I'm curious how people feel about residential solar. We're considering it at our house, but I don't think it would be economical without subsidies.
Can Electricity Providers Promise 100 Percent Green Energy? Probably Not.
By Jane L. Johnson
"Residential electricity sources are becoming yet another form of 'virtue signaling.'”
Can't offer any insight regarding solar, but we just replaced our a/c with a heat pump system. Without the rebate it would have not made sense, though we also now get a reduced electric rate. I'm still not sure whether we should have gone conventional.
not sure? you did well. Heat pumps are much better. Not only they can be used for heating and cooling, but they are much more energy efficient and also require less maintenance.
Glad to hear it. Thanks
Is it the type of heat pump system that installs underground? I've been really interested in doing that when we need to replace our AC.
No. I'm interested in that too. I think it's called geothermal. We have a well on our property but I believe we would need another one drilled also. The equipment we installed would be compatible. Apparently in our region the benefits would not be as dramatic as in a cold climate with volcanic activity, like Iceland.
Solar is currently the cheapest energy source in history.
It's not the cheapest electricity source though.
Why do you say so? 🤷
Because, oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear, geothermal, and hydro are all cheaper sources of electricity than solar.
I can't tell if you are serious or just trolling
See for yourself: https://www.iea.org/reports/projected-costs-of-generating-electricity-2020
Keep in mind that selection bias heavily favors solar, since it's only installed in the most suitable locations. That means expanding it is going to lead to worse cost profiles (more in line with the upper end of the box-and-whisker plots).
Also, petro fuel costs have to incorporate many arbitrary costs associated with government efforts to reduce its use.
However, I might have been wrong about geothermal.
Consider in the future, 1) you might be wrong and 2) someone might disagree with you in good faith, so you don't have to assume bad intentions on their part.
That report is from 2020
a quick web search about the topic gives results everywhere about how solar and wind are cheapest sources of energy.
Even if it is not the cheapest right now in 2023, the cost will keep going down, and fossil fuels will keep going up.
Also, there are other costs associated to fossil fuels, like destruction of the environment, so if there is no habitable planet to live, I would say the cost is pretty high.
Talk about saving the environment with solar panels and windmills... It is as if solar panel and windmill raw materials grew on trees and their manufacturing process powered by pixie dust and unicorn poop.
Also, being cheap has nothing to do with being reliable. I don't know about you, but I want my electricity when I want it, aka on demand. I'm willing to pay extra for that.
In case you have not noticed, I would like to point out that humanity had improved their quality of life through history by using more energy and by moving to denser forms of energy. To me, the next logical step from here is nuclear energy. Spending resources on solar and wind is just going backwards. Solar and wind can ever only be, in the best case, a supplementary form of energy generation due to their unreliable generation; and in the worst case, a waste of resources and a huge misallocation of capital due to government subsidies.
If it's so easy to back up your claim, why not provide a link?
It depends on what sort of usage you can get out of it.
The cost of installation might make up for itself over time. Eg. A friend of mine got a Tesla. He charges it off his solar panels. Doesn't pay fuel costs because electricity is cheaper than fuel.
I'd put solar on my house if I wasn't renting. But there are decent subsidiaries in my country.
I think it depends where you live & what you do.
In most of Australia we have a lot of clear sunny days & so it might make sense to get some (especially if the gov is offering discounts).
Still solar + battery doesn't solve the sovereign energy problem. TBH I don't know if we have solved this yet.