A Sunflower install video from a local news channel in Colorado. Payback in 4 or 5 years or less?
[youtube R04EQj_Y4x0&hl]
I was doing some solar research and I found this solar install video.
Meteorologist Chris Tomer does a E-Team Series on the Fox network which some how made it’s way on YouTube. Looks like the video was done in Fort Collins Colorado (correction is was done in Denver). Kind of ironic that they did it on a snow day.
The homeowner gave a nice plug to Colorado SunFlower Solar so I am guessing she was really happy with their service and install. She had a lot of nice things to say about Sunflower, such as how they explained everything to her in layman terms including the trees that would block her panels.
I guess there must be many different ways to calculate payback on a solar system, the homeowner said 4 to 5 years which seems a bit short – but again it depends what you add to the calculation. With 18 panels on her roof, the system is probably in the 3 to 4 Kilowatt area, I am going to guess the payback is a bit longer than that. I was surprised to hear her say that the payback might be even less than 4 or 5 years.
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3 users responded in this post
Hey Dave,
I wanted to say that you are correct about payback. There are many different assumptions to make, but with most conservative ones, I would put payback on a system like hers at around 13 years–but that is just using simple payback with electrical savings. If you include the additional value to the home that is caused by its ability to create power, then, that figure rises with time ( as electric rates rise), and the intersection of that additional value with the additional cost of PV not yet recovered in electric savings would occur between 4 and 5 years for a typical system her size. If electric prices rise at rates like 15%–what we have been starting to hear–that payback would obviously occur sooner. And of course, the converse is also true. We do calculations for homeowners and show all the assumptions so the meaning is clear. Mainly, I wanted to say that I enjoy your site and think you are doing great work and doing it well–with accuracy and also with balance. Good luck in your quest.
Frank
I also wanted to point out that this installation is in Denver!
Kelly,
Thanks for stopping by clarifying the payback numbers.
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