A few weeks ago, the attorney set up what may be the first plug-and-play solar panel in the Bronx. The 220-watt installation, which is secured to the balcony railing with zip ties, has been a boon for the renter and mother of two.
“I have an enormous childcare bill every month. My electricity bills never go anything but up,” Phillips said. “Everywhere you turn, things are only getting more expensive.”
Plug-in solar nonprofit Bright Saver, which provided the roughly $400 panel to Phillips at no cost, estimated that it will produce about 15 percent to 20 percent of the electricity her family uses and save her about $100 per year. Every time Phillips gazes at the device, she said, she’s amazed that “this is just a thing that I plugged in, and I’m generating my own power.”
Damn, they only pay ~$58/mo for electricity?
here in Australia i have 8.5kW of solar panels on my roof, charge an ecar off that, feed the excess in the grid where I’m paid 10c a kWHr and my bill is about $25 a month on average (lower in summer higher in winter).That’s about USD$15, and that includes “fueling” the ecar.
My cost is the fixed infrastructure contribution (poles, lines etc), which is fair enough, my actual electricity usage is usually net negative. ie i generate more then i use.
We are also very frugal with power as we lived for a decade off grid with 2kW of solar panels and got into frugal habits.
This is what I pay living in an apartment.