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  • Solar panels used to be something

    從前,太陽能板對於多數人來說,

  • you only saw in fancy neighborhoods

    只會出現在隔壁街區

  • or that one nice house down the street.

    或是街上的豪宅,

  • But in the last 10 years,

    但是近十年來,

  • the cost of solar

    太陽能的價錢

  • has fallen by more than half.

    已經下滑超過半成。

  • In 2019, installing solar is starting to look like a

    2019 年,房屋裝設太陽能

  • really smart investment for millions of homeowners.

    對上百萬家戶來說似乎是聰明的投資,

  • But that might be about to change.

    然而現在你可能要改變這樣的想法。

  • As of a couple weeks ago,

    兩週前,

  • I'm one of the couple million homeowners

    跟其他數百萬屋主一樣,

  • who invested in solar.

    我也投資太陽能。

  • When I dug into the research,

    當時我深入研究太陽能,

  • there were some clear benefits.

    發現太陽能有顯而易見的優點,

  • Not only would it be better for the planet,

    不但對於地球有益處,

  • it turns out to be a good investment overall.

    還是一筆好投資。

  • Installing solar was more affordable than I thought.

    裝設太陽能比我所預想的還要便宜,

  • It would instantly increase the value of my home,

    既可以立即提升房屋的價值,

  • and after crunching the numbers,

    而且當我計算完所有的成本花費,

  • I realized I'd recoup the cost pretty quick, too.

    我發現還可以很快回本,

  • But we'll save that math for later.

    我們待會再談如何計算。

  • The real motivation behind my decision to do it now, though,

    促使我做出決定的動機,

  • was knowing that the federal tax credit was expiring.

    是因為我知道稅額減免的時效即將到期,

  • If you install solar before the end of the year,

    假如你在今年底前裝設太陽能,

  • the US government will repay you 30 percent of your total cost.

    美國政府便會回饋你 30% 的稅額,

  • Next year it'll be a little less,

    隔年政府補助會降低,

  • and in 2022 this credit will be gone.

    該回饋金將於 2022 年到期。

  • And that's not including state,

    這不包括全國性、

  • city, and county-level incentives,

    地方政府的激勵措施,

  • which in 43 states

    總共有 43 州地方政府

  • let you deduct your sales tax,

    可以讓你折抵營業稅,

  • reduce your property tax,

    減免財產稅,

  • or even give you a tax credit after you've produced

    甚至讓你扣除稅額,只要你生產

  • a certain amount of clean electricity.

    一定產能的乾淨能源,

  • That's on top of the federal credit.

    這是政府優先推出的稅額優惠。

  • So what's the actual cost of installing residential solar?

    房屋裝設太陽能版的實際成本是多少?

  • With the federal credit, your average 6 kilowatt setup

    有了政府補助,假設你平均設置 6 瓦特太陽能源,

  • can set you back about $16,000,

    約莫只花費 16,000 美元,

  • which, yeah, is the cost of a cheap car.

    大概是一台廉價汽車的價格。

  • And how long it takes to recoup that cost

    回饋金發回的時間

  • really depends on the individual homeowner.

    因每個家庭的狀況而不同。

  • For me, I average around $100 in electricity per month,

    像我每個月電費平均花 100 美元,

  • plus gas to heat in winter.

    加上冬季的暖爐電費,

  • But I just got AC and switched to electric heating,

    不過家裡是空調設備,只是冬季轉換成發熱功能,

  • both of which can be huge energy hogs.

    兩者都可能是潛在的巨大費用,

  • So let's double the number to account for all that.

    所以把 100 美元乘以 2 倍以符合實際狀況,

  • When you do the basic math,

    當你計算這些費用時,

  • it looks like I'll make my money back

    必須要抱持著「我要在 5 年多內

  • in a little over five years.

    賺回我失去的錢」的想法。

  • For me, that's a 5 kilowatt system at $18,200

    我的計算方式:5 瓦特的設備需花費 18,200 美元

  • minus $5,460 in tax credit.

    減掉 5,460 美元的稅額減免,

  • That's $12,740 divided by $200 estimated

    總共是 12,740 美元,再除以 200 美元預估的月電費

  • monthly electric bill for 12 months,

    乘以 12 個月,

  • gives you 5.31 years.

    最後得到一年約 5.31 美元的費用,

  • But that's assuming electricity prices don't go up.

    但這數字是假設電費不會上漲。

  • And an idea called time-of-use net metering

    如果採用「使用時間」的淨計量電費算法,

  • might help me recoup costs even faster.

    可以讓我更快賺回成本。

  • So here's the thing with solar,

    太陽能的好處在於,

  • you're not always generating power

    能源並非總是同時進行

  • and using power at the same time.

