Subsidizing indivduals like this is politically difficult as it creates a risk of the individaul disconnecting from the grid and hogging the generated power.

At this moment in South Eastern Australia we are sweltering in 43 Deg C heat and power companies are now load shedding by disconnecting whole neighbourhoods on a roster basis. If you were lucky enough to have PV on your roof so you can keep your fridge going at least, why should I help pay you for it?

I hear this argument from a few deep greens that want the government to subsidise their panels and then pay them premium gross feed in tarrif like Germany but where do they think the money for this comes from?

In sunny places like California, which have high insolation levels and clear skys, large-scale solar thermal electric systems have persistantly shown themselves to be cheaper per KWh than photovoltaics, whether distibuted or not. They can even store heat in molten salt and generate electric power at night.

We need to concentrate our resources on the options that provide the lowest long term costs, as there is no shortage of neccesary projects that require the expenditure of cash.

CA is subsidizing solar to the tune of ~10c/kWh (lifetime amortized cost IIRC) because it displaces ~15-25c/kWh electricity from natural gas peaker plants, reduces the need for extra transmission infrastructure only used during peak demand in the summer, and helps to get the solar industry, a lot of which is local, on it's feet. There's only so much peak capacity that is financially prudent for the state to subsidize at higher rates, not to mention solar panel prices have been dropping fairly consistently, so the subsidy drops as the amount of PV generating capacity increases for both business and residential applications.

I don't consider 3 to be "much above one" (my actual words), but if you do, I won't argue the point.

Again, I am not arguing against PV. I have considered putting some up on my roof. I just find it surprising and a bit disappointing that its EROEI is not higher yet.

I would REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like to see some effort put into determining EROEI of DIY systems as I have repeatedly posted on these forums. Until someone does that, you folks are blowing smoke when talking about micro-energy. I don't see the future filled with micro-turbines built by Vestas, for example. That's just greenwashed BAU and multiplies the costs by orders of magnitude, it would seem, over a DIY windmill/PV/etc.

The biggest cost in a DIY wind system are the panels and the batteries, but there are lots of batteries thrown away that have years of life, lots of throw away imperfect pv cells (though certainly not enough, but buying cells in bulk might help with costs, no?), there are many millions of auto generators in junkyards and lots of nice new mini- designs coming out. People are successfully using painted soda and beer cans to raise indoor temps 10+ degrees, e.g....

All of these things have been posted previously.

Cheers