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Solar systems

9K views 38 replies 12 participants last post by  Yoyizit 
#1 ·
is anybody installing any solar power? do you think it's worth the money?
 
#4 ·
This may depend upon how long you are staying in the house
It is much easier to REDUCE power usage then to produce power
Depending upon your area its also mush easier to produce solar heat then solar electric power
I built a 7x10 greenhouse 6' tall & it wa sheating up to 110 on a suung 55 degree day. Making a smaller enclosure I can heat water for house use, Sunny winter days possibly enough to provide some heat for the house

Payoff on voltaic system can be 10+ years depending upon state & local incentives
 
#6 ·
Quite frankly, the environmental benefits of building solar into a grid-connected home is questionable as well, as you're generating electricity at a time when the grid has more than enough electricity available.
Say WHAT??
Peak usage occurs during the middle of the day
Not the middle of the night
If enough solar/wind systems are installed then we won't need more coal & nuclear power plants

Ever hear of CA brown outs?
 
#7 ·
I love the idea of solar and wind but there's still too much oil left in the world for alternative energy to become main stream.
Once the world starts running out of oil and prices start to escalate based on real diminishing supply (as opposed to Opec constraints), then alternative energy will become more of a reality. Most people are self-declared green only when it's more expensive to be otherwise.
For me, it doesn’t make financial sense. If I installed PV panels, it would be for the next home owner because the ROI is 10-12 years. As ScubaDave said, it’s easier and cheaper to reduce consumption.
Now, if we can just figure out how to control the weather. My building schedule is shot this year because of all the crap weather we've been getting.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Actually it seems to vary across the US
Depending upon the time of year & if you are in heating or AC area
Summer is the biggest with AC use
Many areas receive warnings not to use the AC or to turn the Temp up on the AC so it will not work as hard
Highest use seems to be between 1p-7p (usually starting at 2-3p)
All homes are going + business still open
My pool pump runs during the day + solar water heater for pool
Some utitilies have computer generated data which will tell you peak times of use for your house
My utility does not

In the summer we have daylight pretty much until 7-8p most of the time
I'm pretty sure its the very low point of PV output at that time

I could supply most of my power by solar & wind
As could the vast majority of people
Are you saying other factors besides power stations contribute more CO2?
I think reducing power draw by 50-75% would have a huge effect on current plants
And eleiminate the need for more plants
Costa Rica has 80%+ of their power from wind
 
#12 · (Edited)
When solar panels are available for less than $1 a watt (and trade price is not far from that already for some amorphous panels) we're going to see a huge takeup of solar for these sorts of applications.
If the avg. US elec bill/yr = $1000 give or take and the avg. US elec used/yr = 8000 kwh give or take this thing pays for itself in one year.
Where do we all sign up?
One problem may be that the peak usage = 20x to 50x the average, for a single house.
 
#13 ·
My personal belief is that the future of solar is not for powering big homes in California or the like - I suspect that this will never be a cost effective solution at any time in the future
Yes, there is an unlimited supply of coal, wood & oil in/on the Earth :whistling2:

Once the Earth is sucked dry of resources there really won't be an alternative
The problem will be if the resources are sucked dry before enough solar, wind, water & tidal power are out in place
 
#14 ·
Let's assume you have a shed at the bottom of the garden and you'd like to fit a security alarm and some lighting. The cost of running a power cable down the garden is likely to cost you $100 by the time you've included circuit breakers, fittings and so on. A solar electric system is likely to cost you a similar amount, and of course you're keeping away from high voltage electricity, which makes it simpler and easier to install.
i am doing this exact thing, and I think you have GREATLY under-estimated the cost of running AC electric to a shed. For my application, as in your example, going solar will show an immediate return on investment. The downside is I won't be able to run an aircompressor, or a beer fridge out there, but I will have lights inside and out, and i'll be able to keep a charger for my cordless tools out there as well. i have a charger that plugs into a 12vdc cig lighter, and am going to use 12v LED lighting, so i don't even need an inverter
 
#15 ·
A breaker is $6, a roll of 250' 12-2 is $50, 12-3 for 2 circuits might be $75
Boxes are .30 each, outlets $2 each
So you could run (2) 20a circuits for under $100
Burying it will cost maybe another $20 depending upon distance

I have a small dorm fridge out by the pool that runs in the summer
An older 18 cu ft fridge is turned on for parties
Plus multiple fans + lights
The problem with solar is storage for night-time use
With grid tie its not a problem, but only having solar in a shed really limits your use
 
#16 ·
Not really... you store the power in a battery and use it when you need it. That way your battery can charge up during the day and you can use the power whenever you want it.

It also means that you can have a smaller panel than you'd need for instant power without a battery, because the solar panel would be trickle charging the batteries every day.
And how big of a battery array would be needed to power a fridge?
 
#19 · (Edited)
Hell! That's a big price for an inverter :(

And that is just the inverter. It doesn't include solar panels, batteries, charge controllers or anything else. You'd end up spending $4,000 plus on a basic system just to power a fridge :eek:

If all you wanted was a solar powered fridge and some lighting, you'd be better off getting a 70 watt solar panel, a charge controller, 140 amphours of traction batteries, some high output 12v lighting and a Steca Solar Fridge (they run on 12v or 24v, so you don't need the inverter).

Shop around to get the right price and its job done for around $1,500. Still want to spend $900 on just an inverter?
 
