Switching To Solar Power, One Year Later 541
ThinSkin writes "Slashdot readers may recall Loyd Case's series of articles illustrating his experiences after switching to solar power for his family home. Loyd shared his one month update, a six month update, and now finally concludes his series after one year of solar power. Despite the $38,000 initial cost for the setup, Loyd is very optimistic after a $3,000 savings in one year, meaning that in about 12 years he will break even — though he suspects ten years is a better estimate considering other factors. Other reasons such as feeling 'green,' increasing the property value of his house, and the 'spousal acceptance factor' all support Loyd's decision on why he'd do it all over again if he had to." The article is spread annoyingly over multiple pages, like everything at the site, and the print version omits the graphs.
A ten year ROI? (Score:3, Funny)
I don't think return on investment is measured in the units you think it is measured in.
Re:Bad Math (Score:5, Funny)
His return will be sooner than 12 years based on changes in his electricity usage (like his daughter leaving for college). This is bad math.
He installs big ugly solar panels on his roof, making his daughter decide to go away for college to get away from her dorky dad, which reduces electricity usage. I don't see what the problem is.
Re:No, he's NOT saving money (Score:4, Funny)
This guy, Bernie Madoff, has a sure-fire guaranteed investment strategy that makes WAY more than 5% annually. He hasn't been returning my calls lately though, I'm sure he's just busy...
Re:Return on investment (Score:5, Funny)
It's called "we want electricity but we're going to protest any time someone wants to build something that produces electricity in our state because we're so super environmentally friendly that we'd rather drag power from halfway across the country from an ancient, smog and carbon spewing coal plant losing tons of power to transfer loss rather than build clean energy production in our own back yard".
Californomics - not for the feint of heart, the light of wallet, or the comprehending of basic math.