One on my customers just converted his house to solar late 2017. Smaller, retirement size home for him and his wife. December 2018 he got a check for the power he sold to the grid for $350. No electric payment for all of 2018.
I pay $42 a month for electricity (budget plan, they adjust it every may). Water and natural gas is the bulk of my utility bill. So $504 a year, add $350 and you have $854 savings a year. It cost my customer $22,500 to convert to solar. So if I paid that, it would take me 26.3 years to break even. I asked my customer if he would live long enough to break even, he told me, "Nope, I did it so I could put a bumper sticker on my SUV (2017 Ford Expedition) That said, "My house is solar powered, so get off my back."" ... must be nice to be able to blow that kind of money.
If I converted hot water, clothes dryer, stove and furnace to electricity, maybe I could save a lot more, because like I said, gas is the lion's share of the bill. But I would also have to spend $$$ to do conversions on those other 4 things to electricity.
I'm guessing unless you are young enough to live long enough to recoup your money, it's not worth your $$$ to convert.
So let's talk saving the planet. I'm convinced that if the entire US was to have a 0% carbon footprint, global warming, climate change or what ever else you want to call it would march merrily along. The rest of the world doesn't want to play (there are exceptions) ... remember the Beijing simmer olympics.
Not being political here, just logical. I read somewhere that the huge solar farm in southern California is a minuscule amount of power generation needed to power California. Until technology catches up with our desires, it's just not cost effective. So ... Having said that, should we spend $$$ to get there ... sure, but we need to accept that like all technology, it will take lots of time for it to be perfected and become cost effective. ... drop the mic.