Making money with Solar panels

[The Toecutter]

Once again I need to get Darell on here. He has grid tied solar and a RAV4 EV He drives the RAV like 15k a year and has no electricity bill to speak of. His long trip car is a Prius

This Darell?



http://evnut.com/


Small world...

[onegammyleg]

I think the only people making money with solar panels are the ones selling them.

[GasSavers_Brock]

Thats the one, I shot him an email.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

The only people making money with cars are the ones selling them as well, and I bet the people selling hummers make more money then the guys selling hybrids.
The people I know who sell solar panals aren't rich, they aren't in the buissness to get rich, if they wanted to get rich they could more easly do it by other meens, but yes, some of them do make a living by selling solar.

[darelldd]

Howdy.

Originally Posted by Brock

Once again I need to get Darell on here.

OK, I'm here. Brock drags me into yet ANOTHER den of lions. Yup, same Darell, the EVnut.

I also sell solar systems (Don't own the biz, I'm just a sales guy). I started selling them this year, and I can tell you from my vast experience that this is NOT the way to make money. And it isn't why I do it. If I total up my hours, I'm making about $2.50/hour at my "job." Most other ways I promote clean energy and transportation pays me nothing, so this is like free money to me.

And the way my solar pay back works is like this: It was INSTANT. The moment I turned it on, I started saving money. Not five years. Not 20. Immediately. How, you ask? Well, because the $70/month that I'm paying on the loan I took out to pay for the system is less than my average electricity bill used to be. Then add in the fact that my system also accounts for 1000 miles/month worth of gasoline savings, and presto. I've got gravy! My house and my main vehicle are almost perfectly covered by my relatively small system. We use a gasoline car just a few thousand miles/year. The rest of our vehicle miles are in the EV - charged from the grid-connected solar array.

[SVOboy]

Wow dude, tell us more about the EV!

[darelldd]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Wow dude, tell us more about the EV!

Well, the link to my EV pages has already been posted above with a picture of my current EV. And the link is in my signature if I can just figure out how to make it show with my posts.

Start here: http://evnut.com
and then if you have more specific questions we can probably take it to a more relevant forum.

[SVOboy]

Oooh, I spaced on the first link, I'm sorry. I now see your signature, so cool. It's all fancy and what not.

[onegammyleg]

Originally Posted by darelldd

Howdy.
If I total up my hours, I'm making about $2.50/hour at my "job."

WOOHOOO - thats big money ---IF YOUR IN BURUNDI

[The Toecutter]

Welcome aboard Darell! I'm sure there is a lot of information you could share with us on EV politics that isn't on your site.

Have you seen the study by Cuenca and Gaines in like 2000, that found if NiMH EVs were mass produced, cost parity with like gas cars would be at under $1.30/gallon, factoring in periodic battery replacement?

How many miles are on your RAV4 EV's pack and is it still delivering full rated capacity?

What is your opinion on Chevron and the NiMH battery and do you have any good data for me to add to my collection on this issue?

Do you have any plans to give your RAV4 EV some aeromods? A full bellypan, rear wheel skirts, grill block, and other aerodynamic modifications, assuming the car doesn't have any of them, could significantly increase your range. How about LRR tires? Synthetic lube for your single speed gear ratio? 0/0/0 alignment?

Do Burundi chicks run around topless???

Why but of course they do! Why wouldn't they?