$1,500 Solar Generator vs My Electric Bill

About this Video

• Video Title: $1,500 Solar Generator vs My Electric Bill
• Channel: Footprint Hero with Alex Beale
• Speakers: Alex Beale
• Duration: 12:08

Introduction

This video documents a three-day experiment testing a $1,500 solar generator's ability to offset home electricity usage. The goal is to determine the generator's cost savings potential by comparing its performance on sunny, partly cloudy, and rainy days, and extrapolating the results to estimate monthly and yearly savings.

Key Takeaways

• The solar generator offset 1.23 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy on average over three days, representing approximately 8-12% of the home's daily energy usage.
• Three different savings scenarios were modeled: worst-case (low electricity cost, high equipment cost), average-case (average US electricity cost, average equipment cost), and best-case (high electricity cost, low equipment cost).
• The worst-case scenario yielded minimal savings ($50 annually), resulting in a 30-year payback period.
• The average-case scenario showed significantly improved savings ($83 annually), reducing the payback period to 15 years.
• The best-case scenario demonstrated substantial savings ($200 annually) with a payback period of only 5 years.
• Scaling up the system (three times the solar capacity) could drastically increase savings and shorten the payback period to approximately 3 years.