So I have seen so many of my employer's customers (power company) writing in and calling in about solar power options for their homes. I was curious to see if this was a viable option for the everyday consumer. How long would it take to pay back the investment and is it just a blackhole for you home improvement capital.

I have run into some varying statistics. Some say that it takes less than ten years to pay back a solar power installation and others say 25-30. Well which is it? Considering that the average stay in a home for a family is approaching 5 years, a 25-30 year ROI is out of the question. A rough home market and dropping prices make the chance of selling a home for a premium because of a renewable resource installation is unlikely. If it's the less than 10 year, now we are getting somewhere.

Rebates are renewed by Congress. Great, now how do we utilize this in an economy that is tanking. People can't even purchase homes let alone install solar panels at a rate of $3-5 per Kilowatt hour.

I am just skeptical about the feasibility of accomplishing this transition in the period of time that many proponents and politicians believe we can.

I understand your concerns about the cost of solar. It is a fairly substantial investment for a homeowner and especially so in this market.

I would argue a few points here.

1. The ROI is closer to the 10-15 year range if you shop around and go with all the possible rebates at the national and state levels. This is coming down though. As the price and efficiency of PV cells comes down, so too does the ROI.

2. The price of gas/electricity is likely to rise again. I know we are seeing cheap prices now, but it is more likely that instability in the oil rich countries will drive prices back up again. Look at the price of petrol in Europe. Energy costs here are fairly cheap but that is not to say they will stay that way. The higher the price for energy, the faster the ROI is.

3. Change will happen as fast as we the consumers make it happen. Sure at first it will take the wealthy and the well-to-do to make the green market stand, but it will eventually trickle down and more and more people will think green as a default rather than a special circumstance.

I hope this opens your mind if even just a little.

For a better understanding of the rebates and funding available for sustainable products, you can go here ( http://www.dsireusa.org/ )..... Its usually pretty up to date from what I can tell.

Thanks bob and sunluvr. I think that might help, but I am still not sold on the idea of putting that much money into what I feel is a unproven new technology.

I understand the hesitation when it comes to the amount, but solar is anything bu unproven. Solar PV cells have been around for decades. The technology is still developing in part because it has never been mainstream for the applications we are now working with. Solar power has been used on small scales such as calculators, watches, powering roadside signage, small lights, etc, but now we are pushing the mainstream use of solar to power our lives.

The technology is proven, it just needs time to grow to a larger scale. You can find homes with solar panels installed as far back as the 70s but the new goal is to make this practice the rule instead of the exception.

sunluvr. I don't think you are completely accurate here. I have seen large solar "power plants" in Arizona and in Spain. If that isn't large mainstream applications, then I don't know what is. I get those applications. For the companies that can afford the land and equipment, I say go for it, but that still won't account for all the power need today and in the future as demand rises.

There is this idealistic prophecy that everyone will have solar panels on their roofs and the need for fossil fuel generated power will fade. I just don't see people being able to afford this transition. I don't see it getting cheap enough for the joe six packs of the world to say its a good idea.

Once gen 3 solar comes online and becomes more common, I think solar power generation for residential applications will be more than worth it. You would actually be crazy not to use it. We are some time out from that, but eventually I think most homes will be off the grid for most of the power they need.

From my understanding generation 3 solar panels or high efficiency thin film solar applications are still theoretical and unproven. Why put all our eggs in this basket? How many years will these have to be on the market before Joe Six Pack decides its ok to install them on his house? It just won't be the cost, it will be the high tech, high class nature of solar panels in the past that will turn off the everyday American who just doesn't understand this whole green movement.

It will be, trust me when I say that solar will eventually be ubiquitous in our homes and our consumer products. The early adopters will have made the investments that allow for the great breakthroughs in efficiency and flexibility. The sun gives us all the energy we need, we must just learn to harness it.

It all depends on your outlook and motivations. If you want to save money and get a quick ROI, then maybe isn't the best time to invest in a solar power system, but if your motivations are more altruistic, then there is more of an argument to install the system and lighten the load on the power grid and the resources required to sustain it.

Solar hot water is more than definitely worth the investment and the ROI is fairly short. Solar PV is catching up. Right now you have to want to do it and be willing to bear the cost without much in the way of financial return, but that may change and more and more people will hop on the bandwagon.

Solar hot water.... Not really the same idea though is it. I agree that SHW for one's domestic applications is a great idea, but it has limited applicability, the larger the scale and the further from the residential you go.

dt, I think you are being a bit of a pessimist and not just questioning the industry. With technology comes improvements and those must be paid for and that is why the expense of solar is so high today. If the right technologies succeed in third generation solar development, then solar technology will be cheap. It will be comparable to other materials that do not generate electricity. Sure there may be a 5-10% mark-up in comparison, but that would easily be recouped in a few years and then its all about saving money and energy.

So who must bear the cost of our advancements. Too often it is us the consumer who pays far too much for the R&D and the price never comes down. How long does it take to pay back the investments that companies make to bring a product to market? Is continued R&D simply an excuse to keep prices high?

Solar doesn't have to be about technology though. Most homeowners could reduce the size of their techno systems with proper design and passive strategies. Making our homes more efficient can help reduce that ROI and make the investment in the technology more than worth it.

It is all dependent on what your perspective is. If you are looking for a financial investment with a great rate of return, then solar probably isn't as sound of an investment than say redoing your kitchen, but if you are looking at an investment in the future of the species, of your descendants and for the planet, then, yes, solar is a sound investment. The more we do to reduce our rates of consumption and to plan for a sustainable future, the better off we will be. It will take more than a vocal minority to do this though. It will take a global effort and Americans should lead the way.

Even if you are looking at a return of investment, solar power is worth it. It reduces your energy (SunFusion Energy) consumption which reflects on your electricity bills.Think about the amount that you will save on power bills if you install a solar power heater.:)