Solar power and storage prices have dropped almost 90%::undefined
I was still quoted 40K CAD. 20 year ROI. Not feasible for me.
Solar power and storage prices have dropped almost 90%
Submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world [bot] to technology@lemmy.world
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/solar-power-and-storage-prices-have-dropped-almost-90
Comments
cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 1 year ago
LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 1 year ago
If you are willing to DIY you can cut that number dramatically. Out of curiosity what was the size of the array in that quote and did it include battery storage if so how much chances are that you can cut it by anywhere from 50% to 75% if you’re willing to Simply purchase directly and install yourself. The amount that installers charge is absolutely asinine usually 50% or more of that quote is just the installation which is in the same because it’s not difficult at all. People like to act scared like oh that’ll be difficult or hard or dangerous, it’s extremely simple you’re dealing with DC which is very straightforward everything is very clearly labeled on that equipment and it’s quite simple to do yourself
zoe@infosec.pub 1 year ago
yea diy is the way: check Will Prowse on Youtube. He is the go to for diy solar and battery storage
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Is that paying cash for the solar system or financing? Financing can devastate the ROI with interest rates today. I’m looking at as long as 12 year ROI with possibly as short as 7 year ROI if I consider the USA’s federal tax incentives. My slightly southern latitude (a border state with Canada) also likely contributes to slightly higher generation results using the same equipment.
How are the government incentives in Canada?
JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Bruh I got quoted 50k in St. Louis last year, would take decades for roi
Sparlock@lemmy.world 1 year ago
In Canada you can get a 40k loan from the federal govt that is 0% interest on a 10 year term for doing green upgrades to your home. My solar generates more in credits than than the cost of the loan over the year. The Greener Homes Program is a bit of a pain to jump through all the hoops but getting thousands off in grants and a 0% loan is worth it.
baked_tea@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Well it’s the company/ies not the product
Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Was that recently or last year? Prices were out of control last year. Here prices have dropped almost 30% just since May.
scarabic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Wow. 3000 square foot home here so we had a sizable system. It was $15k USD.
cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Ha, mines like 1200
Pxtl@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
How much of that is installation costs?
zoe@infosec.pub 1 year ago
how much solar generation capacity and battery storage are u seeking ? where i live, a 2kw solar installation without battery (grid-tied system ?) costs about 3k$. system pays itself in 4 years and rest of human existence is powered by free energy. want batteries ? a 1kwh costs about 300$. where i live 4kwh/day is more than enough, sometimes 10kwh/day in extreme heat/cold. but i guess american needs could differ: u guys feel like averaging 30kwh/day and its kinda extravagent. just to recharge those batteries, u would need extra solar capacity (maybe 7kwc ?), and that would run at 9k$, add 30kwh batteries ? another 9k$… idk what the 50k CAD are for
cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 1 year ago
15.75kW and an inverter, installation in there too. 41k - 5k gov rebate. Too rich for my blood.
Bo7a@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
We ran for almost 16 months on 4kwh of storage and 4 350w panels. We don’t use it for heat since we live in a forest and burn our own wood in a woodstove, but for everything else we needed it was grand. Total cost was about $4500CAD
Having said that - When the power company offered to extend the grid out here, we took them up on it. So now the 4kwh is more than enough to run the garage and a few outbuildings, while the main tinyhouse is tied to the grid.
Not saying any of this to bolster any argument. I just like talking about it :p
cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Zero battery. Who did you contact? I only contacted one company. This was also about a year and a half ago
Test_Tickles@lemmynsfw.com 1 year ago
I hate to be pedantic, but the things in the picture are windmills… you know giant whirly things that are powered by wind… kind of very different from things that lie around and absorb sunlight.
TheMauveAvenger@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You want pedantic? Those are wind turbines, champ. Windmills are used to mill grain, no matter how many people like yourself try to bastardize the term to apply to anything that rotates with air.
What’s next for you people, pinwheels are now windmills?
slumberlust@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Sorry, but not all wind mills are used for grain. Some ground stone and other material!
Test_Tickles@lemmynsfw.com 1 year ago
I told you I hate to be pedantic.
Patius@lemmy.world 1 year ago
What if the turbines are hooked up to an electric milling machine ?
clayj9@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Thank you! Seeing this more and more often and it drives me insane.
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Wait until you hear what creates wind!
Patius@lemmy.world 1 year ago
There’s a man in the clouds who blows really hard.
But the plants he eats grow in sunlight.
phx@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
But, but… what if we put solar panels on the windmills? ;-)
Actually I double checked and solar-assisted windmills are a thing though not likely what’s shown in the picture. Actually now I’m wondering if you could also use solar to concentrate a local heat differential and power a wind turbine (though liquid is probably more efficient)
billygoat@catata.fish 1 year ago
That is inefficient, we should put windmills on solar panels.
scarabic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s not pedantic, just wrong.
Wind power also involves batteries. This article is about solar and batteries.
Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Yes it’s a stupid picture, the solar panels are in the background, not nearly as noticeable as the wind turbines.
IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Tell me again about how we need to build more nuclear.
atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
We definitely need to build more nuclear.
Cornpop@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Agreed. 1000x. Solar alone can’t save us.
MisterD@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
And we need to do reactors with liquid fuels instead of solid fuel
nrezcm@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You must construct additional nuclear.
ikidd@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Solar and nuclear address completely different goals.
IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I know. Nuclear provides base load power, which can be argued is not needed any more.
Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 year ago
We need nuclear because it can cover 20% for 50 years, then we are out of suitable Uranium (allegedly).
That includes an expected undiscovered amount of twice of what has already been discovered.
Clearly nuclear can’t solve the climate change problem alone.
hark@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I heard the prices dropped a lot around 2012 too. Why are solar installations still rare?
