The only reason for installing a residential solar power system is the juicy government rebates. These are starting to dry up. From Desmog Blog:
"We Were Booming and Now We're Dead" — How Nevada's Solar Industry Bright Spot Turned Dark
Louise Helton, owner of One Sun Solar Electric in Las Vegas, says that since January her company is doing more work removing solar panels from rooftops than installing them.
But at least she’s still in business, unlike many solar entrepreneurs in Nevada. She’s had to diversify into LED lighting installation and other sources of income.
“During the recession, rooftop solar was the bright spot in the Nevada economy,” Helton tells DeSmog. “We were booming. And now we’re dead.”
It was a decision by the Public Utility Commission of Nevada (PUCN) in December that delivered a fatal blow to rooftop solar in the sunniest state in the U.S.
By removing a key incentive for rooftop solar customers — net metering — the PUC made it prohibitively expensive for existing and future solar customers to use solar panels to generate part or all or their electricity needs.
The article goes into some detail about the economic and business situation including the fact that Warren Buffet is the owner of Nevada Energy (2013 - spent $5.6B) - the only power utility in the state. There are a lot of variables and Nevada is an ideal place to do solar energy but it is not affordable until subsidized by the government and that means our Tax Dollars - each and every one of us is paying for this boondoggle...
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