You hit a nail on the head. We hear very often older customers saying that they want to a) make sure their presumed future widow is taken care of, or b) want to leave a self-sustaining home to their kids. I think these are very valid and intriguing reasons to go solar.
Jason Szumlanski Fafco Solar From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Joel Davidson Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 1:22 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Value of PV system to a home Consider not moving or selling your PV powered home. Making your PV powered home your retirement home is a better investment than a savings CD and definitely a hedge against increased grid electricity prices for retired people on a fixed income. Plant some roots and lead your neighborhood by example. Joel Davidson ----- Original Message ----- From: Kirpal Khalsa <mailto:solarwo...@gmail.com> To: RE-wrenches <mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 9:33 PM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Value of PV system to a home What I have been putting forth to our customers and potential customers, is that a PV system when looked at like an appliance is simply equal to the value of the energy it produces over a given period....for straight grid tied systems I have used what I think is a conservative number of 20 years and then I multiply that by today's energy costs.......so if a system is installed in Oregon and electricity is $.09/kWh and the system is expected to produce 4500kWh per year then that system would add 4500kWh x $.09 x 20 years = $8100 in value to their property.....in Oregon...... Certainly you could add average utility price increases over time to the value of the energy produced, as well as reductions in system output overtime as equipment degrades.....additionally if a party is buying a house equipped with a PV system they may not want to calculate a full 20 years into that formula if the system was installed years earlier.......I prefer to use conservative numbers in my formula inputs, however the argument could be made stating that the 20 year time span is too short and if the lifetime is potentially double that the value of the system also doubles..... In my mind an off grid system can be more directly tied to the cost of the equipment as the grid is not an alternative to the power that is supplied..... Finally, we have never had a customer disagree with this basic approach, however it still falls flat on its face if the customer is not planning on moving or selling their property! -- Sunny Regards, Kirpal Khalsa NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer Renewable Energy Systems www.oregonsolarworks.com 541-218-0201 m 541-592-3958 o
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