How affordable these days are solar panels for the home ? why arent we as a country doing more for the planet looking to lower energy costs and help the planet at the same time what i as a consumer can do
http://www.nabcep.org/
http://www.homepower.com/index.cfm

in the short run solar panels cost a lot, around 1000, but if you stay in that house your whole life, than its worth it. won%26#039;t have to pay the electric bill. the reason why we don%26#039;t do stuff for the planet is because we don%26#039;t have a leader in the fight agains global warming. without a leader, everyone thinks if my neighbor isn%26#039;t doing it, why should i?

Solar panels still cost too much and make too little power. If you want lower energy costs your only choice is coal, the dirtiest power source. If you want clean power, all your choices are extremely expensive. If you don%26#039;t like that then you need to invent cleaner and cheaper sources yourself. It is hypocritical to do nothing to solve the problem yourself while at the same time criticizing other people for not doing it for you. That shows the truth of this statement, %26quot;Nothing is impossible to the person who does not have to do it himself.%26quot;

Your solar panel will never cover its cost with its energy production.

solar panels are expensive. I DIY mine. Its a small scale set up, to charge my laptop or save some energy for use at night.
I have 8 used ones that I wired to get 48 volts instead of the normal 12. The cost was so high I had no money left for wiring (with the copper going up like that). I had to use what I had. Four large stoarge batteries supplies stored current to an inverter, featuring square waves. I con%26#039;t use it for normal appliactions, but they work with my laptop and the lamps I have around here.

And for the planet, I believe nuclear is the way to go. small compact reactors can power the whole block. People just refuses ot trust nuclear. We should have nuclear cars, houses, microwaves, and various battery packs by now. DIY 48 volt PV system. All used panels, homemade 6100 watt inverter. Used stoarge batteries. It powers a couple lamps and charges my laptop.

Solar panelling will pay for itself after 10years not 15-25 worked off solar panelling estimated at $10000 if your average power bill is 80month.
Why we do not do more is a matter of convenience. Push for solar panelling in your local residential sector to become mandatory, it will minimise water consumption %26amp; maximise power vesibility.
You can get building materials that can contribute to solar power, building paper, roofing iron, purlins, flooring %26amp; external cladding that can absorb heat tranforming it into power using same resources as solar paneling. Ex roofing supplier