I'm marketing a feel-good-about-yourself appliance, you plug it in, stare at it all day, and reduce your carbon footprint.

Any whackos out there want one? It costs $400. It used to serve as my toaster, so if you want toast, that comes with.

Too funny . . $800 bucks to feel good about yourself would be much better spent on some good wine.

So, $3000-$4000 for the largest model, which will produce 150kwh/mo. (Where, the NY Times doesn't say.) Electricity runs between 5 and 15 cents a kwh in the US. Call it 10.

A savings of $180 per year. Ignoring carrying costs and depreciation and maintenance, that's roughly a 20-year payback time.

Anything beyond money at 5% never pays off. This might make sense in south-west states with sun and very high power bills ($0.15/kwh) and very cheap money. Otherwise... it's a eco-feel-good toy.

If the Petra solar devices work for PSE&G in NJ, these ought to work even better. But a big part of the incentive to install solar here in NJ is the opportunity to sell SRECs (renewable energy credit certificates). I hope the manufacturer or resellers can arrange for this option to be available.

and for 40grand you get enough to spin the meter backwards.

backwards thinking all the way.

If it plugs into an outdoor wall outlet, it must be portable enough to set on the ground. Outside. While the sun is shining. Which is when the 15% of Americans who have jobs (the only ones who can afford it) are not home.

I can't leave a piece of copper pipe in my backyard without it disappearing after a few hours. How is a device priced at $3K going to stay there?

Holmwood: you went down the same path I was headed.

I will add a couple of points:

The $4000 tag does not include installation. Installation would add at least a grand to the cost - probably much more for most homes.

- 150 kWh sounds high especially of the mounting angle isn't optimal.

- what are the powercos saying about such devices? Are you liable if the device starts pumping power onto the grid when it isn't wanted?

What's the depreciation rate of these devices - will they even last/perform optimally for 20 plus years?

And finally, does the 4000$ cost estimate include any green govt subsidies?

Nothing new here folks, have a 5 watt solar panel on my sailboat I plug into my 12 volt electrical system to top up my battery. (Cheaper too)

Actually, the company might make some money if the "I fell off my roof" lawsuit lawyers don't get them first. As for $799 price, that's less than a winter power bill here in Nova Scotia.

All this money spent on pie-in-the-sky solar and wind generation would be better spent on geo-thermal installations. Installed one two years ago and my electrical comsumption dropped despite the fact that I am now heating and cooling the whole house instead of just the rooms that were being used. Also cools the house in summer and heats the hot water tank while it is doing this. Probably could be used in fifty percent of the homes in Canada, think of the energy saving there not to mention the decreased carbon footprint.

The grants are the only way that the left can advance the alternate enery utopia that they can only dream about. Meanwhile we all go bankrupt in the process.

Texcan: the 800$ cost doesn't include the panels - just the adapter to plug into the house.

Antenor: geothermal is not cost effective for the vast majority of existing homes. New homes in many areas would also be difficult due to soil/bedrock conditions and topography (ie steeply sloped land)

America is so screwed . . . Oboza & the Dumbocrats are spending like crazy on greenie-weenie pipe dreams and at the same time, abandoning their territorial integrity to Mexico . .

http://tinyurl.com/2aml7ua

Backfeed would seem to be a serious problem with such a system.  The various electrical utilities take a really dim view of people backfeeding power onto the grid.  (It can be very dangerous for electrical utility workers, too...)

Read the lead in, then comment. Eliminate the subsidies and let the marketplace work. Jeez! Cheers;

It is the old "build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door..." at it's finest. If you can create, produce and deliver something the market can use without going out of their way or spending gobs of money then you have a winner. I can't afford to drill a geothermal well even if the landlord let me but I can throw a panel on the back deck and help power my 52" plasma TV or BBQ rotisserie. Besides, it's another gadget guys can take apart and play with.
Backfeed issues and others are probably being worked on right now. Kind of like surge protectors, once $$$, now they are a cheap normal part of buying any electronic device and even whole houses are being equipped with them at the power panel(if you believe Mike Holmes).

What's wrong with products like this if people want to buy them? People don't buy "Energy Star" appliances for the savings payback. The basic unit for $800 includes one PV panel, not just the grid tie inverter as the misinformed would like to believe. These products will drive the price of PV solar down and make it more affordable. Only idiots would see a problem with that.

Solar panels will start selling like hot cakes the day they pay for themselves in 5 years or less.

same thing with ceramic fuel cells for homes.

we are not there yet.

A chum has a, fair sized,(70 acres) Northern Ontario plot he seeks to retire on......he is considering a small bird blender when he has a constant flowing creek with 40' of fall over about 100'.

Solar panels will start selling like hot cakes the day they pay for themselves in 5 years or less.

In some cases they do, and that's with no govt. subsidies. Every specific installation has to be evaluated on it's own circumstances.

John Galt - I agree. There can be circumstances where either solar and/or wind make sense. I still can't make it work for me, but when the real cost of the Ontario government's "investment" in massive solar and wind projects gets passed to the consumer, private generation will become attractive.

speaking of markets, what response does SDA offer when I point out that the numerous market 'bubbles' and inevitable collapses including '29 where MILLIONS suffered through NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, happen when the 'market' is left to its own devices?

hmmm? all ye who deride FDR and Keynes and Galbraith? hmmm ???

@beagle

Many of us are aware that attempts by the government to manipulate the free market in the run-up to the election in '30 actually sent the stock markets into the wild gyrations that culminated in Black Thursday. Especially the tarrifs acts.

Now was there a question about Keynesian economics, the snake oil that caused the Great Depression, along with FDR's Great Society that perpetuated it much longer than was necessary?

Spend your way to prosperity, indeed.

Correction: >> election in '30
Meant to say '28. '30 was the tarrif act.

John Galt Raising my price does not make yours cheaper. If you are remote sure but if I have to pay an 80 cent subsidy for 6 cent power you are raising my cost. It is the same as socialism, I'll spend your money until we are equal. I prefer to stay ahead.

And at night you can bring it inside and let your reading lamp earn you some extra cash.

Even better, let your marijuana UV lamps do double duty.

John Galt Raising my price does not make yours cheaper. If you are remote sure but if I have to pay an 80 cent subsidy for 6 cent power you are raising my cost. It is the same as socialism, I'll spend your money until we are equal. I prefer to stay ahead.

Yeah, so? Why did you feel compelled to put my name at the head of your little rant. Nothing I stated disagrees with anything you posted. Jumping to unfounded conclusions? If you're going to take issue with what someone posts, at least have the courtesy to quote what you disagree with.

John Galt "These products will drive the price of PV solar down and make it more affordable. Only idiots would see a problem with that."
If you don't subsidize the crap out of them the cost will not go down. Demand drives prices down, not subsidies.
Your snark affects me not one whit.

I have been watching the developments in solar/wind power for the last few years and Sunfish is very interesting.

The cost of $800 is extremely low compared to what you would have to pay for something similar 1-2 years ago. The ease of set up (just plug it in) makes this a product with a lot of potential.

The feedback to the grid issue is not a problem. This issue has been known about for many years and all such systems have a breaker that will turn off the feedback to the grid if the grid stops sending power.

Anyone who does the slightest research into home solar will come across this problem and the easy solution.

Is Sunfish cost effective? I don't know. But it is a huge step in home solar and I predict it will be a good seller.