04-28-2009, 06:29 AM
When determining costs of off grid or net metering versus grid power solutions, it is also necessary to consider that (at this time) there are significant tax credits available for both solar water heating systems and photovoltaic electrical systems. If you are fortunate enough not to pay either Federal or State taxes, these obviously will not apply.
It is unlikely that the cost of propane and grid electricity will go down in price any time soon, and the peace of mind of being out of the loop of utility rate increases is worth a great deal to me.
Added to the independance is the fact that the systems are good for at least twenty years, so the annual cost compares very favorably to that of utility dependant systems.
The next thing which is needed to make the transition affordable is for Hawaii to adopt a program which is available at several mainland locations: briefly, the Municipality in cooperation with the utility company instals a system on your home, and the payments are amortized over a period of years and tied into your mortgage payment. When you sell the home, the payments transfer to the new owner, until the contract is paid off. It's a win win situation, since the power company does not need to build more generating facilities, the user's cost goes down and the out of pocket is either minimal or zero.
It is unlikely that the cost of propane and grid electricity will go down in price any time soon, and the peace of mind of being out of the loop of utility rate increases is worth a great deal to me.
Added to the independance is the fact that the systems are good for at least twenty years, so the annual cost compares very favorably to that of utility dependant systems.
The next thing which is needed to make the transition affordable is for Hawaii to adopt a program which is available at several mainland locations: briefly, the Municipality in cooperation with the utility company instals a system on your home, and the payments are amortized over a period of years and tied into your mortgage payment. When you sell the home, the payments transfer to the new owner, until the contract is paid off. It's a win win situation, since the power company does not need to build more generating facilities, the user's cost goes down and the out of pocket is either minimal or zero.