but the return by buying a utility stock will be greater than the monthly cost saveings(assuming 5$ a watt solar cost) on photovoltaics(ute.s charge about 15 cents a 1000 watt hrs) However wind is possibley cheaper, or direct solar waterheater.But the cheapest is insulation since it lasts forever(lots and lots of insulation)

  • csgraham:

    u should try these guy as they apparently having a very good solar panel solution. i just helped build their website and apparently they have a unique product.
    http://www.kingspan-renewables.com
    colin@web design belfast ireland: http://www.thewebbureau.com

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