    生產和使用。

  • Your panels pump out energy during the day when

    當你白天出門去工作時,

  • you might be off at work,

    太陽能板進行生產能源,

  • but you've got to buy electricity from the grid at night.

    然後你晚上回家時則必須向電力網買電。

  • With net metering,

    透過淨計量的計算方式,

  • your utility gives you credit for the energy you contribute

    你向電力網所貢獻的電力決定

  • to the grid.

    你可以使用的電量。

  • You spend those credits on the energy you need

    你只使用家中需要的電力,

  • and it mostly balances out.

    大多時候是可以收支平衡。

  • But many utilities also charge you more for electricity

    不過許多供電設備也可能要求你支付更多電費,

  • during peak hours when there's more demand for power

    來滿足巔峰時期對能源的需求量,

  • usually in the afternoon or evening

    通常在下午或傍晚時的需求量最高,

  • when people get home from work.

    也就是民眾下班回家後的時間,

  • But because my solar panels are still producing electricity

    但因為整個下午,我的太陽能板

  • in the afternoon,

    仍持續生產電力,

  • I don't need to buy as much pricey peak power

    我不用像以前沒有太陽能板時,

  • as I would without solar.

    需要購買昂貴的電力。

  • Now you might ask,

    你可能會問,

  • why don't I just buy batteries to store

    為何我不乾脆買電池,

  • all that extra energy my panels produce during the day?

    這樣就可以貯備太陽能板白天生產的多餘能源?

  • I wondered that, too.

    我其實跟你有相同疑問。

  • Tesla has a very Tesla-looking battery

    特斯拉有製造電池,非常具有特斯拉特色的外觀,

  • that costs $7,800 and there are other options as well.

    價格是 7,800 美元,也有其他價位,

  • But several installers I spoke to say the storage tech

    不過我和幾位安裝員談過後,他們都說電池儲備技術

  • isn't worth the cost

    不值得花這麼多錢,

  • unless you live in a blackout-prone area.

    除非你居住的地方是斷電區。

  • That's partly because the batteries are expensive,

    為何電池昂貴的原因,

  • partly because they're expected to become much better

    有部分是因為製造商預期接下來的五年內,

  • and far cheaper in the next five years,

    改進電池的功能並且降低價格,

  • and partly because even with batteries

    另外一個原因是就算你買電池,

  • you can't easily ditch the grid.

    你也無法輕易拋下電力網。

  • Right now batteries are an upsell

    電池現在僅作為加購品,

  • that help your local utility more than anything.

    可以優化你的電力設備。

  • When Google surveyed 60 million US buildings in 2017,

    2017 年谷歌做了一份問卷調查,以 6 千萬美國建築物為樣本,

  • they found out that 79 percent of our rooftops

    發現 79% 的屋頂

  • have enough sun hitting them to generate power.

    有足夠的陽光來生產能源。

  • It depends on the size of the roof,

    根據屋頂的尺寸大小,

  • how steep it is,

    傾斜的角度,

  • which direction it's facing,

    面對的方向而有不同的能源生產能力,

  • but Google found that even less

    但谷歌調查指出,就算有些州

  • stereotypically sunny states like Minnesota

    不像明尼蘇達州那樣陽光普照,

  • have 60 percent of rooftops viable.

    也有 60% 的屋頂可以生產足夠太陽能。

  • For me, solar made a lot of sense.

    太陽能對我來說是合理的供電方式。

  • It's sustainable,

    它很適合現在的房屋,

  • readily available,

    也有足夠的技術可以裝設,

  • it took them a day to install on my roof,

    在屋頂裝設太陽能板大約花一整天,

  • and I'm contributing to the grid,

    我向電力網所貢獻的電力,

  • which puts more money in my pocket.

    讓我的口袋有更多收入。

  • Should you get solar for your home?

    你的房子應該裝設太陽能板嗎?

  • Well, that's a loaded question.

    這問題牽涉層面廣泛。

  • For me, the math worked out.

    對我來說,計算的結果符合我的需求,

  • As for you, break out the calculator.

    對你來說,我的建議是趕快使用計算機,

  • And if it's something you want to do,

    如果你認為這花費值得,

  • maybe think quick,

    趕快下決定,

  • because some of the perks of installing residential solar

    因為住屋太陽能板的熱潮

  • are starting to sunset.

    已經逐漸消退。

  • So my question is,

    我的問題來了,

  • how is climate change going to affect all of this?

    氣候變遷如何影響世界?

  • Also, Verge Science is back,

    還有 Verge Science 回來了,

  • they've got a whole slate of new videos

    他們最近上傳了許多新影片,

  • you're going to want to check out.

    你可能會想去點閱瞧瞧。

Solar panels used to be something

從前,太陽能板對於多數人來說,

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