Ericnuts is exactly right on the numbers, all that assuming the sun shines those hours each day, without any clouds to speak of, and you never have snow sitting on the panel either. You do have an awsome electric rate too, do you live in the pacific northwest?
We have a home that is completely powered by a solar array, and we have made plenty of mistakes setting it all up. Even with some grant money and tax write offs, I don’t think it will ever pay for itself in offset electric bills, but that is not the reason we installed it. While it reduces our electric bill, it also provides our power without burning any coal, oil or natural gas. And since we have the power company as a backup, in 10 years, our home has never been without power for even a minute. Those are hard things to put a price tag on.
What I would suggest is you do more research than asking guys online for an answer, there are lots of places to get information on this, I will include some below. You might decide later not to get involved at all, and that’s fine, but at least you will be well informed. Good luck, and take care…Rudydoo
References :
Home Power Magazine..Homepower.com
Backwoods Home Magazine
Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association
American Wind Energy Association
Real Goods Catalog
301kWhr/year x $0.058 = $17.47/year
Hope that helps!
(5.8 cents per KWH is an awesome price! Where do you live?)
References :
Mechanical Engineer for an alternative energy company
http://www.aurorapower.net/