(04-16-2019, 01:55 PM)Dartz Wrote: I'd say they'd add to the capital value of the house if you want to sell it.
They'll definitely knock back your aircon bills during the daytime. They're at their best when matched to the amount of electricity you burn during the day, or if you've electric heating/cooling/ how water. Here you get your best ROI if you don't put the biggest possible array on - because your power company doesn't pay for the electricity you export back, but merrily sells it to someone else.
But even in Ireland the investment has a good return.
I sell the yokes. I know what it takes to make them pay for themselves. I know who it can be done wrong, right, and where the snakeoil is.
I have thermal panels on the family home - even though thermal as a market died a death thanks to *reasons*. Since it's only partly occupied, they heat a storage tank of water during the day, and that tank's used either to keep the house from going cold, or make hot water. Right now - in march/april where there's longer days but it's still cool out - the system's actually doing the central heating for the house. (Everything is hydronic in Ireland - not air-based)
Just last winter it - and some other modifications - halved oil consumption from about €1000 worth - to €500 worth - with higher utilisation. The total cost of the work was about €4500. See that back in about 8-9 years. Faster, if the Saudis turn off the sauce again. And that's still running the same old rusty diesel-burner in the garden. .
From a purely fatcat-dollar-burning capitalist standpoint that makes a hell of a lot of money sense. And there were no grants to do it.
They don't pay you for the energy you put back into the grid? Most places here in the US pay the going rate - they check the meters even as the run backwards, and some people get checks. Not much, but they do get the credit for it.