#21 ·
no, this would not be used in the shed! the fridge conversation made me think of it

i was thinking that because it is an inverter and transfer switch, it would be an option for using in the house. the only reason i was even considering this was the local sale price of $350

sorry for confusion
 
#22 ·
I am planning a full set up ,one reason is I have money today,might not have money 3 to 5 years from now or a job.......I am looking into reducing my monthly bills to as close to 0 as possible.

With the 30 percent tax break the pay off is under 10 years now in most areas....especially california where if you use over a certain amount of electricity the rate almost doubles.

What happens in storms.....the power goes out,what happens during a brown out......what happens during a natural of man made disaster.....what happens when they decide to charge you double what you are paying now for electricity.What happens when you loose your job and have only enuff money to eat.....what happens when you retire and have very little income or completely loose your retirement like seems to be happening to alot of people.What happens if you get sick and cant work or have hundreds or thousands in hospital bills to pay or you get crippled at work or on the way to church.........

There is alot more to solar and wind power than just trying to save money and get a free ride or even cleaning up the planet.

I plan on retiring early,very early,i already have over 5 acres paid in full and now one of the last money suckers to get rid of is the monthly utilities.
No rent or house payment and no utilities to pay,my own well water and growin/raising alot of my own food.....how much a month would you have left in your pocket if you could eleminate those bills and how much a month would it cost to live then...........very little:thumbup:

A solor or wind system might take 10 or 15 years to break even on ,but in 10 or 15 years you will still be paying bills ,I am going to put the cash out now while i have it and will not be paying bills for that 10 or 15 years and then when it is to break even stage its a free ride..possibly a money generating deal then selling power to the utilities.

Everything is a trade off I just like the benifits of making my own power.....money and space may limit some as to thier options...it just happens to be a good option for me currently.:)
 
#23 · (Edited)
I have money today,might not have money 3 to 5 years from now or a job

reducing my monthly bills to as close to 0 as possible.

what happens when they decide to charge you double what you are paying now for electricity.
What happens when you loose your job and have only enuff money to eat.....
what happens when you retire and have very little income or completely loose your retirement like seems to be happening to alot of people.
What happens if you get sick and cant work or have hundreds or thousands in hospital bills to pay or you get crippled at work or on the way to church.........

the last money suckers to get rid of is the monthly utilities.

No rent or house payment and no utilities to pay,my own well water and growin/raising alot of my own food.....how much a month would you have left in your pocket if you could eleminate those bills and how much a month would it cost to live then...........very little:thumbup:

A solor or wind system might take 10 or 15 years to break even on ,but in 10 or 15 years you will still be paying bills ,I am going to put the cash out now while i have it and will not be paying bills for that 10 or 15 years and then when it is to break even stage its a free ride..possibly a money generating deal then selling power to the utilities.

Everything is a trade off
In that case you need to know the formula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_value
and the idea of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost

Estimating the likelihoods of those bad things happening wouldn't hurt, either. . .

Causes of death in the US (330,000,000 people)

1000/day from smoking
250/day from hospitals
160/day from guns
110/day die on the highways
14/day from food poisoning
4/day from electrocutions

170/yr from CO poisoning
55/yr from lightning

1 injury in 50 yrs from a meterorite
 
#26 ·
OK as i have said Iam new to this solar thing and try to get a grasp of what is going on. So with that said.I have got two Telefunk panels that in full sun I get 19.48 DCV these are small panels 2foot X 10 inches how do I figure the watts? Next I got a pro sine 1000 inverter and a 15amp charge controller feeding three 120ah deep cycle batterys.Now when I hook the panels in series the DCV stay the same but does that speed up the charging time?Or should I be hooking parell? Oh I might say this is a 12 volt system (batterys all hooked pos to pos and neg to neg) At this point all I want is to run back up lights (15 watt florsent)x7 at most when the lights go out and to keep the batterys toped off.Is this all going to work out? Thanks Alan
 
#27 · (Edited)
I have got two Telefunk panels that in full sun I get 19.48 DCV these are small panels 2foot X 10 inches how do I figure the watts?
Watts = Volts x Amps. Based on nothing but the size, I would guess these are 10-20 watt panels. Is there a model number printed on it anywhere?

Now when I hook the panels in series the DCV stay the same but does that speed up the charging time?Or should I be hooking parell?
if you hook them in series you will get higher voltage, so it sounds like you want to hook them in Parallel so you get more current ( 12vdc batteries charge faster) and not double your voltage and risk damaging your 12v batteries
 
#28 ·
no there is no modle number on these panels.All that I know for sure is that they are stainless steal and came from a sail boat they have a red and blue wire of the back and that is all that I know for sure I have tryed to resherch these and cant find anything about them.

Now to hook these up right you are saying I need to go from -to + at the panel and then to the charge controller +to+ and -to-?

I want to thank you for your help. Alan
 
#31 ·
What? As I said Iam a newbie and this site is way over my head.I dont want to get discuraged but for something that is supost to be simple.Iam lost as ever now.I guess Iam going to have to throw this stuff out and find another hobbie.
But I do want to thank you all for your help. Alan
 
#35 ·
What? As I said Iam a newbie and this site is way over my head.I dont want to get discuraged but for something that is supost to be simple.Iam lost as ever now.I guess Iam going to have to throw this stuff out and find another hobbie.
But I do want to thank you all for your help. Alan
What I don't understand is, if you already have the stuff, why not simply experiment with it and try to figure out if it will work? if you have a couple panels, it doesn't make any difference what the wattage is if they will keep you battery charged in a way that will meet your output requirements. I realize you are a newbie, but I must be missing something
 
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