I don’t know about you – but I’ve always been tempted by the solar and wind systems that cost in the neighborhood of $20,000 to $40,000. But at that price, you could buy a small starter home in some cities nowadays. Who can afford to pay that for Solar Power nowadays? Well – innovation and reduction in solar panel prices are combining to bring exciting changes to the industry – and there’s a new product in town!
So if you’re always been wanting to “go green”, help the environment and save money on your electricity bill at the same time, there hasn’t really been a solution go off-grid. And nor will there be anytime soon. That was the bad news. Good news? Well, the good news is that innovative companies are coming up with a plug-and-play solar power system that could be just the think homeowners, renters, and small-business owners have been looking for. This new system is getting a lot of press coverage, with articles on CNN and the New York Times.
Clariant Technologies in California hopes to have a product on the market as early as next year – they’re supposed to go into production this fall I believe – and they will have a DIY Solar System that will cost around $600. It just plugs into your socket and will work on slowing down your electricity meter – no at $600 you didn’t really expect it to power your whole house did you?
You see the average home energy consumption is around 920 watts – with the Clariant product (its called Sunfish), you will get about 30 watts per panel (you can accommodate up to 5 panels on that kit). That would give you a total of 150 watts.
The cool thing is that you can start with one panel, and continue adding another panel as you’re able to afford it. With 5 panels installed, the solar powered system would cover about 1/6 or 16% of the average home’s energy consumption.
The system should pay for itself in 4 years – now that’s not a bad investment. You’re looking at a 25% return on your money. One of the other cool things about a plug-and-play solar system is that if you’re renting you just unplug and take that solar system with you if and when you move to another location. Now that’s serious solar mobility.