PV as an investment [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

Almost all of us have been asked "What's the payback?" and "Is it cost
effective?" Almost all of us have been told "I'd rather put my money in
the stock market and pay my electric bill with the profits." The average
American now knows that the stock market giveth and taketh away
unmercifully, but we still get the questions. I've been trying to put
together a short response (other then telling them to jump in a lake) to
get skeptics to shut their mouths, open their minds and think. What do
you all think of this statement?

You have to pay for the electricity that you use. You can pay a utility
company or you can buy a PV system and pay yourself. PV is an investment
with an annual return like the interest from a bank savings account. If
you pay your utility 12 cents per kWh for electricity, your PV system
will generate savings equal to 4.7% annual return. Since the savings
from a PV system is not taxed like interest from a bank account, the
savings is equal to 6.4% annual return on investment. Plus the cost of
the electricity that you produce never goes up so it is a real hedge on
inflation. Plus the PV system adds value to your home (and in California
PV does not increase your property tax).

(Thanks to Tom Lane for planting this concept in my head and to Travis
Creswell for giving it light and water. I assume responsibility for any
"fertilizer" contaminant.)

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