I spent $30,000 for what?

Okay, $8,000 of it was our money that the government decided to give away to this naive twit. Interesting what changes he had to make to his lifestyle though to get even $30,000 worth of solar panels to be able to meet his energy needs. Sunday, July 05, 2009 ENERGY FANTASY INDULGED Self-confessed 65-year-old "energy geek" Warren Yates realises a dream with the installation of a $30,000 three-kilowatt rooftop solar power system -- $8,000 of that total rebated by the federal government. Figuring a 20 year life for both Yates and his solar system works out to over $90 a month he forked out in advance for electricity -- $125 a month if the rebate is included. Hardly a bargain. Not only is the system costly, it doesn't cover his power needs: At first, we weren't self-sufficient; it took us a while to get our energy consumption down," he said. Turning off the family computers overnight, running the dishwasher every couple of days and refusing to turn on the heating "unless we have visitors" were some of the tactics the family used to reduce consumption. Yates has cut back consumption to the point where he recently received a $10 credit for excess power his system generated. Cool, with $10 he can buy some cheap K-Mart slippers to keep his feet warm.   http://rwdb.blogspot.com/2009/07/energy-fantasy-indulged.html

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