spreadsheet looks good

This morning Samuel and I went to the C&O canal. Great thing about masks - they help protect you when it is FLYING INSECT DAY. There weren't many people but the boys in this family darted behind the trees to try to scare the others. They tried again, closer to me, and the older brother reprimanded them and told them not to scare people. As the closest adult, I said, "I think it's good to scare people," which the boys loved.*

*HA! And you thought I'm a nice person. Fooled you!

Silly enough for Saturday.

I spent the afternoon working on a spreadsheet to test out whether solar panels would make sense. Eight or nine years ago it did not make financial sense. I knew some companies were working on solar shingles, that combine the shingle with the electricity generation, and thought it was brilliant and had potential for cost savings. Not yet - they are still more expensive. Checking out solar panels was like checking a box, I know prices of panels have continued to fall but I didn't really think it would work out.

I sent the spreadsheet to my father-in-law to make sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes. I didn't. 

I have a preference for the first installer I talked to (Lumina Solar). Comparing the costs of the solar panel part of the project, they are in line with other installers. They are more conservative about output - which is good because of the shade. I used much more conservative (translation:  realistic) assumptions about other aspects. 

Here's my surprise - the numbers work out. The NPV is positive. The payback period is long but the IRR is respectable considering these are savings, not earnings, and thus not taxed. A penny saved is better than a penny earned.

My company had a project doing inspections of solar installations in Washington DC. My colleague told me all the installers in the area were fine. 

We might do this. Within dog-walking distance there are lots of homes with solar panels. Here is an odd thing - if you install solar panels on your roof, you increase the chances that your neighbors will. https://www.gridphilly.com/blog-home/2019/4/30/the-solar-network-the-number-one-factor-that-influences-whether-people-adopt-solar-if-their-neighbors-install-panels-first