Martin Eberhard goes solar, getting ready to plug in his new car

Deposed Tesla Motors founder Martin Eberhard only has a few more weeks to wait for delivery of his new Roadster. Series production is scheduled to start on March 17 and first car off the line that day is destined for the Eberhard family garage. In preparation for his new ride, Martin has been making some changes around the house including the installation of a solar array on the roof so that the Roadster doesn't add any load to the grid. The 5.2kW setup has been operating since November and Eberhard estimates that about two-thirds of its output will go toward energizing the Roadster. In the latest post on the Founders Blog, Martin runs through some of the ways you could calculate payback on the system. Based on just the savings from replacing grid power with solar the system pays back in twenty years. Looking at the gas that won't be used by the Roadster, the payback drops to nine and a half years. The biggest cost of the system actually turned out to be all the work involved in integrating it into the house's electrical system. Based on his personal experience, Martin proposes that new homes that are built should made solar ready so that retrofits could be a lot cheaper and easier.

[Source: Tesla Founders Blog]