Whats the deal on wind and solar power?

[CliffMongoloid]

In the end of april i will be moving in with my GFs parents with my GF. We plan on starting to build a new house in a year or so on her parents land.

I am looking into land and solar power too offset the electric bill

I have looked into some windmills a bit and they seem confusing... does anyone have one? and if so what kind did you use and what type of return do you see?

as for solar is this better than windmills? does anyone use them? and what type of return do you see? these seem more expensive then wind

thank you in advance

 

[headbanger]

Windmills are only effective long-term in certain geographical areas, or at least that's what I've been told. Solar on the other hand has come a long way in the past few years and the collection panels are improving greatly efficiency-wise. I believe there are also government assistance programs that will give you guidance and tax incentives to invest in renewable power sources so you may want to start there.

 

[Devilsnight]

What I know about it (not alot) having both wind and solar are the key. You don't always have wind, you don't always have sun. They compliment each other if both used.
The problem I have, which is why i haven't bought into this, The return is going to be 20-30 years if your doing a full off-grid setup. Grid tied systems don't make a whole lot of sense to me, they are affordable but, if power goes down in the area you loose power too, as your not storing it onsite. Plus you have alot of maitenance which you might not be able to perform yourself. If your storing the power, you could spend 10-20K in batteries, these might only have a 10 to 15 year life.

There are calculators online that will help you out, i'm not trying to talk you out of it. I don't think the technology is really there yet to make it doable for the common man. Look at the cost and upkeep of an electric car. Prices are coming down but still, not worth while to me. Ten years thing will probly be different. Good Luck!

 

[dkwolf]

What I know about it (not alot) having both wind and solar are the key. You don't always have wind, you don't always have sun. They compliment each other if both used.
The problem I have, which is why i haven't bought into this, The return is going to be 20-30 years if your doing a full off-grid setup. Grid tied systems don't make a whole lot of sense to me, they are affordable but, if power goes down in the area you loose power too, as your not storing it onsite. Plus you have alot of maitenance which you might not be able to perform yourself. If your storing the power, you could spend 10-20K in batteries, these might only have a 10 to 15 year life.

There are calculators online that will help you out, i'm not trying to talk you out of it. I don't think the technology is really there yet to make it doable for the common man. Look at the cost and upkeep of an electric car. Prices are coming down but still, not worth while to me. Ten years thing will probly be different. Good Luck!

On a grid-tied system, it's becoming more common to allow you to sell excess power back onto the grid. You lose the "storage" option, but hopefully you can sell enough excess back to help cut down your return time.