[neebz]

We switched to solar in 2021 expecting a 3.5-year payback. Electricity prices rose so fast that we recovered the investment in under two years.

Also the national grid is notorious for it's frequent blackouts (load-shedding) since the early ’90s. Solar allowed us to have uninterrupted supply in the mornings and longer backups during night.

[testing22321]

We got roof top solar 1.5 years ago in Canada. Payoff will be 6-7 years, but we got an interest free loan to cover it.

So we’ll just pay what we would have for power for those years ~$1000 a year, then we’ll have free power for 20 more, saving something like $20,000 for $0 investment.

[applied_heat]

Where in Canada?

[testing22321]

BC. Tight valley, TONS of snow.

[toomuchtodo]

Rough location (if you feel comfortable sharing ground truth)?

[phreeza]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43622584

[tibbydudeza]

South Africa - load shedding is a curse word here :).

[toomuchtodo]

Great to hear about the fast payback period, wishing you reliable power :)

[kragen]

tibbydudeza didn't post about a fast payback period. Maybe neebz is his wife?

[tibbydudeza]

Payback - I never factored that in or even thought about that.

I was more concerned about having reliable power and reducing my electricity bill.

The daily 2-hour power cuts were getting out of hand, and I was running my business from my home office, so the tax incentives helped slightly.

The grid is more stable now as new power units became available but a big chunk of middle-class consumers using solar are using way less power now, so the local town councils are having problems balancing their books (town councils re-sells electricity from the national operator).

[toomuchtodo]

Broadly speaking, payback period in South Africa is very fast due to similar grid economics to Pakistan.

[kragen]

But neebz may not be in Pakistan either. Oh, they are: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43622584