Re: Re: Midterms
  By: Mike Powell to ROB MCCART on Tue Aug 16 2022 04:54 pm

 > > Oh, and to add insult to injury, that $10,000 a year estimate has worked
out
 > > closer to $5000 a year for the power without taking repairs into account.
 > 
 > Which means, with the panels only lasting 10 or so years, you won't recoup
the
 > investment, even without repair bills.
 > 
 > I feel similarly about electric lawnmowers.  I got one.  It was expensive.
 > The battery alone was half the cost.  The guarantee is only 5 years.  It
 > does not turn out to have the capacity to replace, only compliment, my gas
 > mower.
 > 
 > If gas prices stay up near US$4/gal, or if it lasts a lot longer than 5
 > years, I might recoup the cost.  It is brand new as of this Summer, so it
 > is not like it is an older one with older battery tech.  I thought about
 > buying another battery, which *might* help it replace the gas mower, but
 > that is cost prohibitive in the sense that it would guarantee that I would
 > never get my money back on it.
 > 
 > I *do* like it.  It is easier to push, cuts well, and I have noticed that I
 > breathe better while using it because I am not breathing any fumes.
 > 
 > Mike
 > 
 > 
 >  * SLMR 2.1a * Here is a loud announcement... Silence in the studio!!
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You need to try the horse lawn mower. It works unatended so you can sit with a
newspaper while it works in autopilot. When it is done, it kisses you in the
face.

Panels are not the weak link in a solar deployment, as far as I have seen. The
panels
themselves are cheap to replace and I have seen some with guarantees around 20
years.
The real problem is batteries, which are guaranteed for... 5 years? And you are
not
taking any advantage of a solar array without batteries because selling power to
the
grid by day and rebuying it by night is a scam so stupid you'd think it is a
joke. The
problem is that batteries alone are the single most expensive element.

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