<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Dustin,<div>I installed a 3KW system on my parents home which is empty and for sale. It allows me to keep the air going and lights on at night with no cost basically. And the buyer will be able to amortize the cost over a new mortgage term. So it will be transparent to him/her/them, which is why I did it. But I must say looking at the inverter and seeing how much CO2 I have saved the planet is pushing me to do my own home. Texas Solar did the installation for me and I am happy. </div><div><br></div><div>The payback will be shortened over the next few years as the cost of electricity continues to rise inspite of the efforts of the Obama administration in the short term. However I suspect the rebates that Austin offers will be duplicated or increased by federal tax incentives so waiting until next summer might pay off. Also like computer chips the cost of panels is decreasing and the efficiency is increasing so waiting will always result in a better system except for the global warming component of lost Co2 savings which can never be recaptured.</div><div><br></div><div>If you can handle the cost I would do it, I am planning my own home implementation asap.</div><div><br></div><div>Chris Frandsen</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div>On Aug 6, 2008, at 10:17 PM, Dustin wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div bgcolor="#ffffff"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Does anyone have experience with solar panels for home use? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">A couple weekends ago the company solarcommunity.net was organizing neighborhood residents who may be interested in installing solar panels at home. The business pitch is to get as many residents together to go in on purchasing to reduce the costs associated with installing a solar system.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">I did my initial research and found that the cost of a 3k kw solar system of $20-23k with a cost to me of $9k (using Austin Energy and Federal rebates) would take about 20 years to pay back (with solar panels having a life of 25 years or so). Ideally I could better invest my money in purchasing clean energy from Austin energy clean energy directly, but I am still planning to attend a meeting they are holding to hear their pitch and wanted to see anyone else's experience or thoughts on installing solar panels.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; ">Thanks,<br>Dustin<o:p></o:p></span></p></div>_______________________________________________<br>AusEV mailing list<br><a href="mailto:AusEV@austinev.org">AusEV@austinev.org</a><br><a href="http://www.austinev.org/mailman/listinfo/ausev">http://www.austinev.org/mailman/listinfo/ausev</a><br></div></span></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>