Show HN: $200 Solar Self-Sufficiency  Without Your Landlord Noticing
Cool! The one thing I notice the author gets wrong is (out of modesty perhaps) claiming the system isn't very financially successful. But it actually is!<p>> 200W system payback period: $300 / $48 = 6.5 years until payback<p>> Either way you cut it, this is not a money saving machine. Energy prices are just too low.<p>That represents like a 16% rate of return with little risk,  which any investor would take in a second.<p>However, the $66 battery expires after about 8 years, you're saving more like $40, not $48, to amortize the cost of replacing the battery every 8 years. So the actual rate of return is more like 13%, which is still very attractive. You'll never find any investment/savings product that returns half that well at such a low risk and is so accessible to anyone with $300.<p>We've hit the point where solar is very economical! It's exciting!