My White Elephant Solar Panels

This morning, I feel like Peter Dutton is really onto something with his suggestion for rolling out nuclear power.

After all, nuclear power is safe and clean as a source of electricity right across Western Europe, where people enjoy the sort of sophisticated technology which the First World creates. Even that annoying Greta Thornburg is a supporter of going nuclear.

Things like Chernobyl happen in less advanced societies – Communist Russia always had inferior engineering solutions.

As a more stark example, let’s look at all the nuclear powered warships which the US Navy has used over the past 70 years. There has never been an incident with any of those. Well designed nuclear reactors are probably a very green solution to our energy needs.

But why am I suddenly on a tangential rant this morning about going nuclear?

The answer is simple – my White Elephant Solar Panels.

Soon after my official retirement in mid July, my former employer paid me out the unused remnant of my long service leave and accumulated annual leave. The cash sum came to a bit more than I expected – about $16,000, and I immediately earmarked this for some necessary matters.

I spent $2000 immediately on some RM Williams boots, Aquila shoes, and a new double breasted suit from Peter Jackson (joining a private club with a dress code does require a bit of an upgrade to my wardrobe).

Then I turned my mind to necessary home improvements. My split cycle air con unit is an important addition to my lounge room given that my old air con unit is beyond repair and my gas heater needed replacement. The charcoal grey colour bond fence between my block and my nice neighbours to the south is a pleasing replacement for the old fence which was falling to bit.

And on a whim, I decided to splash $4700 on solar panels. After all, with summer looming, I love the idea of running my new air con all day every day without worrying about the electricity consumption.

Right?

Wrong!

The problem is not in getting the solar panels onto my roof – that was pretty simple. The problem is that the installers, even 6 weeks later, have failed to send the relevant paperwork to my electricity retailer so that a new meter can be installed and whatever other niceties can be followed in order for me to start saving money on my bills from having these panels sitting on my roof.

This is infuriating, as this is a very big upfront investment – one which probably will take at least 10 years to break even for me.

So right now, those 14 solar panels are a White Elephant, a pointless addition to my roof.

I am thinking that perhaps I would have been far more sensible to have spent the money on a holiday in Queensland.