There are a few things here i have to address... [1] First of all your saying this system will cost 12k PLUS BATTERIES. [2] The following is a link i found to a 100 amp solar battery.
Intermec S07-101067 100 Amp Hour Replacement Batte Ry,replace
Just one i found real quick using google search. There are cheaper ones, and there are more expensive ones but generally speaking with batteries, you get what you pay for.
1 battery = $596
46 batteries = $27416
1. I'm not saying it costs $12K plus batteries, the people who sell it are selling it for $12K not including batteries. So, you have correctly restated the facts of the matter. For whatever reason.
2. Your battery is listed as some type of computer battery. 100 AH AGM deep cycle lead-acid batteries, good ones, can be bought for about $190 each if you shop around (I've bought several -- here is an offbrand (which is not what I have) --
12v 100ah TD100-12***Tempest Deep Cycle AGM, Valve Regulated, Maintenance Free, Sealed Lead Acid Rechargeable Battery $185.00).
For the purposes of my example, which if you recall would recharge
three Chevy Volts on a good night, that would be 46 x 190 = $8,740 which would raise the total cost of the solar system to some $20K, which is about right for a system of that size and capacity (Chevy Volt charging aside, it should be able to pretty much power the average home almost completely off the grid, except perhaps for summertime air conditioning (hopefully no one envisioning an energy efficient home is using electricity for heat in the winter)).
However, on a battery bank of this size one would probably want to go to forklift batteries (bigger, so there are fewer... plus they last 2-3 times longer). I don't have any prices handy on them, but it is somewhat irrelevant, since the purpose of the solar system is not to simply charge the Chevy Volt, but to power the home except for peak electricity use. Charging the Volt would be an ancillary benefit, assuming the solar system has sufficient capacity to do so (and the one I described would, in most case, have that additional capacity and likely more).
Not counting the cables needed to wire them together that is a total of aproximatly $39,416 plus the cost of a chevy volt which starts in the neighborhood of $31,000, thats an initial minimum investment of over $70,000. I dont know many people that have that kind of money to invest in a system that will do nothing more than Put a 35 mile leash around their neck.
You see, that's where the logic of your argument breaks down:
1. You assume that people cannot afford a car. Interesting assumption.
2. You assume the solar system is only for the car. If Americans were concerned about the future of their country and their grandchildren (as the right so piously pontificates), they would already have a solar system -- regardless of the car. But since a sizable solar system is indeed expensive ($20K in my example, perhaps a bit more for professional installation), it would be in the national interest to provide some time of low interest loan program where people could retrofit a system (since they will be paying much less for electricity, they could use some or all of that savings to pay on the loan), as well as urge installation of such systems at the time of initial construction (wherein the cost is simply rolled into the mortgage).
So, the concept of a battery car recharged at night with a home solar installation is impractical because
a) people can't afford to buy cars (or at least not a $40K car),
b) the concept of spending $20K on a home remodeling project is rarely put into action, or monetarily impossible or difficult, and
c) some days the sun doesn't shine.
Not a sound argument IMHO. But then, I've never been one to give up easily.