OT: anyone put solar panels on their roof

[johnson86-1]

A couple of interesting charts. I worked with an electrical engineer 6-7 years ago who thought solar power was one of the greatest things ever, had researched it more than anyone I know. But he said it didn't make financial sense for homeowners in Mississippi. He said maybe if he was 25 years old and building a house he for sure would live in the next 40+ years, but no other scenario would make sense to him. In his opinion it would be smart to install them on schools or similar buildings - places where aesthetics aren't as important, and you know the building will be there / not sold for many years to come.


This one shows how "friendly" each state is to solar power. As you can see, MS and AL rank dead last.

State Solar Power Rankings


And I think this one basically shows how much sunlight the US gets. MS is not a good as the southwestern states, but not terrible either.

Solar Model

Surprised they didn't massage that solar power rankings graph to make it less obvious they were just talking about how heavily solar is subsidized or mandated by the state. 8 of the 10 factors are just about a state subsidizing or mandating it, one is how cheap the electricity is that it is competing against, and one is about interconnection, which may or may not be based on whether interconnection is subsidized or done at cost.

 

[SheltonChoked]

That's pretty ridiculous. You'd think somebody willing to burn the money to be off the grid would be willing to to spend the money to sue over that. You're already willing to burn through some cash on principle, why not some more?

The money to invest in a forever house to be off the grid, is different thinking than fighting the state government.

Also, those willing to invest in enough solar and batteries to be of the grid in Alabama, probably dont want the attention that a lawsuit like that would attract.