Putting our FFE in Earth Day festival - advice?

[jmueller065]

I'd love to have Solar on my roof at some point, but with the amount of overcast we get, it doesn't seem to practical.

Solar prices have come down so much recently its almost a no-brainer at this point--even in Michigan.

We've been considering it, but our roof is almost due for replacement so we're holding out until then.

 

[scottt]

I'd love to have Solar on my roof at some point, but with the amount of overcast we get, it doesn't seem to practical.

Solar prices have come down so much recently its almost a no-brainer at this point--even in Michigan.

We've been considering it, but our roof is almost due for replacement so we're holding out until then.

Even at the newer prices, I'd be long dead before I broke even on my investment.

 

[EVA]

I'd love to have Solar on my roof at some point, but with the amount of overcast we get, it doesn't seem to practical.

Solar prices have come down so much recently its almost a no-brainer at this point--even in Michigan.

We've been considering it, but our roof is almost due for replacement so we're holding out until then.

Even at the newer prices, I'd be long dead before I broke even on my investment.

The really tempting equation is those new Tesla solar roof shingles. Granted, some of what Elon said about them is partly marketing, but even if what he says is half true - the payback is way faster than standalone panels.

We live in the Chicago area. When I had the electrician out to install a major rework of our electrical to charge a Tesla and the FFE - he talked to me about solar. I was really close to buying it at the time. There is more than enough fully exposed roof to charge both cars, and the house. You don't have to live in California for solar to make sense. I passed on it, in hindsight, glad I did.

However, today SolarCity with the Powerwall - if Tesla said for $20,000 more we will install solar panels, all the electrical, and the backup battery, and you can throw that in with the car - I would have done it in a heartbeat.

The powerwall really changes the equation a lot. That also offsets an emergency generator - absolutely no need for one of those. You don't mess with selling electricity back at some unreasonable rate to the grid. And the power is all yours.

And then, yeah you can rationalize solar on payback, and maybe there needs to be some kind of payback. That's not the reason I would do it. It isn't the reason we have two electric cars.

 

[EVA]

And if shingles aren't your thing - there is something down the road, spray on solar.

https://electricalapparatus.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/spray-on-solar/

 

[Twinstangs]

Well, we had a great time. Parked with two CNG cars, a charger vendor with a big BYD-brand Chinese SUV electric (available right now only in California and Canada) and a Leaf. Lots of good questions. Most people recognized the Leaf but had no idea Ford made a plug-in electric. Near the ride and drive area there was a C-Max and FFE provided by "Pearl", another forum member, plus a Tesla on display. Ride and drive had a Prius and a Volt. We were invited to a middle school STEM event featuring student built model electric race cars next month and will probably go. Most common questions were range, price, and how much it costs to put the charging station at home. I loved telling people we just plugged in a regular wall outlet!

 

[Pearl]

Near the ride and drive area there was a C-Max and FFE provided by "Pearl", another forum member, plus a Tesla on display.

Really nice to meet and talk with the two of you today. The foot traffic over by the ride and drive was a bit less than on the main strip, but it was good to have the draw of the Tesla to get folks talking about EV, and introduce them to some more affordable alternatives.