diy solar

diy solar

Solar for poor people?

Mattb4 said:
I see in the news this morning this interesting tidbit

Well dandy. Not sure exactly how this can be achieved since your average low income household likely lacks a electrically knowledgeable individual to install or operate PV. Than there is the fact that many lower income folks do not own their dwelling and it might be an apartment or some other mass housing where no space for solar exists. Rural low income folks may be an exception but typically such government handouts are geared to the urban populations.

Strange since as a low income person I can't get a tax refund on solar. This latest giveaway also brings into question of is it only for grid tie setups? That would be a problem for the utility companies to deal with. Many already are trying their best to avoid more interconnect agreements.

At any rate maybe it will be like the government free cheese giveaway back in the 80'S Anyone that wanted to could go pick up some government free cheese. Free solar panels would be nice.
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A lot of solar installers will get a nice check and a lot of low income will be on the hook for grid-tie systems they can't afford to maintain. I'm seeing a lot of that with my neighbors. They get storm damage to the roof and even if the panels aren't damaged, they have to pay someone $$,$$$ to uninstall and reinstall the panels - and insurance doesn't cover that cost. I personally know of two cases of that in the last 12 months.

NOTE: I'm not opposed to grid tie systems if that is what a person wants, but I think FULL DISCLOSURE of the ongoing cost of these systems should be addressed, and that the companies that install these systems should, as part of the warranty, cover the cost of removal/re-installation of the panels for these scenarios.
 
Mattb4 said:
I see in the news this morning this interesting tidbit

Well dandy. Not sure exactly how this can be achieved since your average low income household likely lacks a electrically knowledgeable individual to install or operate PV.
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Your average low income household (well, your average person, period) hires an electrician to do electrical installs.
 
Actually it's not such a bad idea.
Instead of sending money to oil, gas, nuclear or other (dirty) generating parties, using it as a distributed generation surface, emission free, redundant as heck and lowering the bills of folks that don't have much to spend anyway, adding extra funds to the local economy..

Heared worse ideas like tax breaks for the ultra rich , because "wealth will trickle down", except it doesnt
 
Mattb4 said:
It can! My Electrical filter (E-Pure) removes dirty power contaminates and only allows pure green electricity to flow to your devices. A marvel of compact design and simple installation means anyone can attach it to the front of the electric panel in their home. It comes with double sided tape for peel and install simplicity.

On sale now for $19.95 (tax and handling not included).
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Works by osmosis, no eletrician required. just stick it to the power panel or near any outlet.
 
It's not redundant unless you install batteries and transfer switch.
How many of the homes will get burned down?

Actually, I do support it in one respect - instead of stealing PV equipment from other people's properties, they can just steal it from their own.

Yes, these projects are primarily a way to give government money to various companies.
No, it won't lower poor people's bills, at least not in California, unless batteries are included. Net metering is dead.
 
Mattb4 said:
Yeah, it is pretty bad. They won't stop sending money to the other areas so it is not a either/or comparison. However if they would just send some of it my way I am open to changing my mind.
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Lol the great egocentric american mindset..
I'd settle on stop every bit of supsedizee oil, gas and nuclear and using that for decentralized energy generation..

Might want to consider slashing the us military/spy spending in half.
At that rate, the us will still be spending 3 times what the next super power is spending
 
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Tulex said:
I bought solar last year, now I be poor.
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I was middle class when I started my own solar power system a couple years. Now I'm no class..

After adding up all my receipts I spent on my system for the fed tax break, I came up with about a $2K credit. Alas, I only got to claim about $800 because of our low tax liability. So I get to carry over the extra $1200 to next year.

Got a decent overall refund on our return but not as much as it could've been. I can imagine the shock of retired folks who go all in with a solar system hoping to get a big credit only to find out they probably won't get any benefit from it.
 
DIYrich said:
How about a 100% non-refundable tax credit for poor people who don't pay any taxes?
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Tax credits are no good if you pay no taxes. So if you wanted to help anyone to buy solar with a subsidy you would need a rebate type of setup. Could be like the Unearned income setup they have now for those folks that have children/dependents but do not earn much income. They get paid even though they have no tax burden.

Let's see, I have 3 PV arrays so that should get me 3 claims.
 
they knew that a tax credit was only good if you pay taxes when they wrote it. not very likely for someone spend on solar without also owing taxes.

for the poor the only way to subsidize with solar and basically provide free energy to them. Only if they file for it. Make the poco submit their cost after the end user files for it. then of course have to make audit manditory and great big HUGE fines if the poco files false or doesnt verify claims. Fines that come out of the board or cfo's pocket, not a rate increase.
 
I doubt the program requires rooftop solar on single family homes to qualify. Community solar in low income area could work. Kind of like low income housing programs. However, incentives alone is not enough. They also need to force simplified requirements for small solar system interconnection like Germany did.
 
There is a private foundation in New Orleans that works to put solar panels/batteries on community buildings like grocery stores and churches to power them after storms, and to give people a place to meet, charge devices and stay in touch. I imagine groups like this could apply for this program to help expand their reach.
 
Remind me again, Why did I pay my taxes last week? Between these giveaways and the cool quarter trillion sent for every border but mine, I no longer see the premise
 
This is payola to the green donors. Just like Obama gave Solyndra over half a billion dollars.
It doesn't matter if it works or not, only that the "right" people get the money.
Of course, don't forget 10% for The Big Guy.
 
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