[mythtv-users] [Slightly OT] solar power for all our gadgets

Mark Knecht markknecht at gmail.com
Tue Mar 10 13:53:01 UTC 2009


On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 6:39 AM, George Mari
<george_mythusers at mari1938.org> wrote:
> Jeff Walther wrote:
>>>
>>> Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 17:48:42 -0700
>
>>
>>
>> Anyway, this topic kind of chaps me because I frequently hear the media
>> non-critically hyping how wonderful it is to have solar panels, and the
>> fact is that anyone who can do simple math (and doesn't live somewhere
>> with really expensive electricity) can see that they make no economic
>> sense whatsoever.
>>
>
> I think you're not counting the indirect economic benefits with solar and
> other green power compared to fossil-fuel based power:
>
> - Less air pollution should result in reduced costs in health care and
> higher productivity with people missing fewer days of work due to smog
> alerts and respiratory problems.  Not just for the people who put solar
> panels on their roof, but at least some part of the population in general.
>
> - Reduced risk of runaway global warming.
>
> I'd say both of those are obviously hard things to quantify, but they're
> worth something.

That's fine, but one guy won't fix the overall problem and why pay
$40K for a system that eliminates a $1K/year bill? It makes no sense.

for someone like me in California with very high electricity bills it
*might* get paid off in 10 years, assuming no additional costs, no
system failures, no vandalism. For someone paying $500/year it makes
no sense to me at all.

- Mark


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