I hear the calls to Dave Ramsey’s podcast weekly, it’s a super bad deal.
I’d get solar if I lived somewhere else. Don’t want it on my roof, and the power buy back is terrible in ok.
For me it’s an investment in having more options if power goes out, not saving money.
For me it’s an investment in having more options if power goes out, not saving money.
I'd think that you'd want way more than 5 gallons of water in the coil to be practical. I also wonder what insurance companies would think of having all of that screwed through the shingles and decking.Well, I was just brainstorming, but 1" ID plastic pipe will hold a little more than a gallon per 10 feet. So a 50' loop should provide at least 5 gallons of preheated water heater input during most daylight hours in warm months. You'd still have to power the WH coils, but at least you won't be flooding the tank with cold water on the feed side every time some hot is drawn. Could shirt tail engineer a lightweight black plastic pipe loop mounted on a single 4x8 sheet of exterior plywood lag-screwed through the shingles into the roof decking. Weather/hail proof, no maintenance involved, no moving parts, no electricity, no valves except for a bypass. I'll admit it wouldn't be pretty, though.
Going back to solar panels .....
Even though the ROI isn't there (unless DIY), I could see some huge advantage of solar from a de-centralized power generation aspect.
If (***IF***) the local government/ local building codes implements 1) higher insulation requirements (lower home energy demand), and 2) Minimum of X wattage of solar installed with all NEW home construction, then the local power grid would have huge redundancy for power delivery.
Of course the power company would fight this all the way to the bank, hence why gov/ building codes would need to be involved.
This can only be done based on NEW construction of homes.
BUT..... A robust power grid with decentralized power generation (/redundancy) built into the system would benefit all users.
Even though the ROI isn't there (unless DIY), I could see some huge advantage of solar from a de-centralized power generation aspect.
If (***IF***) the local government/ local building codes implements 1) higher insulation requirements (lower home energy demand), and 2) Minimum of X wattage of solar installed with all NEW home construction, then the local power grid would have huge redundancy for power delivery.
Of course the power company would fight this all the way to the bank, hence why gov/ building codes would need to be involved.
This can only be done based on NEW construction of homes.
BUT..... A robust power grid with decentralized power generation (/redundancy) built into the system would benefit all users.
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