Maryland homeowners are increasingly getting their electricity from the sun, with thousands of people opting to go solar each year. “Solar energy is going gang-busters in Maryland,” said Ian Hines, communications and marketing manager of the Maryland Energy Administration.
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8 comments:
Is Perdue installing solar panels at its main office. I drove past there this weekend on 50 and it looked like solar might be under construction. If so, hurray for being forward thiking. Seems like the kind of thing that SbyNews might be interested in reporting on.
We live in Delaware and would love to put a windmill on our property but we can't because we're not on 5 acres. That's ridiculous.
You fools installing solar panels will NEVER see a return on your investment
anonymous 11:46, You're right JT. Just like we'll never see a return on the section 8 housing you live in off the backs of the taxpayers.
Wind turbines are the way to go from what I read. With solar you have to store the energy in batteries that you must maintain and replace as needed and they are expensive.
1202-You can also have your solar hooked into your local electrical grid. Whatever you don't use, the electric company will pay you for. Usually the same can be done with wind turbines as well.
Truth be told, with the enormous tax credits/breaks that solar is getting, it's no suprise people are jumping at the chance. With State/Fed credits, you can get 50-65% off total cost.
11:46, you obviously are not considering all the available resources when making such statements.
It's true, that if you only consider the revenue and offsets of the actual kilowatt-hours generated by solar arrays, you are looking at 15 to 20 years before you can realize any significant payback from such expenditures.
But, in places like Maryland, Delaware, and most areas served by the PJM grid, there is this thing called an S-REC that can significantly shorten the amount of time needed before a solar expense becomes an investment with a sizable return.
The S-RECs (Solar Renewable Energy Credits or Certificates) have become a commodity that can be traded on the open market to the highest bidder. Each solar array system can be certified to be capable of producing so many S-RECs the value of which far exceeds the actual kWH of energy produced.
Bottom line means that a solar energy array that would usually take over 15 years for a ROI can pay for itself in 5 years or less.
In today's economic climate any expense/outlay that fully recovers its initial cost, and continues to generate cash flow in 5 years is considered to be an excellent investment, indeed.
To idiots like 11:46, I can give you two facts. Fossil fuel prices, as they are an in demand finite resource, will continue to rise over time. Technology prices will fall over time (see plasma tvs, dvd players, computers, etc). One day in the short foreseeable future, solar power and other technology like hybrid and electric vehicles will be more than cost effective.
Rob S
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