chokonen888 wrote:37yen jeebus! No wonder all the farmers are trying to cash in now.
So let me take a step back here...say I'm selling the power now for 37yen a KWh and not using much of it, the system will likely pay itself off in less time than in a home that it's used daily. Say the gov reduce the forced cost from 37 to 22 or even down to 14 in 5 years. (reasonably safe guess if they're promising 10 now?) If you've already paid off the system by then, while you may not be raking in the 37yen a KWh anymore, you've benefited and will continue to do so for the life of the setup, yes? Even if they stop buying elec, you don't need to stay connected to keep saving, just keep what is needed of your setup to meet your demand and sell off any additional panels/components. (I guess my point here is it's only risky if you're trying to start some sort of solarfarm based on the long term continuation of the current artificial pricing...if the goal is self sufficiency and/or just knocking down your elec. bill, taking advantage of the current situation makes sense)
The big problem though is that you are required to fork out a whopping great chunk of money up front. You might save yourself a bit of money over 15 years or so. But you might not if the rules are changed or if you have to/want to sell up or rent the property or if something goes wrong with the panels.
I reckon there are better investments out there if you are prepared to take that sort of risk and can commit to 15 years. They would also often allow early exit if you so choose.