A more interesting metric might be months of pay back time. $1,800-$2,500 seems like an arbitrary number you made up.
It is an arbitrary number I made up!
Which part of that is how much I am willing to pay requires additional clarification?
I mean, I agree with the point you are implying, that people won't be overwhelmingly excited with solar until the payback goes below 2 or 3 years,
That's exactly right, and more: I am not willing to amortize their research and development costs outright. That's something Tesla (or any other company, for that matter) will have to do over years, at least as far as my wallet is concerned. Amortizing research & development costs outright is just pure greed; I won't support it.
My point is that this is not really a good way to make financial decisions. If you've bought a house and plan to stay, spending up front to save over a decade is something to work at. Consider the rule of 72. Something that pays back in 10 years is yielding a roughly 7% return. That's a great return. As I said, I'm right there with ya on waiting until it makes good financial sense to make such purchases, I just think it is also a good idea to do some analysis to figure out what that means (and if the purchase makes sense, who cares what it means to the company selling).
It is an arbitrary number I made up!
Which part of that is how much I am willing to pay requires additional clarification?
I mean, I agree with the point you are implying, that people won't be overwhelmingly excited with solar until the payback goes below 2 or 3 years,
That's exactly right, and more: I am not willing to amortize their research and development costs outright. That's something Tesla (or any other company, for that matter) will have to do over years, at least as far as my wallet is concerned. Amortizing research & development costs outright is just pure greed; I won't support it.