Are solar pannels worth it?

[dezza68]

There are some good points here but one I would mention is that this is a long term play. If you are not going to stay put for at least 5 years then dont bother. Because its long term you should actually ignore all of the calculations based on todays pricing. Power prices will go up until the magic bullet of ultra cheap electricity is found, if it ever is.
The negative of making this sort of investment is you dont have control of what the government does. Its not inconceivable that if they are short of money they could raise a levy on solar generation, it could be for use of the lines or safety for when they have to shut down the grid when there is a bushfire.
I reckon the biggest risk here is the one you definately can't control.

[jb2020]

Actually no environmental benefits from solar panels (or windmills) whatsoever. How are they made? what is their service life? how are they disposed of? do they require FULL coal backup? net co2 emissions for full life cycle is what?
not so difficult questions that no one seems to ask, just as long as you can say 'i am doing something for the environment' at the next bbq.

we are all paying higher elec prices to subsidise this pipe dream when we have coal in abundance. windmills actually chop up lots of birds & bats, poison entire towns in china mining the rare earth magnets for the turbines.....pretty environmental eh?

i have no problem in people getting solar to reduce their power bills but they should do it out of their OWN pocket, not out of everyone elses who can't afford it.....and to say it is environmentally beneficial is pure green fantasy, like all their backwards ideas. SA is prime example of the green dream and guess what, diesel generators are walking off the shelves!!

Although it is a great initiative from an environmental point of view

[Luluberlu]

Actually no environmental benefits from solar panels (or windmills) whatsoever. How are they made? what is their service life? how are they disposed of? do they require FULL coal backup? net co2 emissions for full life cycle is what?
not so difficult questions that no one seems to ask, just as long as you can say 'i am doing something for the environment' at the next bbq.

we are all paying higher elec prices to subsidise this pipe dream when we have coal in abundance. windmills actually chop up lots of birds & bats, poison entire towns in china mining the rare earth magnets for the turbines.....pretty environmental eh?

i have no problem in people getting solar to reduce their power bills but they should do it out of their OWN pocket, not out of everyone elses who can't afford it.....and to say it is environmentally beneficial is pure green fantasy, like all their backwards ideas. SA is prime example of the green dream and guess what, diesel generators are walking off the shelves!!

Although it is a great initiative from an environmental point of view

well Jb, what is about to happen is that the price of batteries will go down and more and more peoples ( like myself) will buy some and disconnect from the grid, by doing so that will rise the cost to be connected of these who can not afford or do not want them.

[GTSHoon]

Actually no environmental benefits from solar panels (or windmills) whatsoever. How are they made? what is their service life? how are they disposed of? do they require FULL coal backup? net co2 emissions for full life cycle is what?
not so difficult questions that no one seems to ask, just as long as you can say 'i am doing something for the environment' at the next bbq.

we are all paying higher elec prices to subsidise this pipe dream when we have coal in abundance. windmills actually chop up lots of birds & bats, poison entire towns in china mining the rare earth magnets for the turbines.....pretty environmental eh?

i have no problem in people getting solar to reduce their power bills but they should do it out of their OWN pocket, not out of everyone elses who can't afford it.....and to say it is environmentally beneficial is pure green fantasy, like all their backwards ideas. SA is prime example of the green dream and guess what, diesel generators are walking off the shelves!!

Although it is a great initiative from an environmental point of view

Thanks for that mate, always good to end the evening with a good laugh :icon_lolz: :icon_lolz: :icon_lolz:

[smile0784]

So not worth it?

[FishnMiss]

Having read & seen documentaries on ABC & SBS on how much pollution is generated from manufacturing solar panels please don't "claim/yodel " how much you or I are saving the planet because it's just all "smoke & mirrors" (illusion).

Some good points here worth pondering but with future energy prices going up etc it's worth considering.
Does anyone remember the Howard government (I think) getting exposed with their plan to impose a Tarif on homes with water tanks?
Or how about the farmers in Adelaide who ARE being charged/taxed for having dams on their land

[ducky]

One thing that has always irked me about the pollution/carbon emmisions to produce solar panels argument.

1. Is there actual data to back up this claim? Or is it just fearmongering. I'd nearly be certain that chewing up coal powered electricity would be worse than the solar alternative even if it doesn't start its life as environmentally friendly.

2. Even "if" it takes more power to manufacture a panel than it will ever produce in its life (unlikely but touted as fact) what if that entire production process was powered by solar electricity? The tipping point where it becomes environmentally friendly vs coal powered electricity would be reached fairly quickly one would imagine.

[purple5ive]

I think we are all forgetting the part where the panels are utilising the otherwise wasted sunlight to produce energy. I belive thats what the green part of this project is.

[4liters]

One thing that has always irked me about the pollution/carbon emmisions to produce solar panels argument.

1. Is there actual data to back up this claim? Or is it just fearmongering. I'd nearly be certain that chewing up coal powered electricity would be worse than the solar alternative even if it doesn't start its life as environmentally friendly.

2. Even "if" it takes more power to manufacture a panel than it will ever produce in its life (unlikely but touted as fact) what if that entire production process was powered by solar electricity? The tipping point where it becomes environmentally friendly vs coal powered electricity would be reached fairly quickly one would imagine.

1. There is quite a bit of waste produced. In developed countries with proper regulations it can be handled and disposed of quite safely. In places like China where people tend to just do whatever it can be a bit more of a problem (http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/sol ... -you-think). On the other hand by way of example, the air pollution from burning coal was responsible for around 360,000 deaths in China (Source: https://www.healtheffects.org/publicati ... rces-china)

2. It takes about 2 years to pay back the energy spent making the current generation of solar panels, but given they've only been manufactured on a commercial scale for a decade or so I'd be surprised if this doesn't fall further as developments like perovskite (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskite_solar_cell) reach maturity.


To summarize, it's a bit of a myth (or fake news, which seems to be the fashionable term for it these days) spread by opponents of solar power o discredit the industry. There are environmental impacts, but nowhere near the extent of those created by coal and certainly nothing that cannot be managed by a well regulated industry.

[ango]

The current situation with solar panels is that it is not worthwhile to install them. Battery systems are too expensive, electricity sell back prices are too low, and energy suppliers now levy service charges regardless of how much power is consumed. We had them in the past and they were worthwhile at the time. We have since moved, and currently they just do not pay their way.