h a l f b a k e r yThis ain't rocket surgery.
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So you put a bunch of solar panels on your property, you
get a slightly different number on your electricity bill.
Meh. Where's the fun in that?
The idea is to have a gift card activator at our home that
measures the power your panels generate back into the
grid and puts actual
money on
an ATM card.
Yea, it's just another way to get your money but with this
you get an actual tangible feeling payoff from having
solar
panels.
Plus you'd get a charge, no pun, using your "Sun Cash"
card
to buy your coffee in the morning. It would be chic in
some
circles to buy lunch for everybody with money received
directly from solar power.
[link]
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+ More people would get them if they could get a financial
zap from their panels. I like. |
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Kickstarter maybe? Like I have time for such things. |
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Isn't this forgoing the saving on the bill and redirecting it to a card? How do you make the case that this is better than a lower bill and buying a gift card when and if you want to? |
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Human psychology would make this attractive to a large
percentage of the population. It would make the solar
money seem more 'real'. |
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To properly reflect the experience, the card could start with a negative balance that you chip away at each week (or whatever) until the initial capital outlay is recouped. |
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//Isn't this forgoing the saving on the bill and
redirecting it to a card? How do you make the case
that this is better than a lower bill and buying a gift
card when and if you want to?// |
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As Aus pointed out, there is a difference between a
handful of cash and a number on a ledger sheet that
you'll never look at anyway, even if they're the same
amount. It's psychological, but psychology is why
people buy things. I know it certainly figures into my
buying decisions. I chose my car because it's fast, it's
cool and it's named after a wild horse, a Mustang!
They run fast and probably get all the horse chicks!
Yea, I could drive a 2 cylinder Ford Buckaroo if there
were such a thing, but I'll go with cool and fast. Even
though I've only taken it over 100 mph once. |
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//
or alternatively, the population more stupid.// |
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Nothing smarter than clean energy buying the
investor the occasional treat. That's how I'd use this.
I'd say "My solar panel money only buys me a nice
lunch with my wife. No bills, Just a specific item that
I'll set aside this money for." |
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There is not a person on God's green earth that would
ever say: "I'll set aside the savings from this solar
panel investment only for (fill in the blank) including
checking my bill every month, putting money from
one account onto another and saying "This is my solar
money." because that would be quite insane. |
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But here's the main reason: I would want one of
these. The solar panel investment that just lowers
my bill? I'll get to that someday. It's on my list of
things to do. |
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This might be something fun for kids. I mowed lawns
in the neighborhood for money when I was a kid. How
cool to have a little solar farm to help pad your
comic book fund. |
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//a slightly different number// |
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Only slightly? Maybe you need to move somewhere sunnier ;-) |
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