Maybe it’s because I’m older, but 11 years doesn’t sound like that long. The panels are more rugged than most people think, and should last over 20 years – with 25 years being the most common warranty today. That would mean the panels would pay you – what – about $5500 a year, and after those 11 years, they would keep paying that amount every year, tax free It’s almost like having a second job. And if electric rates went up, the situation would only look better.

As for the energy consumed in making the panels, try this paper http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/35489.pdf , which summarizes that panels should pay back the energy used to produce them in less than 4 years. That includes making the aluminum frame, and even shipping. This article was from about 10 years ago, so I would not be surprised if the payback is more like 2 years today.

Conventional silicon panels aren’t toxic. Modern panels don’t even have lead in the solder. The aluminum frame, glass, and copper wiring are well worth recycling. I don’t know if there’s a market for the actual silicon itself, but again, it’s not toxic, and could be buried if needed. Less common panels using Selenium, Cadmium, or Tellurium have some toxicity.
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Doing the little things around the home are definitely were you start. You can save 10% to 40% on your utility bills just by making those little changes. If most of the people in the US did that the overall impact on the whole would cuts this countries consumption by 30%. That’s a big number in the grand things of things. As for the solar option, It’s not feasible to do solar alone. Your right the costs are crazy but if you combine technologies like solar and wind then you have a much more feasible option.

Check out this site for more info:
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http://goinggreenfortomorrow.com/

Now didn’t mention if that 60 k includes batteries and inverters…..if it does, see if your local power company has a program like "net metering" where, details vary, they buy power from you and you don’t need a battery bank………..it might cut down the initial hardware cost and make it a little more palatable……and your local government probably has tax incentives to knock 20-30 % off.

All that aside the best bang for the buck is insulation, new windows and more efficient appliances, especially A/C’s……
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doing all this at a 75 unit condo that I run.

Proper insulation, at least in cold climates, usually pays back in a few years and then starts paying out.

Personally, I’d wait a little bit for the price of solar power to come down. In the UK solar panels cost about £5-6/Watt from the store. FirstSolar now manufactures panels for $0.87/Watt, and we should hope solar power will fall in price a lot over the next 5 years. Also, take a look at renewable energy demands in your state; if you have stringent renewable energy laws, there might be companies willing to pay you a good feed-in-tariff for your electricity you’re not using, making it more cost effective.

If the price drops by 20-30% then you’re paying back in under 10 years and ‘earning’ money for the next 30-40 (solar panels should last 50-60 yrs tbh. most are warrantied for 20 or 30).

And you will be helping the environment; silicon solar panels are energy intensive to make, but a good way of measuring this is the ‘CO2 per kWh’ over their lifespan. For solar power it’s about 30g CO2/kWh and might fall to 15g:
http://www.ecn.nl/publicaties/default.aspx?nr=ECN-RX–06-016
This includes all the pollution used in their manufacture. They typically produce 10-100 times the energy used to make them before they need replacing. So they produce ~30g CO2 from the fuels burned to help make them. This compares very well with gas (~400g) and coal (~900g) electricity!
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