Some people use solar to lower their electric bill.
If you can lower your electric bill for long enough, at some point, the savings will cover the money that you spend on buying solar.
- 100 watt solar panel might cost $100 (to keep the math easy).
- $0.15 is close to the average amount that people pay for 1kWh of power for their house. Some people pay less than 10 cents (solar will save less money) and some people pay more than 20 cents per kWh (solar will save more money).
- $100/$0.15 = 667kWh needed to offset just the price of the 100W solar panel if it cost $100.
- The sun doesn’t shine 24 hours a day and varies depending on the time of year and the weather. I see estimates that people tend to get 300 to 600 Wh (0.3 to 0.6 kwH) of power from 100W of solar panel. And an average of 450Wh (0.45kWh).
- 300Wh a day would mean a $100 100W solar panel would pay for itself in 667,000Wh/300 = 2,223.33 days. 2,223.33/365 = 6.09 years.
- 450Wh a day would mean a $100 100W solar panel would pay for itself in 667,000Wh/450 = 1,482.22 days. 1,482.22/365 = 4.06 years.
- 600Wh a day would mean a $100 100W solar panel would pay for itself in 667,000Wh/600 = 1,111.666 days. 1,111.666/365 = 3.04 years.