this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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The world has experienced its hottest day on record, according to meteorologists.

The average global temperature reached 17.01C (62.62F) on Monday, according to the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction.

The figure surpasses the previous record of 16.92C (62.46F) - set back in August 2016.

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[–] jpreston2005 84 points 1 year ago (20 children)

in other news my ultra conservative parents installed solar panels on their house, and for over a month now, they've been generating more electricity than they can use, feeding back into the system their surplus. when real world results are such, we can start using these incidents as examples of why it's not only the morally correct thing to do (combat climate change and save our species), but also the economically savvy thing to do.

who knows what will be the final straw that breaks their stubbornness.

[–] Kinglink 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

You mean they had a financial incentive to partake?

Your example just shows how economics incentives are designed to work, but that money does come from somewhere.

I'd love to get solar but it's not economically viable to encur 20k expenses that will need over twenty years to pay off when that money can be used elsewhere

If someone gave me a Tesla I'd love it but I really don't have the cash to get a car right now and even if I did the price of teslas and most electrics are so high it's just not an option.

People think he solution here is to remove cheaper options but that won't work it will just keep people holding on to beaters far longer.

If the economics make sense to change people will change but trying to shake people or force people to make economically disadvantage choices will never work long term

My wife got a used Prius for 13K or 17k a couple years ago, it'll be more expensive now I believe, but the thing is most people don't have 13k or 17k to spend on a car. If people can't scrape together 500 dollars from their savings in an emergency, they aren't going to be able to get a hybrid or electric car for a very long time, and all legislation that tries to push people in that direction benefits the rich, and penalizes the poor when they remove options the poor can afford.

[–] Motavader 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Just a heads up, most home solar installations are designed to pay for themselves in 7 to 9 years. But it does depend on net metering in your area, and whether you install a battery pack.

[–] n33rg 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Figured I'd ask here since this thread seems to be getting informative. The number of door to door sales people for solar that come by my area really make solar feel like a scam. How should one go about finding a proper deal on getting solar without having to work with sleazy sales practices?

Why I say it feels scammy: the area I'm in has a lot of older middle class (not upper middle class or anything) residents. From talking to some solar reps, this is their target. There are much wealthier neighborhoods a town or so over but the salespeople I've spoken to say the business would rather sell financed installations to collect incentives and that it's easy to convince people they'll save money in the long run. But in this community, we're generally fine financially as long as nothing big hits. When they gave me the numbers, it fell into the category of a big upfront payment due to down payments and high annual costs that would only slightly be offset by electricity savings. I don't recall the term, but it was not something we could budget for. The paperwork is all showing the future savings and the savings on electricity, until you look into the details. There are two houses that I've seem go for it nearby.

[–] TitanLaGrange 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A lot of those door-to-door guys are indeed scams. Or if not outright scams, just incompetent.

It's hard to find good installers that aren't completely booked for a year or more.

Depending on your needs and skill level, a decent-sized solar setup isn't hard to DIY. You don't necessarily need to start with a huge system, you can set up a smaller system to run an AC system or some load like that. Then if you want scale up as you learn more.

Also, solar doesn't have to be photovoltaic, solar thermal is great for hot water.

[–] n33rg 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Interesting, this sounds like enough to start a Google quest to learn more and maybe experiment. Thanks!

[–] TitanLaGrange 2 points 1 year ago

Check out DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse on YouTube for lots of great info! He also has a web shop with many of the products he thinks are good quality.

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