Solar panels are getting cheaper all the time, and they last a LOOONG time, much longer than the batteries. IMO the biggest cost of electric (over time or miles) is still the batteries.
The environmental costs of coal/oil/gas/lead/uranium have to be considered, but there seems to be no way to get actual, reliable numbers. There are so many conflicting "studies".
Willie
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "Don Parsons" <tdparsons@...> wrote:
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> --- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "Eric" <ewdysar@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Matthew,
> >
> > Thanks for posting. Something for people to think about, if your entire season's worth of electricity cost less than $10, how long would it take to recover the cost of a solar panel? Of course if one's boat never sees a dock where electricity is available, the math is different, but for most of our boats, solar electricity can be pretty expensive by comparison.
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> Eric,
> I would think the math is different anyway.
> Is that $10 grid electricity really only $10?
> Is it subsidized by our tax dollars in any way?
> Was a mountain in West Virginia lopped off and dumped into the river
> valley next to it to get the cheap coal to convert to electricity?
> What is the cost or dollar value of a mountain?
> What will the cost be for future generations to deal with
> nuclear waste for that type of electricity?
>
>
> On the lighter side here, isn't a boat just a hole in the water we throw money into anyway?
>
> I am not sure we should really dwell too much on the cost of generating electricity with solar panels in the short term. Either a person can afford to do it or they can't.
> I think it might be more important how a person feels. Do you feel good generating your own electricity?
>
> Since the heading of this thread is "Costs of running a small electric boat" it seems valid to me that where and how grid electricity is produced should also be something for people to think about. Short term monetary costs are only one side of the equation.
>
> Eric, I always like your posts, and they are invaluable for very practicle reasons. And they are very helpful to keep everyone grounded in the real world numbers and expectations for what to expect from a conversion to electric power. I know they have helped me. Just felt there is food for thought on the cheap $10 grid electricity number.
>
> And for what it's worth I agree that for our boats it does "seem" that solar electricity can be pretty expensive by comparison.
>
> Regards,
> Don
>
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