I have a Chevy Volt that I bought just over a year ago and I could not be more pleased by it. Formerly I needed to drive my Duramax in winter and it was costly! The truck was expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and expensive to fuel. Don't get me wrong, I love the beast and it is a true luxury workhorse. The solar business is naturally a bit slower during the winter months, but still Im an avid skier and would rack up 150-200 miles a week running to Cannon or Demoulas. Now I do that in my fully loaded Volt and it saves me well over $200 a month in fuel cost and zeros my carbon footprint because it is fueled by more small roof solar array. Yes, as Maxum points out there is some carbon cost in manufacturing solar panels, but they are warrantied for twenty five years and will no doubt outl live me. Without the Solar array and the Volt I would have been refueling the GMC with diesel at least one a week, what is the carbon cost on that?
In response to Flying Scott's original post, the average payback on a simple roof mounted the net cost of a solar installation runs between 8-10 years right now, but there are two very important elements that are missed in the simple math (net system cost x utility rate x anticipated solar production). First the funds that formerly were being spent on the monthly expense of a utility bill are now diverted to the purchase of the asset of the solar system, and there is no doubt that the solar system has added significant value to the home you own. Second, from that point forward no fossil fuel will be consumed, nor will any pollutants be issued for the power you enjoy.
With the forecast I'll no doubt be making the drive from New Hampton to Cannon at least 4 times this week, and all told I might use up 5 gallons of gas in the Volt (it runs a generator when the battery runs out). Was the solar and Volt a bit expensive? yes, but I no longer think about my energy consumption nor do I worry about any future fuel crisis. Still I do generally have a small Co-op bill during some of the later winter months so hearing that they have dropped the rate, even if it is actually just a blip, is great news!
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