Why aren't more new homes built with Solar Panels?
Question:
Answer:
Some countries are doing this now but in the US where home prices are at a premium most home buyers would rather have another bedroom or bathroom than solar panels.
The incentives aren't really the great. 30% rebate on a $40,000 system still comes to $28,000.
The electric companies don't actually "buy back" the excess power you make, they store it for you so you can use it at night or cloudy days. Anything you don't use is free power for your electric company to sell to someone else. You can't build your own solar elecrticity farm and make money.
would add 40-60k to the cost, and some parts of the country solal panels are not very effective.
It is mandatory in Spain to take advantage of the solar energy on every new building or ones to be renovated.
- solar architecture
- solar water heater
- photovoltaic
Because the industry is still young and it is not wide spread yet. The cost is still prohibitive and the break even point is not reached till about fifteen to twenty years in the future
Solar energy is very expensive. Or I should say, solar panels are expensive, because once you install them the power is free.
A typical residential solar power system that supplies around a kilowatt of power at best conditions (noon, sunny day) will cost about $10,000. This includes the solar panel, the inverter (converts DC into AC), the cabling, but not installation (that would probably run you another $2000).
One kilowatt is not that much electricity. It would run one microwave oven, or one hair dryer, or 10 light bulbs, and nothing else. Most houses use 3 times that at peak hours. So you would still likely get some power off the grid at peak time, and other times you can sell it back to make a little money.
The good news is that solar panels are getting cheaper. They are around $5 per watt now, and are projected to drop to half that in the next decade. At some point, it will reach the "sweet spot" that makes solar an attractive alternative to grid power and more people will jump on board. There are some tax incentives too, but more would certainly help.
You spend the $30,000 extra on a starter home.
You can have them installed if you want... and you can afford it.
I am with you on this one! I actually spoke to my state senator yesterday about this exact topic. I think solar panels should be mandatory on all new construction. We are wealthy nation and we need to start making a difference now!
Solar panels cost a lot of money and you can't really run an entire house on it. It's possible to just have solar energy to heat your water and such but to heat your entire house is rather difficult. Also, it's not very attractive. But really, we should put those factors aside because 30 years or so from now, that won't even matter and we need to save our environment now.
They aren't very cost effective or efficient.
Capitalist countries. Big energy companies would lose money.
Cost
Because our federal, state, & local governments have been slow to give homeowners and builders any incentives to use any alternative energy sources til now.
solar panels on a residential scale are not that effective. the energy it takes to make a solar panel outweighs the energy it produces in its lifetime. a more ideal way for the average joe to get clean energy is for power companies to develop a system on their own, that way they can tackle many houses with one system.
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