$1 per watt —
what is the current cost per watt?
Any comparison must factor-in durability, maintenance and all attached costs.
“$1 per watt —
what is the current cost per watt?”
It’s at about $4 per watt.
Down from $30 in the ‘80’s I believe.
As a point of reference, the big standby generators that some people buy are 5 to 10 KW.
So, would having free electricity for 20 years be worth $5000?
There are other costs of course, they put out DC and nothing at night. However a 2500 watt inverter is only $225 at harbor freight, and you would need to store power for night time.
A car battery will store 1200 watt hours, 10 of them to give you 120V (12V X10) would give you 12,000 watt hours.
They would cost you $550 and have to be replace every 3 or so years.