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.
-- doctorremulac3, Feb 29 2016

This'd be good.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 01 2016


+ More people would get them if they could get a financial zap from their panels. I like.
-- blissmiss, Mar 02 2016


Kickstarter maybe? Like I have time for such things.
-- doctorremulac3, Mar 02 2016


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?
-- tatterdemalion, Mar 02 2016


Human psychology would make this attractive to a large percentage of the population. It would make the solar money seem more 'real'.
-- AusCan531, Mar 02 2016


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.
-- calum, Mar 03 2016


//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?//

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.

//…or alternatively, the population more stupid.//

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."

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.

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.

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.
-- doctorremulac3, Mar 03 2016


//a slightly different number//

Only slightly? Maybe you need to move somewhere sunnier ;-)
-- pertinax, Mar 03 2016


^Heh.
-- AusCan531, Mar 03 2016



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