Boy, people are passionate about their opinions. Here is what is correct. It IS economically feasible to place solar panels on a commercial application. Even with the lousy rebates in Maryland, it makes good economic sense AND--it is the RIGHT thing to do. I should know, I own the Wash 'N Vac Car Wash on Northwood Drive that was referenced in this piece.
I have a solar water heating system to aid in wash water heating that will pay back in less than three years, including the $2k rebate from the state.
The solar electric system is 6.3kW. This system will pay back in 10-12 years, maybe sooner if electric rates keep going up.....oops, I mean as electric rates continue to go up. The rebate from the state is $5k. I will also be able to sell renewable energy credits back to the power company. The details of that are still being worked out. Anyhow, the solar panels have a full 25 year warranty, the inverter has a ten year warranty. Where can this go wrong? I think the Sun is going to keep shining.
We also recycle part of our water; up to 50%. These are the right things to do as business people. It is a win, win.
I wanted to place more solar electric panels on this roof, but have decided to install some at my two Delaware locations. Delaware rebates 50% of the system costs up to $250k. The pay back will be much quicker there.
Brian Dayton
Wash 'N Vac, Inc.
P.O. Box 959
Seaford, DE 19973
Brian, THANK YOU! I have been trying to make this point for a good year or more and they always have excuses/lies. Wisdom and experience is what was needed to settle the minds of the Taxpayers and even though my Father In Law proved this years ago in the Library Downtown, having someone else come on board and share their experience is what was really needed. The Mayor and Fire Chief have once again failed the Taxpayers.
10 comments:
What's the payback without the government taking $7k ($2k on the water heater and $5k on the electric) of taxpayer money and giving it to this man? Where is this constitutionally authorized?
Here's the preamble to the Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." I'm thinking saving taxpayer money over the long run, pollution, reliance on foreign sources of energy, etc, all fit somewhere in here. Using solar energy should be viewed as a patriotic act, as well as being generally a good economic decision.
Final Frontier
how many kilowatt hours are you saving? What was your consumption before then after the installation?
I can install a small system that powers little, but doesn’t cost that much. My overall return isn’t much but the system will pay for itself because of the low cost of entry.
I agree, that finding green methods are important and should be looked at but all we are hearing here are anecdotal stories and gut feelings that seem to be popular on this blog. Finding out the true numbers of before and after would be more helpful than this shoot from the hip style of reporting.
I imagine that there is some benefit and I think that we would all like to hear the true numbers so we can get a better understanding of what is going on and if solar is a good choice for others.
Here is an article with a bit more information. There are alot out there that might be able to help us figure out whether going Solar is worth it. The thing that this article mentions is that large consumers will get a pay off quicker.
http://www.ongrid.net/PVPayback.html
One of the things that I would be concerned with, as a potential buyer, is the risk that the govt will stop giving back tax credits.
there are actually countries who are in tight with their power providers, and have set penalities if you go off the grid. As the US tightens its belt and power companies hit tougher times, who knows what your tax situation might be in 10 or 15 years. the tax break you are depending on now might be gone then.
I think that each person needs to determine if Solar is right for them and if they think that they will get a pay off benifit (or want to do it just to save the earth)
Anon 2:47-What in heaven's name are you talking about-"constitutionally authorized"? Are you daft? Since when do rebates of this sort need to be constitutionally authorized?
The gubment isn't going to give itself a rebate on the system, since it does not pay taxes to itself.
Everyone needs to be more energy efficent in their own way. If we don't, we are just hurting ourselves. I don't know about you, but anything I can do to lower my bills, I am all for it.
Anon 4:41
This "rebate" is an expenditure of "government" money. All actions of government are strictly limited by the government.
In this instance, the government has seized money from you and I, the taxpayers, under threat of imprisonment if we refuse to pay, and given it to an out of state private business owner.
Tell me again where they are expressly authorized to do it? And not under some B.S. general welfare clause. The State of Maryland just raised our taxes by $1.7 BILLION, and is still in deficit, yet we're talking about governmental welfare programs for solar panels?
Anon 10:46. You just don't get it. I won't debate this particular instance because neither of us probably know enough to do so, but the idea of a "rebate" or "grant" for such projects is that is does benefit you and I in the long run. They do so by reducing energy, meaning reducing the used of fuels to produce it, resulting in less pollution, less dependence on foreign oil. If you think about it long enough one can see many other benefits that are ripples from developing alternate energy sources that are cleaner and more user friendly. And we are the user.
Anon 10:46
Chill with the out of state BS. I live in Delaware, but have two locations in Salisbury. I PAID just under $30k in taxes to the county and city last year.
Using utility resources other than DP&L benefits everyone. Think about it....
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