Lord, $1 a watt? That is cheap! $15K for all those panels? Are you saying the $20-30K cost is on top of the cost of the panels? If so, that puts it closer to $2.50 a watt, not counting installation.
Of course, I didn't get a break down on the $4 a watt cost, but of course that included installation and hooking it up to the grid, when I produce over what I require, my local electric co-op buys back the power. What they really do is just have 2 meters, one for my power and one for theirs, they subtract the two and charge me the difference.
yes the extra 20-30k is on top of that so I will have around 40-50k when its all said and done. which is kinda silly but my place is in the middle of a million acres of timber and as a result our power goes out all the time. I put all my extra cash into my own infrastructure which I think is a better retirement plan anyway. I dont want to show up with a freezer full of rotting deer meat just because a tree fell on a power line ;)
yes... yes I am :D
Ford? Good frame, lousy engines... Call me back when they get a decent engine. :) GM has much better engines than Ford does, but Ford has a stiffer frame and probably a stronger one. If you tow heavy loads (5th wheel) I can understand why you'd buy one, but a F350 probably has a diesel, and those are probably fine, Ford's gas engines suck and have sucked for a long time.
actually I have two (long story) and both have triton v-10's. They lug down low, they spin up high and never break down (YMMV of course). Diesel didnt pencil out for me and when you add the cost of higher fuel and maintenance I just didnt want to deal with it
Keep in mind that we live smack in the middle of suburbia, we don't drive to the country, so this works for us.
I did that in san diego then woke up one day and put a 5 year plan together and left (my kid is in college now). I spend 4 months at the river (yuma, az), 4 months in the mountains (antlers, ok) and 4 months in the rv camping in the sand dunes and have never been happier. Once you work from home its all gravy from there. I have my west coast income and rural expenses so I can buy silly stuff like solar panels and big workshops to play in. Doesnt work for most people though but for me its the perfect year :)
Oh, and back on topic, I already replaced my light bulbs with CFLs a few years ago, I'm waiting for LED lights to come down in price a bit, then I'll probably replace again in a few years.
I was an early adopter of cfl's and paid the price with tons of them blown out as well as other issues while they were still figuring their shit out but I would do it again. I didnt do it to save power exactly but just so I could leave more lights on for the same power bill (yeah yeah I know). I also got into LED's early with the same teething problems (mostly color issues and regulator boards popping) but in the rv (apprx 1000ah battery bank) I really have to count my electrons when it comes to managing power. I wont buy anything now that doesnt have a cree LED in it. they got that shit figured out... the color is perfect and the reliability is there to back it up
