Day: August 29, 2014

Guess What?

There was a rare Solar Convergence today… We even managed to get a photo

And that’s what it looked like less than 2 hours after they showed up

So far we are really happy with Islandwide. Now I hope it can be switched on soon for Kass Household Carbon Neutral Stage 1

So I posted that on Facebook. And people asked. I thought I’d preserve some of that here as well:

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  • Sonja Kass I tried the Hawaiian version of the backyard homestead… long story (and we are on 1/6th of an acre with more than 1/2 of that built on)… I also tried to get a walking distance community garden project going, and one day I hope to get back to that. Farmer’s markets for now for stage 3 But I still have 10 easily propagated tropical edible greens and beans, as well as herbs, avocados, citrus, papayas and Surinam cherries in my yard, that we eat and share.
  • Rony Baenziger Did you calculate/estimate your ROI?
  • Sonja Kass Break even is after less than 5 years, ROI is too complicated for me:

    Status Quo: if gas continues to go up 5% annually and our miles and current miles-per-gallon stay the same we’d pay $13,720 for gas within the next 5 years. Our electricity rates have grown 8% per year over the last 11 years. Continue our current consumption at that price increase we’d spend $13,672 within the next 5 years. Total cost would be $27,400.

    PV + Leaf: If we invested $17,300 (today’s cost for the PV part) at 5% APR for 20 years it would return $46,000 – an annual opportunity cost of $2,300, so $11,500 for 5 years. The cost of the new Leaf over 5 years is $9,400 more than our current car (not including gas, but factoring in estimates for repairs, warranty, value after 5 years, e-fuel for the Leaf at 9.2 c/kwH for our current miles driven). Total cost is $20,880 (and for the first time in my life I’ll own a new car).

    Disclaimer: I’m not doing it for the money but for the environment. But I really like the added benefit of saving a lot of money.