Jimmycakes@lemmy.world 1 year ago
In america the installation costs as much as or more than the panels. Until the install costs come down no one is going to do it.
Octavio@lemmy.world 1 year ago
About a third of the houses in my neighborhood have gone solar. My household was one of the first to do it about five years ago and every time I go for a walk I notice a new one that popped up. Our solar system payment is about half what our electric bill used to be and we make more electricity than we use every month of the year, even with charging a plug-in hybrid car. Far from “no one is going to do it.” I frankly don’t understand why more people don’t do it.
Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Weird, here we got 11kW solar panels with inverter and 7½ kW battery for USD $12900,- and complete installation (starting monday next week) is USD $ 4300,-
So clearly the panels are way more expensive, even if we had bought a much smaller system, and that is in Denmark, where skilled workers are among the highest paid in Europe. AND on a ceramic tiled roof, which is the most demanding and expensive to have it installed on.
This is a completely new solar panel installation, which should begin next week. so prices are fresh as they are now here.
PS:
For the above prices the hardware needed for installation is included with the panels.But I think that’s standard.
brlemworld@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This is why I pay extra for my co-op to source it. Cheaper to build/maintain solar/wind farms
Pirky@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Prices for the batteries and panels themselevs5have dropped. Just not the cost to install them.
hark@lemmy.world 1 year ago
What a shame. Is there no competition among contractors or is it inherently expensive?
Professorozone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Where I live, power companies successfully lobbied to charge a minimum fee to people using a grid-tied system (as opposed to off-grid). So now a bill that might have been lowered to $9.00 will cost the minimum fee of $30.00 (actual example). You might say, that $30.00 is still a very low power bill but how long will it take before that starts going up? They are also lobbying to buy power from homeowners for less than they charge homeowners. This was a huge turn-off for me considering the high cost of installation. When I asked the solar installer about off-grid installations, he said they weren’t allowed to offer those. Not sure why but got the impression it was a government thing and not a company thing. Not sure.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s a company thing. Government can’t force you to pay for electricity if you don’t want it.
However off grid setups are more complicated and require a different design philosophy, so most solar companies don’t do them. You have to shop for companies that specialize in off-grid setups.
htrayl@lemmy.world 1 year ago
They are not rare. It is the fastest growing energy production mode and is growing faster every year.
Residential installations lag behind the commercial due to installation costs, but they are blowing up as well. I can walk around my neighborhood and see a couple dozen homes with it.
It’s also highly regional. The further south in the northern hemisphere the more common.
evranch@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Here in Canada prices have stayed stubbornly high. It’s the Canadian way.
I have panels that I bought for under $0.50/watt that they were clearing out at the local wholesaler years ago. Haven’t been able to find anything even near that price range since, and I’m an electrician with access to wholesale pricing.
I have found some decent prices recently but they’re all on full pallet lots. So you need to be a business dedicated to solar installs to get a fair price, and those businesses obviously don’t pass the savings on as that’s not the Canadian way.
Batteries are an even worse situation! If you live here and want storage, I hope you like lead-acid.
Zeoic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Have you looked into Lifepo4 batteries lately? Their capacity and deep cycle life are quite price competitive these days, even up here in Canada.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
For a medium to large house, one pallet of panels is a normal size for an install
tankplanker@lemmy.world 1 year ago
UK its partly roof size/shape limiting the amount of panels you can get in the optimum location, partly the weather, and partly install costs.
If its going to take me 8 years at least to pay back vs. not having it I am not going to bother. Some people got lucky with lifetime buy back rates for the panels to the grid so they made bank of theirs with 50p a kwh ( and electric was around 24p a kwh to buy from the grid) but those rates got cut to like 4p a kwh, when even a cheap EV tarrif is like 9p a kwh
There are some finance deals available from the likes of Eon but its hardly high end gear, which I think is needed to make the most of the UK roofs and UK sun. Time you start paying interest on it, it becomes an even worse deal.
I would save more money by just having a battery installed and charging it on my EV tarrif overnight.
0ddysseus@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Ah yes. This is why batteries in Aus cost the same as they did 10 years ago. Capitalism working as intended
zephyreks@programming.dev 1 year ago
Think of all the profits you’re delivering to shareholders!
htrayl@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Batteries definitely do not cost the same.
0ddysseus@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Well that’s a compelling case you make there.
Have a counterpoint:
Solar battery average price in 2018 was $10k for 10kw Its now $12k for 10kw.
So you’re actually right! The price has increased.
jetsetdorito@lemm.ee 1 year ago
POV reading this headline while paying $0.4-$0.5 /kWh
Polar@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Damn. Ontario Canada is 15.1 cents per kWh.
CptOblivius@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I looked into getting solar installed. Best I could get in my area was $45k for a 10kW system or $97k for a 20kW with 2 power walls for storage. F that, even with government subsided rates.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
That’s just absurd, why is it so expensive for you? You could install it yourself for the most part, it’s not super complicated, just physically difficult. And then pay an electrician $500 to connect the inverter to your main panel.
CptOblivius@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Lack of competition, but mostly greed.
tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk 1 year ago
Maybe raw battery cost has reduced but installed storage is 30% more expensive than it was a couple of years ago, and it was too expensive then…
zoe@infosec.pub 1 year ago
probably when using carbon cathodes instead of cobalt, the energy density drops from 300wh/kg to just 150wh/kg, si u would need extra mass to store the same amount of energy.i bet that those prices hikes are a result of diversion from rare earth metal mining…but just a guess
zephyreks@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Thanks, China.
hgtesla@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The reason include the increased efficiency of solar panels, government incentive measures, the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and advancements of battery technology, especially lithium-ion batteries. solar and energy storage are expected to continue becoming more affordable, contributing to efforts to address climate change.
tun@lemm.ee 1 year ago