03/03/2007
Ged Davies
PV systems are very expensive, even after rebates. Existing permit fees and electricity tariff structures are a significant deterrence. Something must change if government is serious about getting wide adoption of PV.<br />I have always striven for energy-efficiency and decided to install a PV system, even though it makes no economic sense (my annual interest payment on the system will be more than TWICE my total electricity bill for 2005). The costs of solar are very high. My utility (PG&E) does nothing to promote residential PV and the tariffs for TOU/net-metering are unsupportive (minimum monthly charge + no compensation for net value pushed into the network). I went with solar because of my passionate commitment to becoming CO2 neutral. I don`t think many others will be willing to pay this price.