My energy bill is way too high.I was talking with my boss who agreed he pays to much in energy costs. He said solar can help reduce the monthly energy bill.He was saying that this one time investment will save me a lot and take care of my future power needs.Moreover, my energy company won’t bug me with increasing rates all of the time.

So I did some research on this solar panel thing.I hit upon a website www.freecleansolar.com which has a lot of info and price comparisons, financing and leasing, tax credits and rebates.I feel more knowledgeable now.Do you guys think that I should go for this solar? Let me know

If you can afford it and understand that the long term payback will require you to stay in the home for a good long time, I say go for it. If your utility offers a lease option, this can also help, but you won't save as much from month to month. The power company still wants to pay back their investment.

Going solar is a no brainer if you can afford it. A leasing option may not save you as much money but it will give you peace of mind.

Solar does pay itself back but its a close call. By the time you pay back a PV system (assuming original purchase), with all the initial rebates, you are still looking at about 15-25 years depending on where you live and what the rebates and tax incentives are. Most PV panels are rated to last 25-30 years at best. So the system should pay itself back, but if you are on the high end of payback and low end of longevity of product, then you have to replace as soon as it pays itself back.

Now if energy prices keep going up and up, then the payback becomes faster and the possible financial gain is magnified. I say go for it. The trends all point toward energy becoming more expensive in the future and do your research and get a product with a long life. Maintain and treat them right, the longer they last the better. There is a limit to the performance of the crystalline structure, so don't expect them to last longer than 30 years without needing replacement due to performance issues.

Solar systems are not really a cheap option if you think about initial investment,but these serves as a good alternative if we consider the rising electricity cost.But using small solar electronics items is a good solution as it'll cut lot of cost.

Of course if you just look at initial investment, solar isn't cheap, but if you look at the cost over time, solar is cheaper. You aren't paying for electricity (or at least the electricity produced by your panels) after they are installed. Whether or not the cost of power goes up or not, you are still saving money over the long haul. Too many people look at the initial investment and are scared off because they don't see the long term benefits. Too many people look at a home as a disposable commodity, living in a home for 5-7 years when most homes will easily last over 50 years. There is a long long commentary that I could do on that topic and perhaps I will, but that is beside the point of this thread.

Solar isn't the best renewable resource for ROI, but it still has the most potential across the board for residential applications. Geothermal technology doesn't have much room for improvement as its a much more basic energy source. It's basically just a heat transfer loop although there are a variety of forms. Wind is much more hit and miss than solar with many fewer regions that have enough wind on a constant basis to justify the investment. Solar on the other hand has a wide enough variety of technologies that you can harness the power of the sun in almost any region, whether it be through photovoltaics or solar thermal technologies.

Going solar doesn't have to mean a great investment. Most people don't consider daylighting and natural lighting to be solar, but I do. During the day, there is no need to use artificial lighting, especially if you take advantage of technologies such as solar light tubes, skylights, proper solar orientation of windows and so on. You can also use the sun passively for heating and cooling with thermal mass.

I guess what I am saying is that jumping right to the technological solution isn't the right path, especially if finances are a concern. You can seriously downsize any techno solution by first designing with passive strategies in mind.