All the tax credit does is rip off the government. Wind turbines are old technology: a generator, a windmill, and a power regulator. There shouldn't be a subsidy on anything, everything should stand on its own merit
--- On Wed, 7/7/10, Vincent Teachout <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Vincent Teachout <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [OT] need help figuring this out > To: "ProFox Email List" <[email protected]> > Date: Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 9:15 AM > Michael Madigan wrote: > > I'm looking at this wind turbine which costs $8500 + > installation. It says it generates 2000 KWH a > year. My cost per KWH hr is $0.14. So > the unit generates $280.00 a year. > > > > At that rate, the unit will pay for itself in 30 > years. > > > > Am I missing something? Am I reading > something incorrectly? Why would someone buy this > generator if they were already on the grid? > > They must have gotten better. When I did the math 3 > years ago, the > payback time was nearly 100 years. (PS - are you > factoring in the 30% > tax credit? That might help) Using your cost above, > and including the > tax break, at my current 12 cents/KWH, I come up with 32.2 > years. > > As to why: > 1) You have lots of money and want to help save the > environment. > 2) You want to go off grid, and you live in a low-sunlight > or no running > water (mini-hydro) area. > > Don't forget - electric rates WILL change in the > future. Do you think > they're more likely to go up, or down? Your payback > time will improve > when the rates do go up. > > If your calcs are correct, and you plan on living in the > same place for > a long time, at least you will have a break-even point, and > it's "free" > after that. > > Frankly, having looked at both solar and wind, I'd never > choose wind for > myself. I don't mind breaking even, or even losing a > bit of money to > help the environment, but I'm not willing to lose a *lot* > of money, and > that's what going wind looks like to me. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Post Messages to: [email protected] > Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox > OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech > Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox > This message: > http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] > ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are > the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or > medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for > those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious. > _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
