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What Does A Solar System Cost Today?
Views: 574
Oct 04 2012 02:10 PM | eds in Solar Power
In the USA, a rule of thumb is that the. . . average house consumes electricity at the rate of 1 kW per hour (kWh).
. . . There are about 730 hours in each month, and
. . . the average price of a kWh of electricity is $0.10.
So an average monthly bill would be around $73 for 730 kWh of electricity.
A 12% solar panel generating capacity is 10 watts/sq. ft.
. . . Then for every kW you generate, you need about 100 sq. ft.
if the sun shone 24 hours a day.
So the size of the panel array required can vary,
. . . depending on sunshine per day at your location(and season)
. . . from 400 sq. ft. to 800 sq. ft. (i.e., 4 kW to 8 kW).
At the time of this writing, the installed cost of solar panels
. . . was between $7-$9 per watt:
A 5 kW system would cost around $25,000-$35,000.
Many utility companies offer incentives, and
. . . some subsidize as much as 50% of system costs.
. . . Even at 1/2 the cost, though, a system that generates an average
. . . $75 of electricity per month could take a long time to pay for itself.
